Sharp humor and vivid language distinguish Hellmann's Chicago-set debut. Ellie Forman, a recently divorced suburban mom, supports herself and her daughter by making documentaries, including a historical film, Celebrate Chicago, which has gained her local fame. The discovery of her name on a scrap of paper among the effects of an elderly gentleman, recently deceased in a Chicago rooming house, sets off a sinister chain of events and weaves an ever tightening web of intrigue. Preoccupied with her former husband's mounting stock losses, Ellie fails to put the pieces together until two more deaths and two attempted murders hit close to home. When her ex disappears and leaves her with a staggering amount of debt, Ellie panics, then turns her fear into determination to control her destiny. After taking on a new assignment to produce a campaign video for GOP Senate candidate Marian Iverson, she uncovers coincidences too startling to ignore. Soon Ellie is digging into a legacy of money and murder dating back to WWII and the Holocaust. A masterful blend of politics, history and suspense, this novel is well worth reading despite an overly complicated plot. Ellie is an engaging amateur sleuth whose wisdom grows as she learns the hard way that "Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet." Readers will hope they won't have to wait too long for Ellie's return.
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“A clever mystery puzzle…a wonderful thriller.”
—Jeremiah Healy, author of Turnabout
"Libby Fischer Hellmann's debut novel is a very entertaining cerebral thriller. The story line is plausible as the characters and their motives are considerably realistic while the link between Nazi war crimes and a present day politician running for office seems plausible too. AN EYE FOR MURDER will not be this author's sole published mystery as fans will encourage Ms. Hellmann to publish more tales starring a delightful TV producer turned amateur sleuth."--Harriet Klausner
“Sharp humor and vivid language distinguish Hellmann’s Chicago-set debut. Ellie Forman, a recently divorced suburban mom, supports herself and her daughter by making documentaries, including a historical film, Celebrate Chicago, which has gained her local fame. The discovery of her name on a scrap of paper among the effects of an elderly gentleman, recently deceased in a Chicago rooming house, sets off a sinister chain of events and weaves an ever tightening web of intrigue. Preoccupied with her former husband’s mounting stock losses, Ellie fails to put the pieces together until two more deaths and two attempted murders hit close to home. When her ex disappears and leaves her with a staggering amount of debt, Ellie panics, then turns to her fear into determination to control her destiny. After taking on a new assignment to produce a campaign video for GOP Senate candidate Marian Iverson, she uncovers coincidences too startling to ignore. Soon Ellie is digging into a legacy of money and murder dating back to WWII and the Holocaust. A masterful blend of politics, history and suspense, this novel is well worth reading despite an overly complicated plot. Ellie is an engaging amateur sleuth whose wisdom grows as she learns the hard way that ‘Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.’ Readers will hope they won’t have to wait too long for Ellie’s return.” -Publishers Weekly
"The story begins with a mysterious exchange of papers connected to the Nazis in Prague in 1944. It then shifts to the present day Chicago. After old Ben Sinclair dies in his apartment, his landlady finds Ellie Foreman’s name on a scrap of paper among his possessions. Ellie meets with the landlady, only to discover that an hour and a half later the landlady has also died. Then someone breaks into Ellie’s home and steals little more than several cartons of Sinclair’s clothes that she had taken for donation to a charity.
Ellie’s father, it turns out, had known Sinclair years earlier in a Jewish area of Chicago. During the war Sinclair had killed the head of the Nazi Bund on the North Side of the city. He then ran off to Europe and joined the Resistance. Others who knew Sinclair are attacked and killed. Ellie sets off on a search to discover why the old man had her name on that scrap of paper, while killers close in on her and her loved ones.
This is Libby Fischer Hellmann’s first novel. It grew out of a story she submitted for the 1999 Bouchercon Short Story contest, which she won. It is a complesx tale of decades’ old secrets."--Mystery News
"A mystery in the great tradition with sins of the past returning to haunt the present." --Barbara D'Amato
"An old man dies alone in a boarding house in Chicago. A scrap of paper is discovered in his coat pocket with the name Ellie Foreman scribbled on it, along with a telephone number. The landlady who found him contacts Ellie, telling her about the note and asking how she is related to Ben Sinclair. Ellie, a documentary filmmaker, is baffled. She doesn't recognize his name. She goes to the dead man's apartment to try to find out what connection she could possibly have to the elderly man. Her search for answers only leads to more questions as she realizes that Ben was not who he had pretended to be. An old photograph, an unusual lighter, and a locked box seem to point to a mysterious past. But mystery gives way to terror when the landlady is killed and the young boy who taught the old man how to use the Internet to track Ellie is viciously attacked. Ellie finds herself thrown into the past as she is confronted with long-buried skeletons as well as current secrets that someone will kill to protect.
AN EYE FOR MURDER is a well-written debut novel that will keep you turning the pages. Hellman delivers her plot at a tempo that keeps the action moving and the reader intrigued. The characters are strong and the mystery demands a solution. I will be looking for the next offering from this talented new author."-MyShelf.Com
“Everything I want in a mystery: characters I care about; credible motivations; a complex plot. A wonderful book. Read it!”—Michael Allen Dymmoch, author of Incendiary Designs
“[A] gutsy heroine. [A] fast-paced, entertaining mystery.”
—Rochelle Krich, award-winning author of Dead Air
