Close to Home by Robert Dugoni

 

First Line: D'Andre Miller pushed open the glass doors of the Rainier Beach Community Center and stepped out into the frigid night.

 

When a young boy is killed in a hit-and-run, Seattle homicide detective Tracy Crosswhite discovers that the suspect is an active-duty serviceman at a local naval base. After a key piece of evidence goes missing, the serviceman is cleared of charges in a military court, but Tracy refuses to turn her back on this kind of injustice.

 

Continuing her investigation, she uncovers the serviceman's ties to a rash of heroin overdoses in Seattle. This isn't just a case of the military protecting its own. It runs much, much deeper, and the accused wasn't acting alone. 

 

The closer Tracy comes to learning the truth, the more she comes in harm's way. The problem is... she may not be able to trust the only people who can help her make it out alive.

 

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I've been slowly savoring Robert Dugoni's Tracy Crosswhite mysteries. While some readers will binge when they discover such a good series, I stretch out the time between each book to make the series last. I like knowing that I have a "sure thing" or two waiting for me on my to-be-read pile. Close to Home was next up on my list.

Speaking of series, this is a perfect one for those who like the characters' personal lives to be important parts of the story. Tracy is now married, and while this city girl tries to adapt to country quiet, she and her husband make an important decision. Tracy's partner, Del, recently lost a beloved niece to a drug overdose, and his investigation leads him to Celia McDaniel, a woman whose son also died of an overdose. Military lawyer Leah Battles plays a significant part, and I hope to see her in future books.

The mystery in Close to Home is a strong one, and like all good crime fiction, readers' knowledge can grow a lot on the way to finding out whodunit. There's plenty to learn about the military legal system as well as the healthcare industry's shift in focus to pain management rather than treating underlying ailments. And how about the legalization of marijuana? When I found out how the drug cartels adapted to that, I realized that I hadn't been paying enough attention to the world outside my door. There are even more kernels of knowledge in the pages of Close to Home, some of which made me smile. (Navy camouflage being called "blueberries", and the general opinion of them, for example.)

Dugoni's Tracy Crosswhite series is for readers who love to be immersed in both the story and the characters-- especially when the main character is a bonafide member of the Harry Bosch School of Policing (Everybody counts or nobody counts). If you're not already a dedicated reader, I'd advise you to begin at the beginning with My Sister's Grave. This is an excellent series that you won't want to miss.

Close to Home by Robert Dugoni

eISBN: 9781542045018

Thomas & Mercer © 2017

eBook, 414 pages

Police Procedural, #5 Tracy Crosswhite

Rating: A-

Source: Purchased from Amazon.