Review: Her Cold Justice (Keera Duggan, #3) by Robert Dugoni

                                                              

Print Length: 380 pages

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer (January 27, 2026)

From Goodreads.com: In a quiet South Seattle neighborhood, a suspected drug smuggler and his girlfriend are murdered in their home. When a young man named Michael Westbrook is accused of the brutal double homicide, his uncle JP Harrison turns to Keera Duggan to defend him. JP is Keera’s trusted investigator, and he desperately needs Keera to save his nephew against escalating odds.

The evidence is circumstantial—Michael worked with one of the victims, drugs were found in his possession, and he bolted from authorities. Ruthless star prosecutor Anh Tran has gotten convictions on much less. With the testimony of two prison informants, the case looks grave. But Keera never concedes defeat. To free her client, she must dig deep before Tran crushes both of them.

As the investigation gets more twisted with each new find, Keera is swept up in a mystery with far-reaching consequences. This case isn’t just murder. It’s looking like a conspiracy. And getting justice for Michael could be the most dangerous promise Keera has ever made.

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My Rating: 2 stars out of 5

As a long time fan of both this author and this series, I hate to say that I was pretty underwhelmed by this third installment. It wasn’t a badly written book by any means, but it definitely stretched my suspension of disbelief far more than the previous two. I went in excited, and I walked away feeling… let down.

For starters, there were a couple of private scenes between Keera and Kim that were clearly meant to show how their dynamic shifted over the course of the novel. In theory, fine. In practice? They added absolutely nothing of substance to the plot. Especially the final scene between the two of them, which felt less like character development and more like filler thrown in to pad the page count.

Another moment that genuinely made me laugh (and not in a good way) was Keera asking the investigating officers whether her client had purchased the handgun used in the murders on eBay or Etsy as both platforms strictly prohibit firearm sales, and a very quick Google search would have made that abundantly clear. There were other platforms mentioned as well, but those two stood out so much that I felt they deserved to be mentioned.

Where the story really started to lose me, though, was the courtroom handling. The judge repeatedly allowed the prosecuting attorney to skirt the rules; calling witnesses out of order, claiming they hadn’t finalized who would testify, and generally operating with a level of flexibility Keera was never afforded. Meanwhile, Keera is given barely any time to review witness testimony, let alone prepare for cross-examination. It became frustrating to the point where it stopped feeling tense and just started feeling unfair in a way that didn’t serve the story.

Finally, let’s talk about the elephant in the room: Michael Westbrook. We’re told he’s a tall, well-built African American man with a history of selling drugs in his youth, and from there the narrative all but screams that everyone assumes he must still be doing so. To the author’s credit, this is occasionally addressed head-on. There’s a pointed conversation between detectives questioning whether the case would have been rushed to court if the defendant were white, and another moment where racial profiling is explicitly acknowledged. Those were strong, necessary moments.

Where it completely fell apart for me was Michael’s behavior in the courtroom. Having him lose his temper, flip a table, and attempt to physically attack a witness, all after Keera repeatedly tells him to breathe and let her handle it felt like the worst possible choice. Instead of reinforcing the critique of racial bias, it leaned directly into the stereotype the book seemed to be trying to condemn. 

And then there’s Kim Tran. Without diving into spoiler territory, I can safely say she was the worst prosecuting attorney Keera has faced so far, and not just for the obvious reasons. Her character grated on me from start to finish, but not in a way that felt intentional or compelling.

The ending was a mixed bag. There were moments that felt genuinely satisfying, but they were immediately undercut by everything that wasn’t resolved. After all of that, the fact that certain people still don’t pay for their crimes was infuriating. And what about everyone else involved in these dealings over the years? The lack of fallout made the conclusion feel hollow and left me feeling more angry than fulfilled.

That said, despite my issues with this installment, I would still continue with the series if the author decides to explore it further. I’m invested in Keera as a character, and I know this series is capable of better. I just hope the next one reins things in and delivers the payoff this book never quite managed.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.