nikkismalls

Tracy Crosswhite is a hardened homicide detective who has never recovered from her sister's disappearance 20 years ago. There are many things she wishes she could change, particularly how the trial and evidence were handled while convicting Edward House for Sarah's murder. Too many questions remain unanswered, and she will never stop asking them. This culminates in the dramatic discovery of her sister's remains, leading to another trial for House and some unexpected twists along the way.

The story is told somewhat in three parts. First we find Sarah's remains, and follow Tracy as she doggedly uncovers evidence that supports her misgivings from long ago. She has lost so much of her family over the years, and this case is her only comfort. She feels a blinding urgency to finally uncover what happened to her sister, thereby ignoring all warnings and threats to remain quiet. There's something going on, that much is obvious from early on. And some things is plain to see, but the reasons behind them won't be discovered until the very end.

This book kept me guessing more than any I've read in a long while. I was convinced it was one person, had a full writeup explaining why it would definitely be him. I picked out the red herrings, plotted out exactly what I thought would happen, based on the hundreds of crime shows/movies/books I've read in the past. I was totally wrong. It went somewhere I was not expecting and can't believe I couldn't pick it out before.

There were some editing issues that definitely should have been hammered out (dropping this down to 4 stars). Repeated phrases and explanations that were beyond superfluous (e.g., "ah yep there's a fire see, I think they used gas!" "Hey I heard there was a fire, do you think they used gas?" "Hey Chief, over here, you see I think they used gas for this."). Aside from that though I couldn't resist getting the next one to keep going. I very much enjoyed Tracy as a character, and she made me really want to keep following her around. I like how her mind processes things without overdoing her reasoning.

Overall very enjoyable twist, and I was happy to find out there's more to read!