As the book opens, Sarah's remains are finally found by two hunters in a heavily wooded area that had previously been covered by a lake. The discovery of the body raises even more questions about the case against Edmund House and makes Tracy even more determined to make sure that the person who killed her sister pays the price. Her efforts will antagonize a good number of people in the small town where she grew up and where the crime occurred. They will also place Tracy herself in a considerable amount of jeopardy. Tracy Crosswhite still looks over her shoulder in the direction of her sister's murder twenty years ago. You never get over the death of a loved one and you can never quite cross the bridge. That bridge is paved with the stones of so many unanswered questions and no physical remains. While reconstructing the days leading up to the girl’s disappearance, Tracy is brought into an active investigation with former partner Kinsington Rowe. A young woman has vanished on an isolated jogging trail in North Seattle. Divided between two critical cases, Tracy has little to go on except the treacherous deceptions behind a broken marriage—and now, the secrets hiding behind the closed doors of a deceptively quiet middle-class neighborhood. Robert Dugoni’s My Sister’s Grave, follows Tracy Crosswhite as she puts to rest the case of her sister’s disappearance some twenty years after the fact. Through her efforts, the improper conviction of Edmund House is overturned and appropriate justice enacted upon the person who had abducted, raped and killed Sarah Crosswhite, Tracy’s sister, in the early 1990s. Along the way, the small town of Cedar Grove, Washington, is afforded final closure, and Tracy is able to set aside a decades-long obsession and live in the present once again. This book has been sitting in my TBR pile for a long time, but finally made it to the top of the heap. This is a pleasure read for me and I am so glad I finally got to enjoy it.

The following version of the novel was used to create this study guide: Dugoni, Robert. My Sister’s Grave. Thomas & Mercer, November 1, 2014. Kindle. This is an easy book to fly through. The plot, though pretty straightforward, held my interest throughout, though there are some slower spots during the first third of the story. Once the story gets rolling there is plenty of suspense and some nifty little twists to relish. There is a bit of possible romance, which I never object to. Most importantly, I was fooled in the end, always a plus. There is more courtroom action than I expected, but I was surprised to find that I really enjoyed it. I must read more legal thrillers as I think I’ve been missing out. He pulled me into this story and kept it interesting throughout. I always cringe with the idea that a crucial piece of evidence will appear right BEFORE the end of the trial, or the lawyer will manage to break a seemingly intelligent person on the stand, making them confess in court and saving the day JUST when everything seems lost. This writer avoided that. In fact, there was very little of the story that happened inside the courtroom. And, add to that, everything was believable! It’s been 20 years since Tracy Crosswhite’s sister, Sarah, disappeared one night as she drove home. The evening was supposed to be a wildly happy one for Tracy, but it turned into the worst nightmare she ever could have imagined. Guilt has eaten at her since; in fact, it threatens to crush her. How could she have let her little sister drive off alone? In an instant her life changed, along with her goals. I'm giving this 2 stars ("it was okay") instead of 1 because, like I said, the story held together. I read to the end to find out "who dun it." There was even a court scene in the middle which I thought was nicely done, and I appreciate that the author didn't give us the gory details of what happened to the victim. But I doubt I'll read any more of this author's work unless his writing significantly improves.

This had a bit of everything I like in a mystery, including riveting courtroom drama, which I’m particularly drawn to when it’s done well as it is here. Tracy is smart and resourceful, having to go up against local law enforcement and her own brass. She manages politics adeptly and has strong investigative skills. I must admit that I was completely surprised by the ending, even though there were enough clues to prepare me. But they were subtle and nuanced, never quite conclusive. I’m also loving the narrator who’s a great storyteller. I’ll definitely be listening to the rest of this series. While Sarah’s mystery was solved, there are many open questions about what’s next for Tracy. I couldn’t put this one down.

Twenty years later, the pain is still sharp and ultimately led Tracy to give up her career as a teacher to become a homicide detective. Her parents are no longer alive, but the same Sheriff and others involved in the original investigation and manhunt are still around, and she questions them all. My Sister's grave is well written and well narrated. The second book in the Tracy Crosswhite series (which I will review soon) was released two months ago (the title is Her Final Breath). The third book in the series, In the Clearing, will be released on May 17, 2016.

The Tracy Crosswhite Series in Order (12 Books)

When she uncovers the driver’s ties to a rash of recent heroin overdoses in the city, she realizes that this isn’t just a case of the military protecting its own. It runs much deeper than that, and the accused wasn’t acting alone. For Tracy, it’s all hitting very close to home.

In the years since her sister disappeared, Tracy quits her teaching job, moved to Seattle, and became a homicide detective, while working on her sister’s case whenever possible. Tracy never bought into the theory that the man accused of killing her sister was guilty. Now that Sarah’s body has been found, Tracy hires her childhood friend, Dan, to help her prove the wrong man was convicted. But, the local sheriff pulls out all the stops to make sure a new trial never takes place. Was there a conspiracy? Who really killed Sarah and how will Tracy manage to prove it? The lead character is Detective Tracy Crosswhite with the Seattle PD. The first book started 20 years after Tracy's sister Sarah disappeared and was presumed murdered. That was the deciding factor in Tracy joining Seattle PD. Most mystery/thriller novels are fairly formulaic but while I know this, I generally don't feel it while I'm reading. I've spent some time in *deep meditation* culling through all the reasons this could be and after communing with some book gods and spirit animals I've come up with my top three: The story: Tracy Crosswhite is a Chicago detective, good at her job but haunted by personal demons (and that sounds like a thousand other stories out there, I know, but this gets interesting really fast). Her sister disappeared twenty years ago, her body never discovered, but somebody got caught and was sentenced to life in prison for the murder. Tracy learned later that it had been her father’s idea to frame Edmund. He and the sheriff knew that Edmund was responsible for killing Sarah but did not want Tracy to know that she was Edmund’s target, not Sarah. Because Crosswhite made who helped with the cover-up promise to never tell Tracy the truth about Sarah’s death, they had been unable to tell her exactly why she should stop pursuing Edmund’s innocence. Tracy and Calloway, who had often butted heads over Tracy’s persistence that Sarah’s case had been mishandled, both agreed in the end that even if Calloway had told Tracy what her father had done, Tracy would not have believed him.

Publication Order of Tracy Crosswhite Books

Tracy and her sister, Sarah, were inseparable until the night of her disappearance. Gone. Vanished. Out of sight. But the tragedy lingers and takes its toll. The family dynamics change forever. Tracy re-invents herself from chemistry teacher to a Seattle detective leaving the likes of her small town of Cedar Grove in the rearview mirror. This novel will appeal to fans of legal crime thrillers, courtroom dramas, investigations, and police procedures with well-developed characters, in a small town setting...with a twisted ending.