Tracy Clark’s debut PI novel, Broken Places, was an award nominee. I spotted it at the time, and said fans of Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone will welcome Cass Raines. The second book in the series,  Borrowed Time, went on to win the 2020 Sue Grafton Award, which was appropriate. But, What You Don’t See might be Clark’s best so far.

Cass Raines is an ex-Chicago cop turned private investigator. She takes cases on her own terms, and doesn’t take any guff. When her ex-partner and close friend, Ben Mickerson, asks her to take a job and work with him, she’s reluctant. Ben’s moonlighting to get the money for a boat. Why would Cass want to be a bodyguard for a prima donna? Vonda Allen is the publisher of a magazine. She’s “The woman with her finger on the pulse of urbane and upwardly mobile black folk, the movers and shakers, the strider makers.” Cass wasn’t impressed when she read it, deciding she wasn’t quite urbane enough for the magazine.

Ben has a copy of a threatening letter that Allen received. Kaye Chandler, Allen’s gatekeeper and assistant, snuck it to him. Evidently she’s received a number of letters and unwelcome flowers. But, she won’t go to the police. Instead she wants to hire bodyguards. Cass even questions that choice. Why won’t Allen hire a high-priced security firm instead of a moonlighting cop and his former partner?

Once Cass meets Vonda and Kaye, she begins to understand. Allen doesn’t want anyone to get too close. She definitely has an attitude, but Raines isn’t one to be run over by another powerful black woman. She sees her treatment of her staff, and suspects it could be anyone who was once too close to the woman who could be the letter writer. But, threats are one thing. When two of Allen’s staff end up dead, this bodyguard gig gets a little more serious.

After the murders, Cass and Ben are extremely watchful when they accompany Allen to a bookstore for a signing. They’re both a little suspicious of someone with flowers, but neither of them expected the man to attack Ben with a knife. While Ben just hanging on to life in the hospital, Cass turns investigator. She wants to find the perpetrator. But, she also plans to dig into Vonda Allen’s past to find the person who is a threat and a killer.

Cass’ search is a step-by-step investigation into the past. It’s a case that brings back memories for her, but also shows her strengths and personal weaknesses. Cass left the police force because she was shot on duty, and blamed another officer. Now, another officer has been killed, the man’s partner. Raines doesn’t believe he should have still been on the force. She’s angry and bitter, and it shows. She doesn’t always work well with other cops, although she’s dating one. And, the other officers know Cass will only cooperate up to a point. She’s independent, a capable investigator. She doesn’t need anyone to ride to her rescue.

Cass Raines is a well-rounded character. She’s an ex-cop turned investigator. She’s dealt with tragedy in her life, and she’s still coping with family issues. Ben’s attack shakes her, and she doesn’t know quite how to deal with it. She wants to be at the hospital, while she also needs to look for the man who attacked him. “I considered Ben a part of my family, the one I’d cobbled together when the real one collapsed beneath me.” Cass Raines wants answers, and if she has to dig into and destroy Vonda Allen’s past and privacy to get them, she doesn’t care who stands in her way – Allen, her gatekeeper, Chandler, a security firm, or the police. She seeks justice for the people she loves.

Cass is a fierce, protective woman, loyal to that “family”. Her latest case is gripping. I tore through the book to discover Allen’s secrets and the solution. But, make no mistake. Cass Raines is the reason to read What You Don’t See.

Tracy Clark’s website is https://tracyclarkbooks.com/

What You Don’t See by Tracy Clark. Kensington Books, 2020. ISBN 9781496714930 (hardcover), 297p.

*****
FTC Full Disclosure – I bought a copy of the book.