In the Clearing

A cold case preoccupies Tracy Crosswhite in Dugoni’s well-plotted third crime novel featuring the Seattle homicide detective (after 2015’s Her Final Breath). Klickitat County Sheriff Jenny Almond asks Tracy to take a look at a file that Jenny’s late father, retired sheriff Buzz Almond, held on to for 40 years. One night in 1976, high school senior Kimi Kanasket never made it home from the diner where she worked. Her body was later found in the White Salmon River, and her death was ruled a suicide. Buzz, then a deputy sheriff, did his duty by retracing Kimi’s route home, but he was later told by the detective in charge, Jerry Ostertag, to leave the investigation alone. In the present, Buzz’s file and the help of experts like senior crime scene analyst Kaylee Wright and forensic anthropologist Kelly Rosa put Tracy on the trail of four former high school football stars known as the Four Ironmen. Tracy displays ingenuity and bravery as she strives to figure out who killed Kimi. [em]Agent: Meg Ruley, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (May) [/em]