Customer Reviews

Trace Evidence

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
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The author's sister lives in Marion, so I knew this book was coming out almost a year ago and had been looking forward to it. I wasn't disappointed. This is a wonderful book, especially for people who are fans of Patricia Cornwell and Kathy Reichs. The author is a criminalist and she includes a number of details involving forensic investigations, but she doesn't get so bogged down in the science that lay people would be lost or confused. Her writing style is fast-paced, fresh and exciting, although she could stand to cut down on the hyperbole a bit. Anyone who is at all familiar with the Cleveland area will recognize her locations. The characters are fresh and appealing, especially the heroine, Evelyn James, a thirty-something single mother who is dealing with a teenage daughter who is upset about her parents' divorce, while trying to solve the gruesome slayings of several young women just a few years older than her daughter. Life experieinces become tangled with the case, and the ending will have the reader on the edge of his/her seat. I had a hard time putting this book down, and finished it in 2 sessions. I envy anyone picking it up for the first time, because you are in for a surprising and exciting read.

I thought the characters were easy to identify with, the plot was suspenseful, with enough action to keep you reading. No long-winded descriptions, and the humor was the kind of low-key throwaway lines that I can appreciate. The police work had the ring of authenticity, probably because of the author's background. All in all, I'm looking forward to the next Evelyn James story.

Cleveland, which serves as the setting for Elizabeth Becka's debut novel TRACE EVIDENCE, is no stranger to serial murderers. Jeffrey Dahmer was born and raised in a small community near Cleveland, and in the more remote past, Eliot Ness was stymied in his efforts to uncover the identity of a killer who stalked the city's (then) clandestine gay community.

While TRACE EVIDENCE concerns itself with the hunt for a serial murderer, the focus of the book is Evelyn James, a forensic trace evidence specialist who is investigating a series of bizarre, terrifying murders. The first involves the discovery of a young woman's body in a river, her feet encased in cement. The second victim, the daughter of one of Cleveland's most prominent citizens, becomes even more significant when a connection is discovered between the two victims.

James is drawn into the case on both a professional and personal level, and she finds some unexpected conflicts arising from the opposing loyalties that manifest themselves during the course of the investigation. Gradually James comes to the realization that her own daughter may have a connection to the murders --- and quite possibly could be the next victim.

James is a believable character, more so than some of her fictional peers. Despite being her first novel, Becka's handling of James is extremely proficient, especially with respect to her ability to make James walk the fine line between tough and tender in her professional and personal lives. Her descriptions of the problems faced by working single parents are right on the mark; somehow, things get done, even if they are not always done well. While Becka's characterization of James is first-rate, it is the plot that really shines. She moves the story along in perfectly paced doses, ratcheting up the suspense by slow but steady degrees.

Becka, a Cleveland expatriate who now resides in warmer climates, pulls off the Herculean task of capturing the essence of the city --- one that ebbs, flows and surges against its boundaries --- while effectively utilizing it as a backdrop for a tightly written, suspenseful story.

TRACE EVIDENCE is a fine introduction not only to Becka but to James as well. There's enough crime on the North Coast to keep both busy for some time to come. Recommended.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

Being only on the 4th chapter, I dread having to put down this book. I am a voracious reader and rarely read fiction outside of Grisham! But Becka already has me wanting more. I live just over the bridge from her (have never met her) and lived in NE Ohio (setting for the book) during my jr. and sr. high school years. Although this may have played a part in the purchase it in no way plays a part in the read. A fan already!
Vince Bradley
Ft Myers FL

Trace Evidence by Elizabeth Becka is the first mystery in what I presume will be a series featuring Evelyn James. Capitalizing on the CSI trend, Evelyn is a forensic scientist, although Becka finds various ways to get her out of the lab and in on the action with the homicide detectives who are investigating a series of gruesome murders of young women.

I like Evelyn as a character, most of the time. Becka allows her to be intelligent and also allows her to handle the people around her with grace, even though she has an idiot for a boss.

The sulky, hostile teen-aged daughter was a trifle annoying, and there's a rather improbable romance between Evelyn and one of the detectives that will probably serve as a means to get her involved in future investigations in the next books to come.

Overall, however, I enjoyed the book. It was interesting to see a different side of forensic science-- instead of examining bones and bodies, Evelyn examines the trace evidence of the crimes. She for the most part retains her professionalism throughout the book, and it's also nice to see a writer tackling the fact that sometimes children are an inconvenience to working parents. I look forward to reading more of this series!

It's a cold Cleveland November day when forensic trace evidence expert Evelyn James is summoned to the scene of a bizarre crime. A young woman has been forcibly drowned, her feet chained and sunk in cement. When a second girl connected to a prominent family is found with evidence that links her murder to the first, all hell breaks loose. The police--and Evelyn--are officially up against it to find the murderer.

Evelyn--a no-nonsense, hardworking single mother, and the best there is at what she does--just wants to get the job done, and quickly. But to further complicate her already stressful life behind the microscope, she is pulled into a web of conflicting loyalties, unexpected relationships, and professional betrayal. When Evelyn suspects that her own teenage daughter has become a pawn in the killer's plans, she must remain true to herself and her skills and follow the evidence to the murderer's door.

This authentic, high-octane debut is inspired by Becka's own career as a veteren forensic scientist and her experience using physical evidence recovered from crime scenes-such as blood, hair, fibers, and other microscopic patricles-to unlock the secrets of the dead and bring justice to those who have no voice. Gripping until the last page, Trace Evidence introduces an exciting new voice in crime fiction.

Evelyn James is struggling as a single mother trying to raise her teenage daughter in the aftermath of her divorce. She works as a forensic trace evidence expert for the Medical Examiner's office in Cleveland. A young woman is found brutally murdered with her feet bound by cement in a local river. The pressure is on Evelyn when the mayor's daughter is found dead under similar circumstances. The case is complicated further for Evelyn because of a past relationship with the mayor; and her uneasiness that her daughter Angel fits the profile of the suspect's victims. Using very little extraneous description, the dialogue sometimes lacks a certain punch. For a first time effort, this crime story does well to keep the tension high until the very end.

Medical Examiner's Office forensic scientist Evelyn James and homicide detectives Bruce Riley and David Milaski stare at the young woman in chains and her feet stuck inside a bucket of cement drowned in the Cuyahoga River. Making matters worse Mayor Daryl "Mobbuster" Pierson arrives; he was once Evie's lover before she married and since divorced her cheating spouse Rick. At home, their teenage daughter Angel blames the split on Evelyn while Rick and his girlfriend Terrie play the good guys.

A second victim surfaces, the mayor's daughter Destiny making the case the top story. Evelyn crosses the thin line into cop territory fearing her daughter might be part of the inner circle of targets of a serial killer as she begins seeing a pattern. The killer becomes aware that the forensic scientist is closing in on him so he plans to lure her into a trap. David, who was attracted to Evelyn from the moment they first met overlooking that first corpse by the Cuyahoga, worries about the safety of the scientist he is falling in love with, but he may not be enough to keep her safe from a clever consistent killer.

Readers who appreciate the details will enjoy this strong forensic police procedural. The heroine is a super person who enjoys her work and worries about her relationship with her daughter even while fighting an attraction to the new homicide detective. The suspense takes somewhat of a back seat to Evelyn on the job and at home, but though the tension is not stratospheric, the investigative depth seems genuine, candid, and insightful making for a fine tale held together by its star.

Harriet Klausner

Cleveland forensic trace analyst Evelyn James is called out on a cold November day to the scene of murder by drowning. Someone shackled a young woman, gave her a pair of cement shoes and dropped her in the river. Not long after Evelyn is confronted with another body, another young girl and though she is missing the cement shoes, the deaths are similar enough for the authorities to make a connection or two and one of those connections is James Neal, a nurse who'd cared for both girls, who also is connected with Evelyn's own daughter, Angel. Also the second murdered girl just happens to be the daughter of the Mayor, a former lover of Evelyn's. Might she herself be the connection? Might her daughter be at risk?

This mystery will have you guessing and nail-biting as you read away. The answers are not obvious and the ending is satisfying. Kay Scarpetta and Tempe Brennan fans are sure to be enthralled with Evelyn James. I know I was. And I was enthralled with the story because it was one of those where I thought I'd had it all figured out, only to be wrong. I just love those aha moments, when I slap my head and say, "Now why didn't I see that." You're going to love this book.

Trace Evidence, by Elizabeth Becka is a reasonably good read. Becka gets kudos for some originality in having her heroine, Evelyn James, be a forensic scientist instead of a pathologist or medical examiner forensic anthropologist or other type of Kay Scarpetta wannabe. She also gets kudos for having Evelyn put up a pretty darned good fight when she gets captured by the villain, as we know she will be. And she gets kudos for having Evelyn be halfway intelligent in dealing with matters-.

I have to take away points, however, because first Evelyn's cell phone battery is dead, then she leaves it in her car at a crucial point. Writers really need to come up with a more imaginative way to handle cell phones! I also have to take away points because the author has to stretch to put Evelyn into the action-- she's a laboratory scientist, yet the detectives continuously find excuses to take her along with them when they go to interview witnesses or suspects or the families of victims.

There are some loose ends and some rather convenient coincidences as well that don't get wrapped up to my satisfaction. Overall, I liked the book, but felt that there were several areas in which it needed to be stronger.