“I left her once,” she said. “I’m not leaving her again. I’m staying. To the end.”
Robert Dugoni
My Sister’s Grave
Format:
Audiobook
Note: At the time of this review, My Sister’s Grave is available in Kindle Unlimited with the audio included.
Publisher’s Synopsis:
Tracy Crosswhite has spent twenty years questioning the facts surrounding her sister Sarah’s disappearance and the murder trial that followed. She doesn’t believe that Edmund House-a convicted rapist and the man condemned for Sarah’s murder-is the guilty party. Motivated by the opportunity to obtain real justice, Tracy became a homicide detective with the Seattle PD and dedicated her life to tracking down killers.
When Sarah’s remains are finally discovered near their hometown in the northern Cascade mountains of Washington State, Tracy is determined to get the answers she s been seeking. As she searches for the real killer, she unearths dark, long-kept secrets that will forever change her relationship to her past and open the door to deadly danger.
Point of view:
3rd person. Multiple perspectives.
Rellim’s Thoughts:
This is the first in Robert Dugoni’s Tracy Crosswhite series. Start to finish this is an enjoyable listen. Dugoni has crafted thought out, relatable, & realistic characters.
Tracy Crosswhite is a detective in the Seattle PD who has never stopped searching for answers to what happened to her sister who disappeared 20 years earlier. When Sarah’s remains are discovered, it becomes apparent that a man convicted of her killing was set up. Proving that and unraveling what really happened provide for a compelling listen.
While I struggled at times with the back and forth of the timeline, it worked to help events unfurl. There’s no “red herrings” or slights to misdirect the reader, we’re along for the ride with Tracy and Dan as they uncover clues. While there’s a little bit of romance/relationship, it’s a very minor part of the story and closed door.
This story is obviously more personal to Tracy than the rest of the books of the series, but it’s a great way to get to know her and a basic introduction to the rest of the Seattle detective squad.
There’s a tiny supernatural element to the conclusion, but it honestly works because I think when you’re that close to someone when they’re alive it’s hard to know whether you just know them so well that it can be explained logically or that your connection with them allows a communication beyond human understanding.
This is a complete story, but launches a series and I’m looking forward to more.
Narration:
I loved Emily Sutton-Smith’s narration. Dugoni introduces a LOT of characters and Sutton-Smith brings them all to life with voices, accents, and personalities that perfectly match his prose. Switching between characters is seamless and she does a fantastic job bringing all the emotions through. Fantastic listen.
About the author:
Robert Dugoni is the critically acclaimed New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and #1 Amazon bestselling author of the Tracy Crosswhite police series set in Seattle, which has sold more than 8 million books worldwide. He is also the author of The Charles Jenkins espionage series, the David Sloane legal thriller series, and several stand-alone novels including The 7th Canon, Damage Control, and the literary novels, The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell – Suspense Magazine’s 2018 Book of the Year, for which Dugoni’s narration won an AudioFile Earphones Award and the critically acclaimed, The World Played Chess; as well as the nonfiction exposé The Cyanide Canary, a Washington Post Best Book of the Year. Several of his novels have been optioned for movies and television series. Dugoni is the recipient of the Nancy Pearl Award for Fiction and a three-time winner of the Friends of Mystery Spotted Owl Award for best novel set in the Pacific Northwest. He has also been a finalist for many other awards including the International Thriller Award, the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction, the Silver Falchion Award for mystery, and the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award.
Robert Dugoni’s books are sold in more than twenty-five countries and have been translated into more than thirty languages.
You can connect with Robert Dugoni here:
About the narrator:
Emily is a professional actress, and one of the co-Founders of the Williamston Theatre. Appearances on the WT stage include Out of Orbit (2018 Lansing City Pulse Pulsar Award, Best Actress in a Drama), Doublewide, Summer Retreat, Too Much, Too Much, Too Many, Miracle on South Division Street (2015 Wilde Award, Best Actress in a Comedy), End Days, The Usual: A Musical Love Story, The Smell of the Kill, The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-In-The-Moon Marigolds (2009 Best Actress Thespie Award, Lansing State Journal), Maidens, Mothers and Crones and Additional Particulars. A New York City native, she has worked onstage at almost all the Equity Theatres in Michigan, including the Purple Rose Theatre, Performance Network Theatre, Tipping Point Theatre, the Detroit Rep, the Jewish Ensemble Theatre, and MeadowBrook Theatre. Emily is a proud member of the Actors’ Equity Association and SAG/AFTRA. Film and TV credits include: The Funeral Guest, Gifted Hands, Butterfly Effect: Revelation, The Prince of Motor City and Nevermore. Emily is the narrator of over 175 audio books (available through Audible.com), studied acting at the Atlantic Theatre Company in New York City, and holds a Grande Diploma in Pastry Arts from the French Culinary Institute. She received her Master of Fine Arts degree from MSU.
You can connect with Emily Sutton-Smith here:
My Favorite Quotes
Sleep was like sex. The less you had, the more you craved it, and Tracy Crosswhite hadn’t had much of either lately. – My Sister’s Grave by @robertdugoni #Audiobook narrated by @esuttonsmith #Mystery #PoliceProcedural #ColdCase
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“I left her once,” she said. “I’m not leaving her again. I’m staying. To the end.” – My Sister’s Grave by @robertdugoni #Audiobook narrated by @esuttonsmith #Mystery #PoliceProcedural #ColdCase
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It was the part of every human being that clung to the hope, no matter how unlikely, that they could beat the odds. – My Sister’s Grave by @robertdugoni #Audiobook narrated by @esuttonsmith #Mystery #PoliceProcedural #ColdCase
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