A cold trail

Thriller Award--finalist Dugoni's impressive seventh Tracy Crosswhite mystery (after 2018's A Steep Price) finds Seattle homicide detective Tracy and attorney husband Dan back in Cedar Grove, Wash., where they both grew up and where Dan has taken on a complex case against Cedar Grove's mayor and a group of investors trying to revitalize the downtown area. The case puts Dan at odds with many of the townsfolk, and when Tracy gets involved in a fatal arson case, she's soon ruffling feathers as well. The arson victim was not only the police chief's wife but a reporter looking into a 1993 cold case, the murder of teen Heather Johansen. Heather was killed two years before Tracy's younger sister, Sarah, and their deaths are hauntingly similar. Worse, Tracy learns Heather was last seen on a dark country road headed to the Crosswhite house. Dugoni weaves a compulsively readable tale of love, loss, and greed. Readers will look forward to the further exploits of his sharp-witted detective. Agent: Meg Ruley, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (Feb.)