A Goodreads Best Book of the Month
“One of the best books I’ll read this year.” —Lisa Gardner, bestselling author of Touch and Go
“Dugoni does a superior job of positioning [the plot elements] for maximum impact, especially in a climactic scene set in an abandoned mine during a blizzard—which is melodramatic but nevertheless effective.” —Publishers Weekly
“Yes, a conspiracy is revealed, but it’s an unexpected one, as moving as it is startling...The ending is violent, suspenseful, even touching. A nice surprise for thriller fans.” —Booklist
Starred Review: “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
“Well-written and its classic premise is sure to absorb legal-thriller fans...Though the pace lags at times, the characters are richly detailed and true to life, and the ending is sure to please fans.” —Kirkus Reviews
“My Sister’s Grave is a chilling portrait shaded in neo-noir, as if someone had taken a knife to a Norman Rockwell painting by casting small town America as the place where bad guys blend into the landscape, establishing Dugoni as a force to be reckoned with outside the courtroom as well as in.” —Providence Journal
“What starts out as a sturdy police procedural morphs into a gripping legal thriller...Dugoni is a superb storyteller, and his courtroom drama shines. This ‘Grave’ is one to get lost in.” —Boston Globe
“...a swift, engrossing story that shrewdly combines elements of police procedurals and legal thrillers.” –The Seattle Times
“This story captured my attention, and made me care about Tracy and Sarah and what happened to them. This is a compelling story, difficult to put down, and the ending was not at all what I expected. I loved My Sister’s Grave and was drawn in from the beginning, and can easily recommend it to anyone who loves a good mystery.” —Bitten by Books
08/11/2014
Expert pacing saves the day in this standalone novel from Dugoni (The Conviction) starring Det. Tracy Crosswhite, a Seattle policewoman obsessed with solving the supposedly closed case of her sister Sarah’s disappearance. When the young woman’s remains are finally discovered, Tracy returns to her hometown of Cedar Grove, Wash., in the Cascade Mountains. She is determined to reevaluate the evidence that sent suspicious local man Edmund House to prison for Sarah’s rape and murder 20 years before. Dan O’Leary, one of Tracy’s childhood friends who is now an outstanding courtroom lawyer (and virile but sensitive stud), assists her in obtaining a hearing to free Edmund and reopen the case. The plot elements may not be exactly fresh, but Dugoni does a superior job of positioning them for maximum impact, especially in a climactic scene set in an abandoned mine during a blizzard—which is melodramatic but nevertheless effective. Agent: Meg Ruley, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (Oct.)
★ 09/01/2014
Dugoni's latest novel (The Conviction; Murder One) combines the best of a police procedural with a legal thriller, and the end result is outstanding. Seattle police officer Tracy Crosswhite lost her sister Sarah over 20 years ago, and she has never forgiven herself. With no corpse discovered, there was still enough evidence to convict the man thought responsible for Sarah's disappearance. Now a body has been found and Tracy learns the remains are of her sister. Tracy has had her doubts about the guilt of the man behind bars, and she's absolutely sure there is a murderer still loose. Can she get a new trial to free an innocent man and also find out the truth? VERDICT Dugoni continues to deliver emotional and gut-wrenching, character-driven suspense stories that will resonate with any fan of the thriller genre. The author's series protagonist lawyer David Sloane is nowhere to be found, but readers will not care. In fact, they will eagerly await another story featuring Tracy Crosswhite.—Jeff Ayers, Seattle P.L.
2014-10-01
A Seattle homicide detective is thrust back into a painfully personal case when the remains of her 20-years-vanished younger sister are uncovered in a shallow grave near Cedar Grove, the Washington mountain town where they grew up.Forty-two-year-old Tracy Crosswhite has long felt responsible for what happened the night her goofy, fun-loving sister, Sarah, disappeared. Former lawyer Dugoni (The Conviction, 2012, etc.) retells the events of that evening in flashback, recounting how, upon leaving a shooting championship, Tracy asked Sarah to drive her truck back to Cedar Grove during a storm so Tracy and her boyfriend could make it to their romantic dinner reservation. The next morning, the empty truck was discovered on a county road with Sarah nowhere to be found, and her disappearance turned both the Crosswhite family and the town itself upside down. As Tracy's engagement fell apart and her parents lost themselves to grief, Tracy found herself doubting the legality of the trial that eventually put local oddball Edmund House in prison for Sarah's apparent murder. Now, with the fresh evidence of her sister's remains in her arsenal, Tracy seizes the opportunity to reinvestigate Sarah's fate—and the possible conspiracy she believes led a man to get convicted for a crime he didn't commit. The majority of the book centers on Tracy's quest to uncover the truth and secure a new trial for House. Though the book is well-written and its classic premise is sure to absorb legal-thriller fans, it grows a bit plodding at times, with too many pages dedicated to House's retrial.Though the pace lags at times, the characters are richly detailed and true to life, and the ending is sure to please fans.
