BOOK REVIEW: Her Final Breath (Tracy Crosswhite, #2) by Robert Dugoni

Her Final Breath is the second book in Robert Dugoni's police procedural/murder-mystery series featuring Detective Tracy Crosswhite. I enjoyed the first book, My Sister's Grave, quite a lot. Crosswhite a Seattle-based police detective who investigates murders. In My Sister's Grave, Tracy investigated the disappearance (and presumed murder) of her sister from 20-plus years before in their small hometown. There she re-connected with a former high school classmate named Dan who is now a lawyer who helps her re-open the case of the man who was wrongly convicted of killing her sister.

In Her Final Breath Tracy returns to Seattle and gets assigned to be the lead detective tracking a serial killer nicknamed the Cowboy who has claimed the lives of several female strippers by tying them up in positions in cheap motels which lead to deaths by strangulation. Tracy is the only female detective in her squad and her boss is also her enemy. It's pretty clear he only gave her the high-stakes job of leading the serial killer task force because he thinks that there's a good chance Tracy will fail and suffer significant career consequences.

Tracy is a great character and Dugoni does an excellent job portraying both her and Dan (who becomes her boyfriend). Dugoni uses the common device of letting the reader see what the suspect is up to while his protagonist is tracking them down. This heightens the suspense, because it makes it clearer how close (or not) the police are to solving the case.  In Her Final Breath the information about the suspect is provided in such a way that we also do not their identity.

Overall I enjoyed Her Final Breath but I don't see the Tracy Crosswhite series as becoming one of my favorites in the genre. It doesn't jave the biting humor of Stuart MacBride's Logan McRae or the brilliant word-smithing of Tana French or the heart-pounding thrills of Karin Slaughter.

Title: Her Final Breath.
Author: Robert Dugoni.
Paperback: 426 pages.
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer.
Date Published: September 15, 2015.
Date Read: January 5, 2019.

GOODREADS RATING: ★★★★☆  (4.0/5.0).

OVERALL GRADE: B+ (3.3/4.0).

PLOT: B+.
IMAGERY: B.
IMPACT: B+.
WRITING: A-.