Her Last Breath by Robert Dugoni

 

There's always work for homicide detective Tracy Crosswhite.  Someone is killing exotic dancers, tying them up so that when they tried to find relief they strangled themselves.  The press has jumped on the case, naming the killer The Cowboy.  Tracy doesn't care what they call him; she just knows he will continue until he is caught.

Then there is the matter of her boss.  He doesn't like Tracy and he makes it very evident.  Tracy has been put in charge of the task force chasing the killer and he is sabotaging her efforts behind the scene.  When Tracy discovers that nine years ago, one of his cases may have been the Cowboy's first kill, he is incensed and determined to push her out of the force.  He has no intention of letting her investigate his past work.

Soon The Cowboy's kills number five and things are getting dicey.  It's clear that he has focused his intentions on Tracy herself and she now has to watch her back twenty-four hours a day.  Can she and her team find the killer before he finds her?

This is the second novel in the Tracy Crosswhite series.  She is a sympathetic character with her family background of a murdered sister whose case she solved in the first book.  Now she is fighting for her career and life in a Seattle murder case that could consume her.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.