For fans of the Tracy Crosswhite series, One Split Second is a strong entry — early advance readers, including a NetGalley reviewer at pecheyponderings.wordpress.com, praised Dugoni for keeping the stories feeling fresh twelve books in without retreating to familiar formulas. The dual-timeline construction — a present-day murder charge for Jenny Almond layered over a forty-five-year-old cold case tied to her late father Buzz Almond — gives the novel structural variety within a procedural framework the series has long made its own. Readers seeking a departure from the cold-case-and-courtroom formula may find the approach a known quantity, but for those already invested in Tracy, the personal stakes here are exactly what long-running series loyalty earns.

Robert Dugoni

Reviewed

October 22, 2026

Read Time

7 min read

Age & reading levelAdult

Reader rating

4.6

· 7,104 Amazon ratings

reader ratings, not a LuvemBooks score

$12.99 on Amazon

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One Split Second

Name: One Split Second
Author: Robert Dugoni
ISBN: 1662524757

One Split Second (Tracy Crosswhite) by Robert Dugoni Review: A Gripping Cold Case Meets Modern Justice

by Robert Dugoni

One Split Second (Tracy Crosswhite) is the twelfth entry in Robert Dugoni's New York Times bestselling series, following Seattle Detective Tracy Crosswhite as she defends an old friend — Sheriff Jenny Almond — charged with first-degree murder for shooting an unarmed veteran, while unearthing a forty-five-year-old disappearance that may be connected. Published by Thomas & Mercer in September 2026, it earns attention for weaving a decades-cold conspiracy into a taut present-day courtroom and detective thriller.

$12.99 on Amazon

LuvemBooks Verdict

Best for

Dedicated Tracy Crosswhite series followers who want a structurally inventive twelfth entry that weaves a present-day murder charge together with a forty-five-year-old cold case, rewarding the emotional investment built across eleven preceding novels.

Worth it if

Worth reading if you are already invested in Tracy Crosswhite's world and enjoy procedurals that pair cold case investigation with courtroom drama across interlocking timelines.

Skip if

Skip it if you are new to crime fiction and want a standalone entry with no prior emotional baggage to catch up on, or if you are seeking a departure from Dugoni's well-established series formula of cold case paired with courtroom thriller.

What readers & critics say

Advance reader commentary retrieved from pecheyponderings.wordpress.com awarded the novel eight stars, praising Dugoni for keeping the series feeling fresh twelve books in without retreating to familiar formulas. The blog at shetreadssoftly.com described One Split Second as "a very highly recommended investigative mystery," and a Kirkus Reviews starred review — surfaced via audible.com — states that "Dugoni brilliantly folds murders past and present into his heroine's earlier cases and her troubled history."

Sources: pecheyponderings.wordpress.com, shetreadssoftly.com, melovebooks.wordpress.com, app.thestorygraph.com

4.6from 7,104 Amazon ratings— reader ratings, not a LuvemBooks score

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One Split Second is the twelfth Tracy Crosswhite novel, in which Seattle Detective Tracy Crosswhite defends Sheriff Jenny Almond — charged with first-degree murder for shooting an unarmed veteran — while simultaneously unraveling a forty-five-year-old disappearance that her late father had spent his life trying to solve. Devoted series followers will find this the most rewarding entry in recent memory, with early advance readers praising Dugoni's ability to keep the dual-timeline, cold-case-meets-courtroom formula feeling fresh a dozen books in. Readers new to the series can follow the central mystery, but the full emotional resonance of Tracy's relationships is built across the eleven preceding novels.

Is it worth reading?: For fans of the Tracy Crosswhite series, One Split Second is a strong entry — early advance readers, including a NetGalley reviewer at pecheyponderings.wordpress.com, praised Dugoni for keeping the stories feeling fresh twelve books in without retreating to familiar formulas. The dual-timeline construction — a present-day murder charge for Jenny Almond layered over a forty-five-year-old cold case tied to her late father Buzz Almond — gives the novel structural variety within a procedural framework the series has long made its own. Readers seeking a departure from the cold-case-and-courtroom formula may find the approach a known quantity, but for those already invested in Tracy, the personal stakes here are exactly what long-running series loyalty earns.
Similar books: Readers drawn to One Split Second's blend of cold case investigation, courtroom drama, and dual timelines will find much to enjoy in the curated titles below. Charlie Donlea's Twenty Years Later similarly weaves a decades-old disappearance into a present-day investigation with propulsive pacing. David Ellis's Look Closer is a tightly constructed thriller for readers who enjoy morally complex legal and detective narratives. Karin Slaughter's We Are All Guilty Here delivers the kind of unflinching, character-driven crime fiction that fans of Dugoni's serious procedural tone tend to gravitate toward. Freida McFadden's Never Lie, with its dual-timeline structure and mystery built around buried secrets, offers another structural parallel for readers who responded to One Split Second's converging timelines.
Who should read this?: One Split Second is squarely aimed at devoted fans of the Tracy Crosswhite series who have followed Detective Tracy Crosswhite across the preceding eleven novels — the emotional stakes around Jenny Almond and the legacy of Buzz Almond's cold case carry the most weight for readers already invested in Tracy's world. It will also appeal broadly to fans of American crime fiction who enjoy the combination of cold case investigation and courtroom procedural, particularly those who appreciate a long-running series that maintains its quality. Readers who prefer standalone thrillers or are looking for a significant structural departure from the series' signature formula may find this less essential.
About Robert Dugoni: Robert Dugoni was born in Idaho and raised in Northern California, the middle child of a family of ten siblings. A graduate of Stanford University and UCLA School of Law, he is the New York Times and #1 Amazon bestselling author of multiple series, including the Tracy Crosswhite police series, the Charles Jenkins espionage series, and the David Sloane and Keera Duggan legal thriller series.
What are the main themes?: One Split Second engages with questions of justice and institutional accountability — particularly the tension between how a shooting looks on its surface and what a deeper investigation reveals about motive, circumstance, and systemic cover-up. The cold case strand explores the long shadow that unresolved injustice casts across generations: Buzz Almond spent his life believing Alvarez was framed by a conspiracy, and that belief now drives Tracy's investigation decades after his death. Loyalty — between Tracy and her old friend Jenny Almond, and between Jenny and her late father's legacy — runs through both timelines as a connective emotional thread.
Where should I start in the series?: For the richest experience, LuvemBooks recommends starting the Tracy Crosswhite series at book one — Tracy's personal history, particularly the unresolved murder of her own sister, accumulates meaning across all twelve entries, and the emotional weight of her relationships (including her connection to Jenny Almond in One Split Second) is earned gradually. Readers who join at book twelve will be able to follow the central mystery of Jenny's murder charge and the forty-five-year-old cold case without difficulty, but some character resonance will feel more complete for those who have accompanied Tracy from the beginning.

Summarize this book

Is it worth reading?

Who should read this?

About Robert Dugoni

What are the main themes?

Where should I start in the series?

Summarize this book

One Split Second is the twelfth installment in Robert Dugoni's Tracy Crosswhite series. Seattle Detective Tracy Crosswhite steps in to defend Sheriff Jenny Almond, who is charged with first-degree murder after shooting an unarmed veteran in what the prosecution frames as a straightforward case. Running alongside that present-day legal battle is a cold case stretching back more than forty-five years: a teenage babysitter's unsolved disappearance, a man named Alvarez long considered the prime suspect, and a conspiracy that Jenny's late father — lead investigator Buzz Almond — died believing had framed an innocent man. The publisher describes the two timelines as converging on a single blood-chilling connection.

Follow up

What happened in the cold case?

Why is Jenny Almond charged with murder?

What is the Tracy Crosswhite series about overall?

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Our Review

This review is based on the book's contents and published source commentary, not hands-on use or a personal read.

What the Book Contains: Two Crimes, One Thread

One Split Second (Tracy Crosswhite) centers on Detective Tracy Crosswhite as she steps in to defend Sheriff Jenny Almond, who is charged with first-degree murder after shooting an unarmed veteran in what the prosecution treats as a clear-cut case.

The second strand reaches back more than forty years. More than four decades ago, a man named Alvarez was the prime suspect in the unsolved disappearance of a teenage babysitter — a case that consumed Jenny's late father, lead investigator Buzz Almond, who died believing Alvarez had been framed by a conspiracy.

Tracy follows that thread into the past while navigating the legal and political pressures of the present. The publisher describes the two timelines as converging on a single blood-chilling connection, making the novel simultaneously a procedural, a cold case investigation, and a courtroom thriller.

Its Place in the Series and the Genre

The Tracy Crosswhite series, which follows a Seattle detective shadowed by the unresolved murder of her own sister, has become one of the more durable franchises in American crime fiction. It is an Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling series, and Dugoni is a New York Times bestselling author.

The series' hallmark — pairing cold case investigations with courtroom drama — has drawn a loyal readership across its run. One Split Second (Tracy Crosswhite) arrives as the twelfth book and does not depart from that structural signature, anchoring both its emotional stakes and its procedural tension in that familiar but effective combination.

What the Sources Say It Does Well

Early commentary from advance readers points to the series' sustained vitality at this stage of its run. The blogger at pecheyponderings.wordpress.com, writing from a NetGalley copy, awarded the novel eight stars and noted that "Dugoni continues to keep the stories feeling fresh, balancing cold case investigations with courtroom drama while ensuring Tracy remains at the center of the action without relying on familiar formulas."

That consistency across a long series is a genuine achievement. The same source praised the novel's dual-timeline construction as a vehicle for keeping the procedural elements from feeling mechanical or repetitive twelve books in.

The Audiobook Option

An audiobook edition, narrated by Emily Sutton-Smith, is available alongside the print edition from Thomas & Mercer and Brilliance Publishing. The audio version runs approximately eleven hours and three minutes.

The blogger at melovebooks.wordpress.com, who received an advance copy and chose the audiobook format, wrote that the listening experience deepened their engagement with the story, calling it among their most enjoyable encounters with Crosswhite to date. For readers who have been following the series but have not tried the audio format, this entry appears — based on that source — to be a well-regarded starting point for it.

Who the Book Is For and Its Practical Considerations

Readers new to the series will find that the cold case at the heart of One Split Second (Tracy Crosswhite) stands on its own as a mystery. However, the emotional weight of Tracy's personal history — including her connection to Jenny Almond and the background of her sister's murder — accumulates across the preceding books.

Those coming to the series for the first time at book twelve will follow the plot without difficulty, but may feel the character relationships carry a resonance that earlier installments have earned. Dedicated series followers, by contrast, will find this entry rewards their investment directly — the stakes for Tracy are personal in ways that only prior context fully illuminates.

Sources & Further Reading

The key facts and claims in this review are grounded in the retrieved, verified sources listed below.

Cited in this review
1
AUDIO ARC REVIEW: One Split Second – by Robert Dugoni
melovebooks.wordpress.com
2
One Split Second by Robert Dugoni | The Poisoned Pen
store.poisonedpen.com
Further reading
3
One Split Second (Tracy Crosswhite #12) by Robert Dugoni
risingshadow.net
4
One Split Second (Tracy Crosswhite #12) | Third Place Books
thirdplacebooks.com
5
Reviews - One Split Second | The StoryGraph
app.thestorygraph.com
6
She Treads Softly: One Split Second
shetreadssoftly.com

Age & Reading Level

Recommended age

Adult

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Tropes

dual timelinemorally grey

From how readers and romance sites describe it, not our own reading.

2 content notes · who it suits

Content to know about

shooting of an unarmed veteran

decades-old disappearance of a teenager

Skip if you want a standalone thriller with no prior series investment or are seeking a departure from the cold-case-and-courtroom procedural formula

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Books like One Split Second

Curated picks for readers who enjoyed One Split Second, with our reasoning for each match.

More by Robert Dugoni

On Amazon

The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell

Robert Dugoni

Dugoni's standalone bestseller trades police procedure for an emotional coming-of-age story, showing the same humane character work that grounds Tracy Crosswhite.

Sam Hell follows a boy born with red eyes who grows up navigating bullying, faith, and friendship in small-town California. It has no murders or courtroom battles, but it carries the same empathy and moral weight Dugoni gives his detectives. It suits readers who realized the characters, not the case, are what keep them coming back to the Crosswhite series.

On Amazon

The Eighth Sister

Robert Dugoni

Dugoni's Charles Jenkins spy series swaps Seattle homicide for international espionage while keeping his tight plotting and under-pressure protagonists.

If you liked One Split Second

In our catalogue

Twenty Years Later

Charlie Donlea

A decades-old mystery resurfaces to collide with a present-day investigation, mirroring the 45-year-old disappearance woven into One Split Second's murder trial.

In our catalogue

Look Closer

David Ellis

A twist-driven legal thriller centered on a murder charge where nothing about the accused or the victim is what it first appears.

In our catalogue

We Are All Guilty Here

Karin Slaughter

A small-town crime investigation where everyone knows everyone and long-held secrets poison the present, matching the sheriff-versus-community tension in Dugoni's novel.

Not your thing?

In our catalogue

Never Lie

Freida McFadden

For readers who found the series mythology and dual-timeline build slow, this is a lean, single-sitting thriller with a twist every few chapters.