3.5 stars, maybe 4. 
 Two cases, one present and active and one past and closed. The latter gets reopened by Crosswhite as a favor to a friend. Although that case was ruled a suicide, the friend's father, who worked on the case, was never satisfied with that resolution. At the same time that Crosswhite is working that case, she and her partner are working a present day case that appears simple at first but quickly gets complicated. 
 The two cases don't have much in common but it was fascinating watching Crosswhite, her partner, and their team work them. Especially fascinating was the difference in technology, and also methodology as Dugoni shows us the old case as it was worked by the original detective back in 1976 and as it's worked now by Crosswhite. She works it thoroughly and patiently, using modern techniques and resources while being hampered by the fact that witnesses and people otherwise involved have died, moved, or gotten ill. The story is a sad one, there's not a happy ending though Crosswhite does find answers. I got a little bit overwhelmed with some of the details concerning, water, rivers, temperature, speed, etc. The information was necessary to the story but could probably have been trimmed a bit. 
 The modern day story was gripping and also sad though really, any story where there's death and murder is going to be sad. The story took turns both predictable and unexpected. At times I was certain I knew where Dugoni and then BOOM! Left turn. But the twists and turns weren't simply to keep us awake or on our toes; they served the story and moved things along or revealed new information about the case or a character. 
 "In the Clearing" was a sad yet satisfying story that kept me up late, swiping the screen on my Kindle. 
 Also, some people shouldn't be parents. Really, they shouldn't. Come to think of it, that applies to both the stories, so they are connected, if tenuously