| A Steep Price by Robert Dugoni
perfectly balances the character’s professional and
personal lives. This sixth book in the series continues with
Seattle Violent Crimes homicide detective Tracy Crosswhite
and her fellow A-Teamcolleagues. Although the two cases to
solve are not related, Dugoni is able to show how a real precinct
works.
The first crime has Vic Fazzio (Faz) and his partner investigating
the murder of a community activist who stood up to the realities
of drug dealing, sex escorts, and gangs. Faz’s determination
to nail the obvious suspect leads him to a South Park housing
project. He searches for evidence against the menacing Cartel
Surano, which is led by Little Jimmy. They are a powerful
local gang, dealing in drugs and terrorizing the local community,
ensuring that they do not cooperate with the police. Because
his partner injured his back Vic is now paired with the newbie,
Andrea Gonzalez. Complicating everything is the shooting of
the key witness. His and Gonzalez’s account do not mesh
and it appears she is trying to frame him over the fatal shot.
The other crime has Tracy Crosswhite helping on a missing
person’s case. Besides the investigation Dugoni explores
many social issues including “sugar dating,” and
the different cultural expectations of East Indian women versus
the ramifications in contemporary society. After the body
turns up in an abandoned well, Tracy wonders if anyone in
the victim’s estranged family is responsible. Kavita
Mukherjeebalked at an arranged marriage and had plans to attend
medical school, but her dreams have now been cut short. She
was resolute to make it on her own and raised money by having
a “sugar daddy” on the side. With people of interest
mounting up Tracy is determined to find Kavita’s killer.
Dugoni explained, “I got into an UBER with a young guy
in the car. We got to talking and he told me he had just been
married. I asked if he had dated for a long time and the response,
‘no, it was an arranged marriage’ He was Eastern
Indian and told me he met her twice before the marriage. His
parents were the product of an arranged marriage and have
been together for thirty years. I was told by him arranged
marriages have a lot fewer divorces. As he was talking I took
notes in my head and then started the research.”
To help solve the crime Tracy uses a technological angle.
Cell phones play an important role and they almost appear
to be a secondary character. The important keys include the
phone’s location history, the Find My iPhone app that
can be shared between phones, and text messages with parental
safeguards. It is a subtle warning of how technology contributes
to less privacy for the individual.
Another issue explored is maternity leave. Tracy is pregnant
and worries that a new hire, Andrea Gonzalez, is being groomed
to take her place. A book quote explains her thinking, “It
would be much more difficult for her to argue discrimination
if Nolasco (her Captain) replaced her with another woman-especially
a minority woman.”
“I wrote Tracy as a tough cookie. When on the job she
is all business. Her problem is she must deal with a sexist
pig, Captain Johnny Nolasco. Her concern is that he brought
in a Hispanic woman, Andrea Gonzalez. If a team has an urgent
need they can bring in somebody. She can have her job back,
but not necessarily with the A Team. She will have to be put
back in a position of a detective on a violent crimes team.
Yet, she can become the fifth wheel or go to another team.
It will be difficult for her to argue she was demoted because
of sexism. I think in other circumstances she and Gonzalez
would probably have been close instead of clashing as they
are now.”
The dedication of the book, “To all the women who have
suffered from breast cancer and have fought the good fight.
Hopefully, someday, research will break through and we finally
will have a cure.” In this story, a few of the characters
are suffering from breast cancer, Vera included. “I
wrote those scenes because some in my family have it. My mother
is a breast-cancer survivor of twenty-five years. She went
through it when I was younger. I have a sister-in-law who
is currently going through this. We lost my cousin’s
wife from breast cancer. It really impacts families. It really
impacted me. It is very difficult.”
These fast-moving plot lines intertwined with some social
issues creates a gripping story. Dugoni’s ability to
tell a riveting action-packed plot while exploring the topics
of arranged marriages, returning to work after a pregnancy,
a cancer diagnosis, sex escorts, and drug dealers within a
community, makes for a riveting suspense novel.
Reviews of other titles by this author
Damage
Control
The
Jury Master
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