Book Review: In the Clearing by Robert Dugoni

Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons!

  Summer time reading has been a roller coaster for me this year. I have enjoyed many books. But one series that I continue to come back to is the Tracy Crosswhite detective series. Comprised of six novels and two short works, the series is a tense and thrilling excursion into the crime genre. After reading book one and two, it was time to pick up the third installment.  

   

     In the Clearing is book three in the Tracy Crosswhite detective series by Robert Dugoni. It is published by Thomas and Mercer, an imprint of Amazon. It brings us into the heart of two mysteries; one in present day and one begun forty years prior. In 1976 a young Native American girl named Kimi Kanasket disappeared while walking home from her job as a waitress. Fearing that something happened to her, Officer Buzz Almond worked with a search party to find the teenager. What he ended up finding was the girl's body, and her death was concluded as a suicide. This finding did not sit well with the young officer. Over the years as his career finally led him to becoming sheriff, he never stopped digging. He knew that there was more to her case than simple suicide. 

   Now with his funeral behind her, Buzz's daughter, Jenny, has found the Kanasket file in her father's home office. When Jenny's old academy friend, Tracy Crosswhite, arrives for Buzz's services Jenny asks her to look into the disappearance of Kimi Kanasket. With Detective Crosswhite's track record with cold cases, she is Almond's best bet to finally close a case that has haunted Klickitat County for forty years. 

   Meanwhile, Tracy's A Team is looking into the apparent self-defense shooting death of a local man by his wife. Angela Collins and her son, Connor, are found at the scene of the shooting calm and collected. Her lawyer father, Atticus Berskshire, has taken his daughter's case. After a well-rehearsed interview, Detectives Kinsington Rowe and Vic Fazzio are certain that parts of the story do not add up. Tim Collins had a restraining order against him, so why was he at Angela's home that evening to end up being shot in the back? As they delve deeper into the family's history another person comes forward to confess to Collins' shooting. 

   As Tracy begins to unravel the clues left by Buzz Almond, she begins to see a pattern in how the case was mishandled. But mostly she sees a community that would rather celebrate the town's popular football team, than mourn the loss of a teenage girl. But the four golden boys of that football team are in Buzz's folder. And as she begins to investigate their current whereabouts, Tracy discovers that Kimi's death was more horrific than anyone could have imagined. 

  In the Clearing was a crisp, tense thriller that surprisingly contained a lot of heart. As the story of Kimi Kanansket was revealed, I saw a heart-breaking story unfold. Even when the sinister machinations behind her death were revealed, I thought of her family and how painful their lives had been for forty years. Dugoni also inserted some excellent new characters that I loved, including newspaper man, Sam Goldman. Quirky and always eager to help Tracy, Sam was not only a major help to her, but provided comic relief that broke up much of the dark matter of Kanasket's case. I also found that Kinsington Rowe and Vic Fazzio had a larger role that fleshed out their stories nicely. As I settle in with this series' characters I love it when Dugoni gives us deeper glimpses into their lives.

  This book was narrated by Emily Sutton-Smith, who makes her return, having read books one and two. By this book she has made the characters her own, playing upon their accents and personalities quite well. I have enjoyed many books narrated by her, and this was one of her best performances.

  In the Clearing was a four star read for me. It was suspense-filled, with a storyline that tugged at my emotions. I will never forget Kimi Kanasket's story, or the reasons behind her death. This was more than a thriller or crime novel, it was an exercise in humanity that challenges prejudices and people's view on meaning of a life. I was very pleased with this book, and I hope that many of you experience it as I did.           

  

 Have fun reading this week. Let me know in the comments below what you are reading.

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    Because there is always time to read,

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