Cassandra Raines is a former police officer with the Chicago Police Department, who after a horrific incident resigned from the force and became a Private Investigator. Her next case comes from Leesa Evans, searching for her missing 15-year-old daughter, Ramona Titus, who ran away from her foster home in the dead of winter. RUNNER by Tracy Clark puts PI Raines to the task yet again to track down the missing teenager – however, as Cass gets closer to finding Ramona, she discovers that the case is more complicated than just one missing teenager. 

RUNNER is the fourth installment in the Cass Raines/Chicago Mystery series by Tracy Clark. Readers who read the first three books already know and likely love Cass. She grew up in the city and puts her community connections to good use – combined with her tenacious drive and quick wit, she’s damn good at her job. She’s a badass and makes very quick decisions – that while extremely unsafe at times, often pay off in the long run. Part of me wishes I could be more like Cass, but another part of me is fine with just reading about her cases. 

Upon investigating Ramona’s whereabouts, Cass talks to several key players; there’s Deloris Poole, Ramona’s foster mother, who has a glowing track record when it comes to fostering kids. Poole seems to genuinely be concerned about Ramona’s safety and well-being. Frank Martini, a retired detective who is assisting with the case at the request of Detective Hogan of the CPD, seems alright to Cass upon first meeting him, and she needs his expertise as someone who specialized in missing persons cases. Ronald Shaw, Ramona’s case worker, is the only contact who seems the most nervous during his visit with Cass. As Cass finds more information regarding Ramona’s life and personality, she begins to uncover something more sinister than a simple runaway teenager – and wondering why Poole, Martini, and Shaw are all directly involved. 

Reading RUNNER is the first time I’m meeting Cass Raines – however, Clark expertly tells the story in which I was able to follow along without reading the first three books. She also sprinkles any details and characters from Cass’s background into the storyline, so that readers don’t miss a beat. Even so, I was hooked to the story and rooting for Cass the entire way through. 

Maybe I’m a sucker for crime/mystery novels and have a sweet spot for my home city, but for me this book was a page-turner. Clark lets Cass take the lead, guiding readers through the investigation and allowing them to solve the case with her. The further I got into the story, the more invested I became into finding Ramona and learning why she ran away during a Chicago winter. When readers do find out, the reason leads to even more questions. 

Clark paces the story very well, which picks up towards the end for a showdown that you’ll have to finish in one sitting – or else you won’t be able to stop thinking about it until you do. I also enjoyed that we still got parts of Cass’s personal life and the larger story arc that spans over the entire series thus far. Not only does this illustrate Cass’s life beyond RUNNER, but also gets first-timers like me adding the first three books to their to-read list. In fact, as of posting this review, I’ve already listened to the first book, Broken Places, on audiobook. And I can’t wait to move on to the next. 

I had a wonderful Cantina Conversation with author Tracy Clark, where we discussed her experience as a black female published author, her writing processes, and upcoming projects. Stay tuned for the interview on an upcoming episode of The Nerd Cantina Show podcast, and pre-order RUNNER, available on June 29. The first three titles in the Cass Raines/Chicago Mystery series, Broken Places, Borrowed Time, and What You Don’t See, are available now.