Happy Reading

Toni's bookshelf: read

The Godfather of Kathmandu (Sonchai Jitpleecheep, #4)
Ape House
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
Operation Napoleon
Walking Dead
The Sentimentalists
The Heretic Queen
The Midnight House
Cross Fire
Peony in Love
Absurdistan
Nefertiti
Finding Nouf: A Novel
City of Veils: A Novel
First Daughter
A Place of Hiding
Amagansett
Peter Pan


Toni Osborne's favorite books »
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Sunday, August 19, 2018

"An Eye for Murder", by Libby Fischer Hellmann

Book #1, in the Ellie Foreman mystery

This mystery is a blend of politics, history and suspense. It begins with an exchange between two men in Prague in 1944 and the story proceeds with the ramification to contemporary Chicago.

The main character is Ellie Foreman, a documentary filmmaker, who becomes an amateur sleuth when an old Jewish man she did not know dies and her address was found among his belongings. A string of murders and attempted murder follow and inquisitive Ellie pokes her nose into the mystery that will lead to links between Nazi war crimes and a present day politician running for office.

This debut story is very entertaining, a clever mystery puzzle that is somewhat funny. Both the multi-generational historical mystery and the political one are well- done. The author is good at putting clues and red herrings to intrigue us and to keep us on the edge of our seat, guessing and of course turning pages. The action is interesting and not overly-done: no shoot out and no graphic murders…smooth sailing….The narration and dialogue are in the everyday language. The romance needed a stronger push to get going and finally the rare sex scenes lacked enthusiasm….quite vanilla….maybe with time things will get hot… I like Ellie, she is likeable, a single mother with a deadbeat ex-husband, doing her best and she is surely entertaining….This cozy mystery is a fast read that nicely wraps up at the end.

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