The Trapped Girl (Tracy Crosswhite, 4)
The Trapped Girl (Tracy Crosswhite, 4) book cover

The Trapped Girl (Tracy Crosswhite, 4)

Paperback – January 24, 2017

by
Price
$12.76
Format
Paperback
Pages
377
Publisher
Thomas & Mercer
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-1503940406
Dimensions
5.5 x 1 x 8.25 inches
Weight
14.4 ounces

Description

"In Dugoni’s outstanding fourth Tracy Crosswhite mystery, the Seattle homicide detective investigates the death of Andrea Strickland, a young woman whose body a fisherman finds in a crab pot raised from the sea...In less deft hands this tale wouldn’t hold water, but Dugoni presents his victim’s life in discrete pieces, each revealing a bit more about Andrea and her struggle to find happiness. Tracy’s quest to uncover the truth leads her into life-altering peril in this exceptional installment." — Publishers Weekly , Starred Review “Dugoni drills so deep into the troubled relationships among his characters that each new revelation shows them in a disturbing new light… an unholy tangle of crimes makes this his best book to date.” — Kirkus Reviews “Dugoni has a gift for creating compelling characters and mysteries that seem straightforward, but his stories, like an onion, have many hidden layers. He also is able to capture the spirit and atmosphere of the Pacific Northwest, making the environment come alive.…another winner from Dugoni.” —Associated Press “All of Robert Dugoni's talents are once again firmly on display in The Trapped Girl , a blisteringly effective crime thriller…structured along classical lines drawn years ago by the likes of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. A fiendishly clever tale that colors its pages with crisp shades of postmodern noir.” —Providence Journal “Robert Dugoni, yet again, delivers an excellent read.…With many twists, turns, and jumps in the road traveled by the detective and her cohorts, this absolutely superb plot becomes more than just a little entertaining. The problem remains the same: Readers must now once again wait impatiently for the next book by Robert Dugoni to arrive.” — Suspense Magazine “ The Trapped Girl is a blistering mystery, and some of Robert Dugoni’s best work to date.” —The Real Book Spy “Dugoni weaves an intricate and absorbing story that’s as hot as the unseasonable Seattle weather his detective battles through.” —Authorlink Praise for The Tracy Crosswhite Series: “Combines the best of a police procedural with a legal thriller, and the end result is outstanding…Dugoni continues to deliver emotional and gut-wrenching, character-driven suspense stories that will resonate with any fan of the thriller genre.” — Library Journal , Starred Review “Dugoni does a masterful job... If you are not already reading his books, you should be!” —BookReporter “Dugoni does a superior job of positioning [the plot elements] for maximum impact...” — Publishers Weekly “Well written, and its classic premise is sure to absorb legal-thriller fans…The characters are richly detailed and true to life, and the ending is sure to please fans.” — Kirkus Reviews “A stunningly suspenseful exercise in terror that hits every note at the perfect pitch.” — Providence Journal “Dugoni has become one of the best crime novelists in the business, and his latest featuring Seattle homicide detective Tracy Crosswhite will only draw more accolades.” — Romantic Times , Top Pick Robert Dugoni is the New York Times bestselling author of the Tracy Crosswhite series, including In the Clearing , Her Final Breath , and My Sister's Grave , which became an Amazon #1 bestseller, a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller, a finalist for the 2015 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction, a finalist for the International Thriller Award, and winner of the Nancy Pearl Book Award for Fiction. He is also the author of the New York Times bestselling David Sloane series, including The Jury Master , Wrongful Death , Bodily Harm , Murder One , and The Conviction . Murder One was also a finalist for the Harper Lee Prize. In addition to the stand-alone novel Damage Control , Dugoni penned the nonfiction exposé The Cyanide Canary , which was a Washington Post Best Book of the Year selection. His books have been likened to Scott Turow and Nelson DeMille, and he has been hailed as "the undisputed king of the legal thriller" by the Providence Journal . Visit his website at www.robertdugoni.com and follow him on Twitter @robertdugoni and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AuthorRobertDugoni.

Features & Highlights

  • In this #1
  • Wall Street Journal bestseller
  • , Tracy Crosswhite must first identify the victim to catch the killer.
  • When a woman's body is discovered submerged in a crab pot in the chilly waters of Puget Sound, Detective Tracy Crosswhite finds herself with a tough case to untangle. Before they can identify the killer, Tracy and her colleagues on the Seattle PD's Violent Crimes Section must figure out who the victim is. Her autopsy, however, reveals she may have gone to great lengths to conceal her identity. So who was she running from?
  • After evidence surfaces that their Jane Doe may be a woman who suspiciously disappeared months earlier, Tracy is once again haunted by the memory of her sister's unsolved murder. Dredging up details from the woman's past leads to conflicting clues that only seem to muddy the investigation. As Tracy begins to uncover a twisted tale of brutal betrayal and desperate greed, she'll find herself risking everything to confront a killer who won't go down without a deadly fight. Once again,
  • New York Times
  • bestselling author Robert Dugoni delivers a taut, riveting thriller in the fourth installment of his acclaimed Tracy Crosswhite series.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
60%
(30.3K)
★★★★
25%
(12.6K)
★★★
15%
(7.6K)
★★
7%
(3.5K)
★
-7%
(-3530)

Most Helpful Reviews

✓ Verified Purchase

My favorite of the Tracy Crosswhite series so far!

I won a copy of The Trapped Girl in a Goodreads Giveaway. I thought I should start reading the Tracy Crosswhite series from the beginning in order to give it my best review.

The Trapped Girl is book four in a series, but reading them in order is not necessary to follow the plots and understand the story lines. Personally, I'm glad I did read them in order though, because I think I got to know the main characters better and by book four, it was like reading about friends.

Without giving too much away, I liked how The Trapped Girl went from third person to first person giving the reader another view of the story which added more suspense.

It seems that Detective Tracy Crosswhite and the rest of the A team can't catch a break. They go from one difficult case to another, and when a lady's body is accidentally found stuffed in a crab pot under the water, things definitely go from bad to worse. Once some evidence is discovered, Tracy and her team think they've identified the victim. But, as they proceed with the case, one discovery leads to the next, and soon they have more questions than answers. This turns out to be more than a simple murder (if there is such a thing). Greed, betrayal, and violence...it's all here, just waiting to be uncovered and the trapped girl is the key!
17 people found this helpful
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Fabulous mystery that kept me guessing!

4.5 stars

The Trapped Girl is the fourth in a series by Robert Dugoni about a detective with Seattle’s Violent Crimes Section named Tracy Crosswhite. I have not read the first three but easily picked up the story line and thoroughly enjoyed this installment. As the story opens, a teenage boy illegally crabbing pulls up his crab trap and finds a woman’s dead body. The woman was shot before she was dumped in the Puget Sound so Tracy Crosswhite’s unit is summoned and subsequently commences the process of attempting to solve the murder. During the autopsy, the medical examiner determines that the victim had undergone substantial facial reconstructive surgery in an effort to conceal her identity. Initially, the victim is identified as Lynn Hoff, but quickly the team realizes that it may in fact be Andrea Strickland, an insurance agent who went missing on Mt. Ranier months previously while hiking with her husband. As Tracy continues her investigation, she discovers that the many facts and clues conflict and that something more complicated has occurred. She and her team must piece together every detail to ascertain what truly happened and who the mystery woman is.

The story is fast-paced and includes numerous twists and turns – most of which I did not see coming (I love that!). The plot takes Tracy from Mt. Ranier to Oregon in her quest to solve the identity of the dead woman and how she met her demise. The various settings made the tale so interesting. The Trapped Girl is a complicated and well-written story with a fabulous resolution that made sense and was believable (believability is something that is lacking in many thrillers today).

Learning about the various hikes on Mt. Ranier and other fun facts about the mountain was one of the highlights of the book for me. Another was the manner in which Dugoni chose to tell his tale. He alternates between Andrea’s journal entries and a standard third person voice for the rest of the novel. The result is outstanding. Dugoni also perfectly balances writing about the mystery plot line and Tracy’s personal life which makes the book such a great read. I am sure striking that balance is hard as an author, but when it does occur the story is so much better than when too little or too much focus is on the detective’s own life.

I highly recommend this wonderful mystery. Thanks to Thomas and Mercer and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
3 people found this helpful
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No way it knocked him out like that. I like all the other books

There is no way someone invested thc without tasting it. Also if you partake in thc use often, as Graham did, your tolerance is higher. No way it knocked him out like that. I like all the other books, but this part isn't factual.
2 people found this helpful
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Robert, Please write faster!!!

This book is amazing. I thought I had it all figured out then *bam* twists and turns. I was almost late for work twice this week as this book is such a great page-turner and I just could not put it down. Thankfully I finished this tonight. I have read everything from this author and have loved all of his books!
1 people found this helpful
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It was fun to follow along as the detectives worked their case

This is the first book I have read by Robert Dugoni, and it is the fourth installment in the Tracy Crosswhite series. I was hooked early in the book because Dugoni's writing style and the plot is superb. The first part of the book has two parallel storylines, one the main current day plot and the other a first person narrative from the victim. The two storylines converge early on in the book. Several times I felt a little lost when characters from past books were mentioned, but it didn't really take away from the story. There are a few twists and turns that keep you guessing, and then a major twist at the end. It was fun to follow along as the detectives worked their case. I really enjoyed this book, and I am looking forward to reading the previous books in this series. I would recommend this book to fans of mysteries, thrillers, and police procedurals. I received this as a free ARC from Thomas & Mercer on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
1 people found this helpful
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It was more than worth buying this book

This book it was absolutely captivating the twists and turns kept me on the edge, I could not put it down, I recommend this one to all of you.
1 people found this helpful
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The fourth book in the Tracy Crosswhite series is a must read, top notch thriller with twists at every turn. Dugoni at his best!

Tracy Crosswhite finds herself called out when a woman’s body is found submerged in a crab pot in Puget Sound. This is not going to be an easy case. Before they can do anything else, Tracy and her team must first identify the victim who has gone to great lengths to keep her identity a secret. This raises the question, who and what was she running from. Following the evidence the team is lead to believe that their Jane Doe might be a woman who disappeared several months earlier climbing Mt. Rainier with her husband, who was a suspect in her disappearance. Without a body on the mountain, it was hard to make a case against the husband. All this hits close to home with Tracy as she remembers the disappearance of her sister and how that case consumed her life. Each clue brings about another one that conflicts with the previous, making the investigation that much harder. Tracy is more determined than ever to find the truth of what happened and is determined not to let anything get in her way.

Robert Dugoni is now one of my top favorite authors with the Tracy Crosswhite novels as one of my most recommended series. The first in the series is my favorite, but The Trapped Girl gives it a run for its money. This story goes back and forth at times between Tracy and what is happening with her and then to Andrea Strickland, the woman they think they found dead. This can sometimes be confusing but Dugoni has found a way to write both scenes without losing the reader at any point. These are the stories I love to sit down and devour in one siting if I have the time. With two boys at home it took me a few days to read but I loved every page. I’m can definitely say that a Dugoni novel has never bored me and a Tracy Crosswhite novel keeps me up well into the night. Dugoni has found a way to write characters that are easily likable (Tracy), and characters that you can’t help but despise, (Nolasco, Fields). I really hope this isn’t the last in the series. There is so much more I could see happening with Tracy and the squad. Her relationship with Dan is continuing to pay out nicely and the rest of the squad has developed a dynamic that is hard to find in other books. I know it is early in the year but I feel certain I can say this will be in my best of the year list, it will be hard for another book to top this one. I can’t say that this is the best in the series, the first one is one of my top books of all time and that’s just hard to beat. But this one is a very close second. The way I know a book is one of the best, like My Sister’s Grave, is several years later I can think about that book and recall most of it. Many of the books I read fade from my memory within the next year. I am sure The Trapped Girl will stick around and be one I recommend for a long time.

I highly recommend this book to anyone that loves a story that keeps you on the edge of your seat guessing at what is going to happen next. There is some mild language that may not be suitable for young readers.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.
1 people found this helpful
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Great addition

A fine addition to the Tracey Crosswhite series. Robert Dugoni hasn't let me down yet. I finished the book about an hour ago and it's still on my brain, working out all the twists and turns it took. Just when I thought I had it figured out as I read, it went in a completely new direction. Bravo! I look forward to our next journey with Tracey Crosswhite.

A teenager doing some illegal crab fishing has come across something very disturbing: a body caught in a crab pot. Not exactly what he expected when he hauled the heavy trap from the water. The body is a woman, and she hasn't been down there long, likely only a few days. Her being found so quickly is just down to fate... Her murderer probably intended for her never to be seen again. They soon believe the body is a woman that disappeared several months ago while climbing a mountain with her husband... but she clearly didn't fall to her death.

We see some chapters from the perspective of Andrea, the woman who was thought to have perished on the mountain. A bit of an introvert and a voracious reader, she'd fairly recently married a man after only a short time of dating. He pressures her into starting a new business with him and to put a large amount of money into it. Though her late parents left her a trust, they've specified how it is to be used and starting a new business isn't one of them. He seems to resent that fact, and gets more manipulative and angry as the story goes on.

Haunted by memories of her sister who died much too young, Tracey has a special attachment to this case. She balances work with her thriving relationship with her boyfriend Dan, and I loved the little glimpses we got into their happy life. The rest of the book is filled with twists, turns, suspense, police procedure, and fantastic character development. I'm quite attached to them all... even Rex and Sherlock. Highly recommended.

I received an ARC of this book from Net Galley and Thomas & Mercer, thank you! My review is honest and unbiased.
1 people found this helpful
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A Whodunit That Kept Me Guessing to the End

Keeping up with my favorite author is difficult since he is so prolific; it seems I can’t read as fast as he writes. I love the Tracy Crosswhite Seattle police detective series. Having lived in the Puget Sound area for over 25 years, I am familiar with most of the locations described. This certainly adds interest for me, but I also enjoy the fact that Tracy and her three cohorts on the homicide team are such well developed and interesting characters – especially Del and Faz! I highly recommend the Tracy Crosswhite series and all of Robert Dugoni’s other books. - David B. Crawley, M.D. – Author of “Steep Turn: A Physician’s Journey from Clinic to Cockpit” and “A Mile of String: A Boy’s Recollection of his Midwest Childhood.”
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Favorite of the series so far…

A Jane Doe is found by a teenager in a crab pot. The detective assigned to the case discovers she has been attempting to hide her identity and has taken an alias. Finally linking Doe to a woman who has been missing for several months, the detective begins to peel back the layers on the supposed victim only to find that everything is not as it seems. Who is the young woman and who killed her? And can the detective solve this case without burning her career down as well?

A socially isolated young woman meets Graham Strickland at her insurance agency’s party. While she is hardly blown away by his looks, she finds herself saying yes to things she’d normally say no to. And less than four months later, she finds herself marrying him in a courthouse wedding. But it takes little time for her to begin realizing that she never really knew Graham. And the man he’s turning into isn’t someone she should have married.

Shortly thereafter, Detective Tracy Crosswhite gets a phone call that the body of an unknown young woman has been found stuffed into a crab pot. After the autopsy reveals that she has surgical implants in her face, they track her identity to the name of Lynn Cora Hoff. But finding her killer won’t be easy when it’s quickly revealed that Lynn may have been hiding from someone with a false identity. Once again personally haunted by a case, Detective Crosswhite begins to risk everything to finally reveal who murdered her. Are the two young women one and the same? And will Tracy be able to find the murderer before she becomes his victim as well?

In this fourth novel in the Tracy Crosswhite series by Robert Dugoni, we are presented with a twist-filled plot jammed with viable suspects that keep getting whittled down. Each time a new potential murderer was presented, I thought that surely this time I was correct only to have more information revealed that proved me wrong (a very enjoyable problem to have). Tracy, who had quickly become one of my favorite female characters, has continued to grow in depth with each novel, but in The Trapped Girl she becomes an even stronger and well-rounded character as we learn more about her personal life. Additionally, the other members of Tracy’s homicide team are also further fleshed out and I found myself rooting for them like I hadn’t previously. Like all of Dugoni’s books, the plot is detailed and complex with plenty of extraneous red herrings to keep the reader guessing. Enjoyably, this book also provides the feel of a true psychological thriller in the style of Julie Clark’s The Last Flight along with the standard police procedural plot. Probably the most character-driven book of the series so far as well as my favorite. I cannot wait to read the next one in the lineup, Close to Home! Rating of 5 stars.

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