IN THE CLEARING is a continuation of Robert Dugoni's Tracy Crosswhite series. She's a detective with the Seattle PD, and in this book she is involved in two cases, one outside her jurisdiction as a favor to a friend. Each case is a mystery to be solved.

The unraveling of mysteries is interesting, so that kept me reading to the end. Unfortunately for me, though, the stories were too easy to put down. And while they did contain suspense, it wasn't enough to make me anxious to pick the book back up. I liked it, though, just not enough to read it quickly.

This disappoints me because I know Dugoni can write a story that is unputdownable. Probably he should give Crosswhite a rest and write a standalone or get back to David Sloane's great courtroom drama. We need more like THE CONVICTION.