If you’re looking for a chilly winter read with a chilling premise, you need to pick up Echo: A Detective Harriet Foster Thriller.
What’s Echo about?
Echo is the third and final book in the Detective Harriet Foster series by Tracy Clark. The primary plot of this novel focuses on Chicago police detective Harriet “Harri” Foster, who’s working with her partner Vera Li to solve the murder of a billionaire’s college-age son and the string of murders that follow in its wake.
However, you get two-for-one with Echo. There’s a second plotline woven through the thriller that picks up the final thread of a case that started in the series’ first book, Hide. Here’s a spoiler-free quick recap: The previous novels had Harri investigating the death of her previous partner, Glynnis. Glynnis’ death was ruled a suicide, but Harri didn’t buy it. She thinks Glynnis was murdered. Apparently, Harri’s suspicions were correct because she’s been following up on cryptic leads throughout books 1 and 2 to find out the true story behind Glynnis’s death. Echo brings us the culmination of her emotional and tension-filled search for justice.
Do you need to read the first two books in the A Detective Harriet Foster Thriller series before reading Echo?
While I’m sure it’s helpful to read the first books — Hide and Fall — you don’t need to read them before jumping into Echo. I didn’t, and I kept up just fine. Clark does a good job of getting a new reader up to speed with Harri’s efforts to bring Glynnis’ suspected killer to justice over the first two books.
What I enjoyed about Echo
There are similarities between the two police cases, and one case detail often reminds Harry of the other case. This means the action in Echo frequently flip-flops between the two cases that Harri and Vera are working on. Because, of course, Vera also entangles herself in the Glynnis case.
One of the best things about Echo is the dynamic between Harri and Vera, who seems to be the closest thing that Harri has to a friend now that Glynnis is gone. Vera is awesome. She’s a softie with a good heart, but she also won’t hesitate to drop-kick a motherfucker if she has to. All the guys in the police station bow to her kick-ass-ity. It’s wonderful.
Speaking of other cops: the supporting characters in Echo are more or less the stereotypical long-time male cops operating in a predominantly white male cop world. Harri – and author Clark – does a good job of acknowledging their flaws, even calling them out on several of the less PC flubs.
However, we see a good side to the guys down at the station, too. This is mostly shown via fly-on-the-wall scenes full of good-natured ribbing and workplace banter between the colleagues. There’s duality in most people, and Clark captures that particularly well when the team needs to ban together when one of their own is threatened. It’s pretty darn heartwarming, as far as cop thrillers go.
An interesting approach to thrillers
Something I found really interesting about Echo is that it’s not as heavy on the suspense as I thought it would be. In a good way. Most police procedurals have you wondering “whodunit” for most of the story. It isn’t until the end of the book that all is revealed to the characters and to the reader.
However, Echo reveals who the killers are – in both cases – pretty early on in the novel. We even see events through their eyes, which was a neat perspective twist. The reader knows what’s up while Harri and the rest of the Chicago police department are trying to figure it out.
While knowing “whodunit” so early may sound boring, it’s not. The dramatic irony works in Echo. I was fine tagging along with Harri and Vera while they did their research, conducted their interviews, and slowly but surely unpacked the “big reveals.”
Should you read Echo: A Detective Harriet Foster Thriller?
Echo‘s a clever thriller. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, a lot of twists, and a lot of plot points to follow. Clark’s writing is engaging and good. The wintry setting of Chicago is delightfully gritty and grim. And, the twists and turns of Harri’s two cases manage to keep up some level of suspense, despite the reader knowing who the culprits are. This novel is great for fans of Raven Black or shows like Mare of Easton. It would also be appreciated by fans of gritty Chicago true crime thrillers like Forgotten Sisters.
As I said, I read Echo without reading the prevous books in the Detective Harriet Foster series. But, now I’m eager to go back and read Hide and Fall to enjoy Harri’s story from the beginning.
What’s the book-inspired recipe for Echo: A Detective Harriet Foster Thriller?
Be sure to check back in for my book-inspired recipe: Pink Sprinkle Baked Doughnuts.
