YVONNE’S SHORTIES #312 – The Trapped Girl // Close To Home

Time for another round of Yvonne’s Shorties! This time around a double dose of Tracy Crosswhite sequels.

Title: The Trapped Girl
(Tracy Crosswhite #4)
Author: Robert Dugoni
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Detective
First published: January 24th 2017
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Finished reading: July 27th 2022
Pages: 424

“Sometimes these cases aren’t as difficult as you make them. Sometimes the answer is as simple as it seems.”

The Trapped Girl is book number four of a series that is quickly turning into a new favorite. I definitely understand why this series has been recommended to me in the past! I really like the dynamics between detective Tracy Crosswhite and the rest of her team, and it’s been great getting to know them better and learning more about the way they investigate. Nolasco still highly annoys me, but thankfully things are toned down a little and the focus is mainly on the new case. And boy, do Tracy and the rest have another tough one on their hands! What already seemed like a complicated case from the start only got more tangled as new information keeps popping up… The Trapped Girl took me on an intense ride, laying down traps, false turns and plenty of twists and turns along the way. I most definitely didn’t see coming how things would end! The flashbacks to 2016 Portland with Andrea’s thoughts did slow down the pace for me a little, but I can’t deny that they were needed to give the plot more dept as well as more insight in her life before she disappeared. As a whole book four turned out to be a very successful sequel and I liked how the story ended on a high note with that epilogue.

Title: Close To Home
(Tracy Crosswhite #5)
Author: Robert Dugoni
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Detective
First published: September 5th 2017
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Finished reading: July 28th 2022
Pages: 362

“If you go in thinking you’re going to win, you’ll be disappointed if you lose. So just go in to the competition with the attitude that you’re going to compete, which is all you can control anyway.”

Close To Home is book number five of the Tracy Crosswhite series and this time around we get a little something different. This sequel has an almost legal thriller feel for most of the book, which kind of came as a surprise. The pace was considerably slower too during the majority of the plot, and as a consequence it took me longer than usual to actually finish Close To Home. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad read and I liked how the story hit home on a personal level for the main characters. There is a lot of focus on Del this time around, and we see a significant development in Tracy’s private life as well. Storywise, there are two different cases involved: the drug overdose of Del’s niece with a lot of focus on addiction in general, and the hit-and-run of a minor with the Navy involvement. Both cases and topics are tough, that’s for sure… I do have to say that I think that part of the problem with the pace might have had to do with the fact that there is a lot of focus on and repetition of drug abuse and addiction; while important, it did distract from the case. It was almost like the drugs element took over the story in points? Anyhow, I still mostly enjoyed it and I will be looking forward to the next one. I do hope we will see less legal and more detective thriller next time around…