An Image of Death (Prime Crime Mysteries) [Mass Market Paperback]

Libby Fischer Hellmann (Author)

Book Description

Series: Prime Crime Mysteries | Publication Date: February 3, 2004

Who knew that a career in video documentaries could lead to crime? Such is the fate of Chicago's Ellie Foreman whose shoots hook her up with misdeeds past and present. Here she is producing a video about foster children that's being financed by a successful Chicago real estate developer. Her plans get thrown for a loop when a mysterious package appears at her door one winter night. Inside she finds a surveillance video showing the murder of a young woman. Who was this woman and what is her connection to Ellie? The cops shunt her aside, but the urgency she feels to find answers, coupled with her professional knowledge of film, compel her to sleuth despite the difficulties borne from a complex history with her lover, David. A little digging reveals that the murder victim was a courier with a dark history forged in Eastern Europe at the time of the Soviet Union's collapse. And a little more digging reveals dark happenings here at home, money laundering, and the deadly price of dealing in diamonds.... This dangerous case for Ellie follows 2002's Anthony-nominated An Eye for Murder and the 2003 Picture of Guilt, all three published in hardcover by Poisoned Pen Press and in paperback by Berkley Prime Crime.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Chicago filmmaker Ellie Foreman specializes in video documentaries, but her career has a way of sliding into harrowing murder investigations, as it does in this powerful tale, the third in the series after last year's A Picture of Guilt. Foreman's receipt of a hand-delivered, unmarked surveillance videotape, apparently showing the cold-blooded murder of a young woman, ensures she gets involved in the police hunt for the woman's killer, if only at the fringes. At the same time, Foreman is filming a documentary for wealthy mover-and-shaker Ricki Feldman, a lady in a position to throw money and opportunities Foreman's way-opportunities that have their own dangers. When the police run out of leads in the murder case, Foreman shifts into high gear and uncovers a web of deceit connected to the break-up of the Soviet Union and the ensuing chaos and crime. Hellmann is adept at welding technical information about film-making, diamond cutting and other arcane subjects to strong characters. With her somewhat disreputable past, Foreman comes across as a complex and flawed heroine, who grapples with issues as large as murder and as mundane as an overdue visit to her father. Foreman's pluck and grit married to Hellmann's solid storytelling should win a growing audience.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Libby Hellmann writes the Chicago series featuring video producer and single mom Ellie Foreman. An Eye For Murder was nominated for an Anthony in 2002. A Picture Of Guilt was nominated for a Benjamin Franklin in 2003. An Image Of Death was published in 2004, and A Shot to Die For in 2005. All are simultaneously published by Poisoned Pen Press (hard cover) and Berkley Prime Crime (mass market).

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group (February 3, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 042519504X
• ISBN-13: 978-0425195048
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,649,931 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rich, complex mystery, April 2, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: An Image of Death (Prime Crime Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

I've read all of Ms. Hellmann's work, and all have been wonderful. This may be her best work yet. The writing is polished, the prose of the back story especially evocative, the tale itself both sad and satisfying. Ellie continues to be a protagonist of real dimensions beset by very real personal problems. Although Chicago is always a marvelous character in Hellmann's work, here the story encompasses a much broader, more ambitious landscape in both time and geography, and the author does a superlative job of making it all vivid. I recommend this book highly.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An image of death that won't fade away, October 6, 2010

By 

Reads to Sleep - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Image of Death (Ellie Foreman Mysteries (Paperback)) (Paperback)

Libby Fischer Hellmann's AN IMAGE OF DEATH begins with a prologue in which a young woman who has lost a tooth is making her way to a house in a bitterly cold Chicago. The landscape is so menacingly empty, so flat, that she wonders if she will take a step and fall off the edge of the world. In a bit, the scene changes to a different part of Chicago, and we meet protagonist/narrator Ellie Foreman, who soon receives a mysterious video that appears to show a woman being murdered. The video is delivered anonymously, and Foreman, a documentary video producer, feels compelled to investigate even after delivering the video to the police. Of course, cop Georgia Davis tells her to stay out of it, but Foreman is disturbed. Why was the video given to her? Who is the woman, and who killed her?

While this tale unwinds in the present United States, in alternating chapters the clock turns back in the crumbling Soviet Union. Best friends Arin and Mika try to cope in Georgia as their husbands see their military careers evaporate when rubles stop flowing in from Moscow to support the troops. Months go by, and there is no money. What choices will these people make to survive?

This book is so full of yearning, struggling characters that it is amazing it sits quietly on a bedside table. You almost expect to hear it murmur and see it restlessly stir. The likable Foreman juggles a documentary on foster children, her teenage daughter, and a lover whose behavior is worrying her. Her father, who lives in an assisted living facility nearby, longs for the days when his friends weren't dying or coping with the onset of dementia. Foreman's lover, who was raised in foster care, is obsessed with a desire for blood ties. Searching for his relatives in Europe is the most important thing in the world to him, and suddenly, his efforts may have produced results. Whether in America or Georgia, all of Hellmann's characters toil and hope for the best.

Not all books of mystery fiction are meant to be page-turning thrillers. This one is an insightful book populated by memorable characters whose decisions affect strangers thousands of miles away and result in more than one murder. Hellmann has a compelling story to tell, and her writing is very well done, whether she's relating how the facets in a diamond are cut, creating dialogue, or painting the landscape of Chicago. She is effortlessly entertaining, but she can also make you re-read a paragraph for the joy of her descriptions. Here is an example:

"The storm dumped five new inches of snow on the ground, but the streets were clear by ten. So was my driveway, thanks to Fouad, who must have plowed before dawn. I was grateful. I was nursing a wicked hangover; I doubted I could have picked up a shovel. Turning onto Happ Road, I had to shade my eyes. Winter on the North Shore can look like one of those Currier & Ives scenes you see on cookie tin lids. Today, though, the sun shot bursts of light through the trees like artillery fire. Everything was too bright, too intense, too loud."

I'm looking forward to reading another book by Libby Fischer Hellmann. I enjoyed this one. These characters won't be leaving my mind any time soon.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thrilling and Engaging, March 5, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: An Image of Death (Prime Crime Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Libby Fisher Hellmann has a remarkable ability to tell the tale of ordinary people who rise to the challenge of extraordinary circumstances. AN IMAGE OF DEATH is a well told thriller.

The characters are clearly drawn. Ellie Foreman, must once again investigates a mystery, and what a mystery! It originates in Russia when a woman must overcome poverty, death, and betrayal to rebuild her life in a new country. That is just the beginning, and Ms. Hellmann takes us on a fascinating journey.