A Shot to Die For [Mass Market Paperback]

Libby Fischer Hellmann (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 6, 2005

Returning from a video shoot, Ellie Foreman assists a woman abandoned at a rest stop only to witness her murder moments later. When the victim's family begs Ellie to help, she soon finds herself caught in the crosshairs of a killer.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Incest and murder, plus the power and attraction of wealth, provide the menacing and murky background for Hellmann's less than compelling fourth novel to feature Ellie Foreman (after 2004's An Image of Death). The Chicago documentary filmmaker has a way of stumbling into murder and romance, and then coping with their competing demands in entertaining and effective fashion. Ellie's at a rest stop near Lake Geneva, Wis., when an apparently random shooting snuffs out Daria Flynn, a young woman with whom she'd just been talking. But the shooting turns out to have deep roots that lead back to Lake Geneva and the resort where Ellie had been filming. When Daria's family approaches Ellie to learn about her last moments, Ellie is drawn into the resort's dark history. She also meets handsome, rich, arrogant Luke Sutton, scion of the influential Sutton family and, because of a rumored link to Daria, a possible suspect. As usual, Hellmann creates a vivid setting, but Ellie's dithering over one fading relationship-and a bad case of raging hormones more appropriate for her 16-year-old daughter-reduce her appeal.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Ellie Foreman witnesses a sniper attack at a highway rest stop on her way back to Chicago from Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, where she is producing a video about the Lodge, a newly renovated resort. Since Ellie was talking to the victim, Daria Flynn, at the time of the shooting, the police are pressing her for any details she might remember, and Daria's mother and sister visit her, also looking for answers. Ellie launches her own investigation, dredging up an old mystery involving the death of a teenager and finding a new love interest in the process. Ellie is a likable character, the first-person narration is involving, and the movie-producer frame story adds interest, but--as in numerous amateur-sleuth adventures--Ellie's motivation for becoming involved in the investigation is notably weak. Similarly, her sudden strong attraction to a possible murder suspect seems unlikely. Still, Hellmann's strong characters and filmmaking detail overshadow the lapses in credibility. Sue O'Brien
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Berkley (September 6, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425203107
• ISBN-13: 978-0425203101
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,185,570 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hellmann's best mystery yet!!, September 5, 2005

By 

Laurel Johnson (Kansas USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Shot to Die For (Mass Market Paperback)

Old fans and new will surely be delighted with this fourth in the Ellie Foreman mystery series. This one begins and ends with a mystery.

This time around, Ellie is scouting locations for a documentary video to be shot at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Lake Geneva is an enclave populated by powerful, influential "old money" families cocooned inside their mansions for generations. Ellie expects a leisurely shoot, free of the danger and murder she seems to attract like a magnet. As she returns home, her thoughts are on daughter Rachel, now 15 and not so easy for a single mom to
handle. At a rest area between Lake Geneva and Chicago, Ellie overhears a cell phone conversation and pauses to converse with a troubled young woman. Seconds later, a pick up truck speeds past and the woman standing beside her is shot. A shaken Ellie vows she won't get involved this time but one clue leads to another until she's up to her eyebrows in a murder mystery germinating for thirty years.

Ellie's widowed father and her best friend Susan Siler try to warn her off the hunt for clues, but she needs a distraction. Ex-husband Barry has his girlfriend du jour. Rachel is spending more time with Barry and his girlfriend than she is at home. Her lover David Linden has been less than attentive. And her old friend Fouad has worries of his own. So sleuthing
it is, in the best Ellie Foreman style.

What do the death of a young girl thirty years ago and the recent sniper incident have in common? The deeper Ellie digs for truth the worse it looks for Luke Sutton. The feelings Luke ignites in Ellie are more powerful than anything she ever felt with David. Determined to prove him innocent, she sifts her way through a maze of clues beginning in the 1970s and culminating in several murders in the present. And all the while a murderer is breathing down her neck.

A Shot to Die For is Hellmann at her very best yet. Plot development is masterful as it builds towards a shocking climax. An intriguing cast of realistic characters put Ellie through her paces. And don't forget that closing mystery I mentioned earlier. This book ends with a sly twist that has me itching for the next book in this series.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best of the series, August 2, 2005

By 

Cynthia Chow (Kaneohe, Hawaii) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Shot to Die for (Ellie Foreman Mysteries (Hardcover)) (Hardcover)

Video producer Ellie Foreman was drinking a Diet Coke and relaxing outside of a Wisconsin rest stop when a shot rings out and drops the woman standing next to her. Even though Ellie had just exchanged a few friendly words with Daria Flynn Ellie is content to let the police handle the case while she films a documentary about a former Playboy Bunny resort. However, the detective ("Columbo on Xanax") seems suspicious of Ellie and the pleas from Daria's mother and sister push Ellie into looking closer at the shooting. If there's one thing Ellie knows it's Mother's Guilt, and Ellie finds herself investigating Daria's last boyfriend, Luke Sutton of the powerful Sutton family. Recovering from a betrayal by a boyfriend Ellie finds herself reluctantly drawn to the charming but troubled man even as her friends warn her off when Luke begins to look guilty for past crimes involving his family.

This fourth Ellie Foreman mystery continues to display the same wit, suspense, and thoughtfulness seen in the previous novels. Ellie's family once again plays a major role as her teenage daughter has a masters in the art of manipulation and is becoming close to Ellie's ex-husband's new girlfriend who just happens to be an ex-Playboy Bunny. When Ellie's own father shares a secret that shakes her to the core it forces her to look closely at the relationships within her family. Hellmann has created a thoroughly enjoyable and fascinating read in a series that continues to delight and engage the reader.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It looks like a sniper shooting; is it?, April 3, 2006

By 

Dawn Dowdle "Mystery Lovers Corner reviewer" (Lynchburg, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Shot to Die For (Mass Market Paperback)

Ellie Foreman is a documentary filmmaker. She stops at a rest stop on her way home from scouting shoot locations. She overhears a distressing phone call and engages in conversation with the woman. Before Ellie realizes it, the woman, Daria, is shot in a drive-by sniper shooting.

Since Ellie was the last person to speak to her, the police talk to her at length. Then Daria's mother and sister visit asking Ellie for any information she has as to why Daria was shot. They ask her assistance in finding out more.

When Ellie does a little digging, she finds a murder from thirty years ago and wonders what the connection might be. She also meets Luke Sutton. Ellie finds herself attracted to him, but she is concerned because he seems to be very involved in these murders. She works harder to uncover the truth, hoping to clear Luke in the process.

I had never read any books in this series. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading others. Ellie is a very likeable character. The setting is well written and inviting. I found this to be a book you kept wanting to read to find out who did it and why. I highly recommend this book.

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