Robert Dugoni’s A Cold Trail – Solving Two Old Cases

Seattle homicide detective Tracy Crosswhite is on maternity leave. While the family’s Redmond, Washington house is being renovated, she and her husband, Dan, return to her childhood home in Cedar Grove for what they hope will be a time to relax and bond with their new daughter, Daniella. Instead, Tracy becomes involved in a complicated murder investigation that stirs up emotional feelings about her sister’s murder and her father’s suicide. 

A Cold Trail is Robert Dugoni’s seventh Tracy Crosswhite thriller. Jumping into the series with this book, I admit it took some time to come up to speed. I’m still confused about Tracy’s sister’s murder and the retrial of the man charged with the crime. Fortunately, A Cold Trail moves ahead and the focus is on two other killings – one from the past, another more recent – that the local authorities have not been able to solve. 

In 1993, Heather Johansen was on her way home from a company Christmas party when she was found dead from a serious blow to the head. Her killer was never identified. Kimberly Armstrong, a writer for the local newspaper, dies in a house fire after she begins to investigate Heather’s murder. An investigation discovers that Kimberly died from blunt force trauma to to head before an accelerant was used to start the fire. 

Cedar Grove’s police chief, Finlay Armstrong, not only was married to Kimberly, but had previously dated Heather. Until Finlay’s cleared of all suspicion, the former police chief, Roy Calloway, comes out of retirement to take over the department. Knowing he needs help, Calloway approaches Tracy. 

While Tracy enjoys every minute she spends with her daughter, she’s also a skilled and dedicated investigator. She quickly realizes that Calloway is in over his head. Also, his past relationship with Heather, means that Tracy can’t clear him as a suspect. Because Tracy has a young woman, Therese, who takes care of Daniella, finding time to investigate removes one barrier. Dan, however, is opposed to Tracy working with Calloway. When the investigation places Therese and Daniella in danger, even Tracy begins to reevaluate her decision. 

Meanwhile, one of Dan’s cases, focusing on redevelopment in Cedar Grove, begins to heat up and may actually have a connection with the murders. Suddenly, both Tracy and Dan are in the crosshairs, and it will take both of them, as well as Faz, Tracy’s former partner in the Seattle police department, to solve the two cases.

Dugoni has created a very appealing character in Tracy Crosswhite. A Cold Trail will be sure to please his many loyal fans. 

Author photo: Douglas Sonders

A Cold Trail
Robert Dugoni

About Charlene Giannetti (684 Articles)
Charlene Giannetti, editor of Woman Around Town, is the recipient of seven awards from the New York Press Club for articles that have appeared on the website. A graduate of Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Charlene began her career working for a newspaper in Pennsylvania, then wrote for several publications in Washington covering environment and energy policy. In New York, she was an editor at Business Week magazine and her articles have appeared in many newspapers and magazines. She is the author of 13 non-fiction books, eight for parents of young adolescents written with Margaret Sagarese, including "The Roller-Coaster Years," "Cliques," and "Boy Crazy." She and Margaret have been keynote speakers at many events and have appeared on the Today Show, CBS Morning, FOX News, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, and many others. Her last book, "The Plantations of Virginia," written with Jai Williams, was published by Globe Pequot Press in February, 2017. Her podcast, WAT-CAST, interviewing men and women making news, is available on Soundcloud and on iTunes. She is one of the producers for the film "Life After You," focusing on the opioid/heroin crisis that had its premiere at WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival, where it won two awards. The film is now available to view on Amazon Prime, YouTube, and other services. Charlene and her husband live in Manhattan.