A Dead Draw by Robert Dugoni @robertdugoni @emilysuttonsmith @brilliance.publishing #TracyCrosswhite #ADeadDraw

the setup…
Detective Tracy Crosswhite is known for her professionalism, maintaining her cool under pressure and her championship shooting skills. It’s when she’s interviewing murder suspect Erik Schmidt that it all comes to a crashing head. See, Schmidt was a close friend in prison of the man who murdered her sister. When he viciously taunts her during the interview, Schmidt unleashes Tracy’s former nightmares, this time including this evil man. She fails her qualifying shooting exercise for the first time and when Schmidt is released on a technicality, Tracy takes her family back to Cedar Grove to work with her original trainer…and prepare for the danger to come.

the heart of the story…
Unpopular opinion here…I loved the focus on the training! Despite what I thought that might be, it was less the technical aspects and more the psychological preparation. It was fascinating to learn and see the why of what made Tracy not only a formidable shooting champion but a great detective. Schmidt was beyond a formidable challenger and his presence was always in the background. My nerves were shattered as I waited for the climax that was inevitable.

the narration…
Emily Sutton-Smith will always be the voice of this series in my head and never more so than with this story. She defined Tracy and her storytelling skills were perfectly suited here.

the bottom line…
I found it hard to put this down with so much at stake. This was the heart of Tracy Crosswhite, forcing her to face all that she found precious and cared about. She was put to the test in ways she’d never faced and made vulnerable. While I disagreed with some of her choices, those she made were in character. I love this series and hope it never ends.

Book Info

• Release Date: May 27, 2025
• Series: Tracy Crosswhite #11
• Narrator: Emily Sutton-Smith
• Audio Length: 10 hours, 40 minutes
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio

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(Thanks to Brilliance Audio and NetGalley for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.)