It’s been a little while since I’ve been able to update The Cozy Dude newsletter. The truth is I’ve been incredibly busy.

I have my everyday, normal responsibilities, but I’ve also been working on my own fiction. Back in August I released the fifth book in my paranormal cozy mystery series, Shady, Sinister Shifters. I’m putting the finishing touches on the first book in my next series, the Harry Ferriman Investigations. Plus, I’m currently running a serial here on Substack called the Alien Alphabet Murders. It’s a series of stories and the first one is A is for Area 51.

So, yeah, I’ve been staying busy.

My last post was covering the first season of Psych. While I’ll return to reviewing future seasons of one of my favorite mystery shows, I recently finish the first season of a new mystery series called Tracker.

I’m a big fan of Justin Hartley but not because of his This Is Us role. One thing you probably don’t know about me is I’m a big superhero nerd. I love that genre, going back to comic books all the way up to the Marvel and DC movies. So, of course, I was a fan of Smallville. And back then is where I was first introduced to Justin Hartley, when he was cast as Oliver Queen. The Green Arrow.

Anyway, fast forward all these years later and Hartley has been in a lot of other roles and is now the main character in CBS’s original show, Tracker.

Now, this isn’t exactly a cozy mystery show. Tracker is based on Jeffery Deaver’s The Never Game. I haven’t read the book but it seems to be more of a suspense thriller than a cozy mystery. Because Tracker is on network television, they do tame down anything in the book that might be a little spicier. So even though there is a suspense aspect to it, because it’s on CBS it does come off as a little more of a relaxed mystery than something that might air on cable or a streaming service.

One thing I really like in shows and books is when there’s an overarching mystery to be solved and Tracker has that. Hartley plays Colter Shaw, someone who grew up as a survivalist thanks to his parents, and now he makes his living as a rewardist. He basically travels the country and helps find people who are missing that have rewards for their recovery. It’s an interesting concept.

The over-arching mystery when it comes to Colter is that his dad fell to his death one night during a storm off a cliff. Colter isn’t sure what happened to him, but is sure there was a second person on the cliff where his father fell.

For most of the season, Colter thinks his estranged brother was behind their father’s death, but then towards the end of the season, we’re introduced to another Shaw relative. Colter Shaw has a sister.

By the end of the season, we’re given a brand new secret thread to investigate about Colter’s dad. A man who didn’t trust the government but mysteriously seemed to have worked for some branch of the government for a while.

As far as the over-arching mystery of the show, I really find it to be lacking. For the longest time throughout the thirteen-episode season one, the show was really setting up some kind of big showdown between Colter and his brother, Russell.

When Russell, played by Jensen Ackles, finally appears in the twelfth episode, there is a little back and forth between the two, but it’s settled quite quickly, and by the end Colter doesn’t think his brother had anything to do with his father’s death. It wraps up that family drama in a little too perfect of a bow for my liking.

The mysteries for the episodes are all self-contained. I enjoyed all of the episodes. There’s a couple simple ones that you might find in other stories, like a missing person who joined a cult. But then there’s unique cases, like Colter having to find a kidnapped racing horse. If you like a little more suspense in your mysteries, but nothing too strong, than I think Tracker is a good choice.

Overall, I like Tracker. What I’m hoping for in season two is that there is a little more of an emphasis on the over-arching mystery behind Colter’s father. We’ll have to see what else the show has brewing in regards to his sister and mother as well. And even though their relationship felt like it was back to a normal one between brothers, I’d like to see Jensen Ackles comes back for another episode or two as they try to figure out the mystery of their father’s death.

Have you watched Tracker? If so, what do you think?