2.5 starsHoooo boy. Okay, so I didn't really know what I was getting into with this one, and at first I kind of regretted it since it starts off so....... incredibly............ slow......................... It honestly didn't really start picking up for me until about the half point, because up until then almost everything seemed to be unrelated. I mean, I figured it would all come together at some point, and if I start out knowing everything it would make for a pretty boring read, but maybe if the setup hadn't been SO long I would have enjoyed it more, if that makes sense?I also found that when things did wrap up at the end, it was kind of. too fast? Like oh here's who did it, now let's have them waste a bunch of time telling me all about their evil plan, giving the good guys enough time to come in and rescue me, and then have like 5-10 more pages (ebook) to wrap up all the other loose ends. That's kind of an issue I have with mysteries in general tho I think, most of them tend to do that and I'm like :|||| why. The ending just felt kind of rushed, idk.(view spoiler)[I also. kind of take issue with the fact that like. Every woman who was injured during the course of the story died from her injuries and stayed that way, while about half the men who were heavily injured made recoveries. (With the obvious exception of Ellie.) Don't get me wrong, I didn't want any of the men to die because I did like them all, but like, Dory had way more personality than Raoul, who was really more of a footnote in the story than anything else. But Raoul gets to live, Dory has to die. It didn't ruin the book for me, but it's a pattern I'm sick of seeing in fiction - women dying alllll the time. On the other hand, having a black kid & Latino man & Muslim man NOT die after being badly injured was rare, so who knows what to expect really. I don't think it'll be a pattern.But also I was super uncomfortable with how like. sexual Ellie's torture was? Like yes, I will specifically cut up your boobs, which involves grabbing and squeezing them a bunch. Again, idk, I know it's like, an emphasis on how fucked up & gross the Bad Guys were but also!! I already knew that!! because they're super racist!! and murderers!!! I didn't need the sexualized violence to clue me in bc it was already SUPER OBVIOUS!!! (hide spoiler)]
With roots in World War II, this finely constructed novel takes place in present-day Chicago. Commercial television producer Ellie Foreman is slowly drawn into an insidious plot of broad proportions which gradually threatens her family, her beliefs and finally, her very life. Hellmann demonstrates a complete grasp of the vital elements of suspenseful thriller writing. Her characters are believable and nearly always act in a believable manner.Principal actor in this compelling drama, Ellie Foreman, struggles to get on with solving the very real problems of her life, an errant ex-husband, a teenaged daughter, a mortgage she can’t afford, and a career that requires enormous energy and attention to be successful. Yet step by step she is drawn unwillingly into an insidious plot and is forced to divert her energies to solving a mystery that surprisingly and logically involves her own father. Although there are occasional coincidences, the strength of Hellmann’s writing and fascination with the story carry us swiftly down the pages. But Ellie Foreman is no superwoman and Hellmann portrays her with compassion, wit, and a keen eye for some of the ordinary details of the woman’s life, while at the same time we see missteps, anxiety, fear, and even a reawakening love interest. The author’s hand is less sure in the uses and portrayal of violence in the book, but that is largely a quibble. In a less significant work, such small lapses would go unremarked. “An Eye For Murder” is an eminently worthy first novel, an enjoyable experience, and I look forward to more from this author.
Do You like book An Eye For Murder (2012)?
Documentary filmmaker, Ellie Foreman, is drawn into an investigation that sets off a sinister chain of events after her name is discovered on a scrap of paper found among the effects of a recently deceased elderly gentleman.The reading group rated this book 4.The reading group liked the book. They liked the short chapters. It made you want to keep reading to find out what was going to happen next.The plot was different from the usual murder mystery.You were kept guessing as to whodunit till the end.
—Lansing Public Library
AudiobookNarration - Karyn O'Bryant - Really Good!She's a terrific story-teller with a really unique voice. Really Enjoyed listening to her and this whole book!The story is one of those that I love where you appear to be listening to several different stories and are wondering why you are hearing each of them. As the story progresses, you find out how all of them are tied together, and in this story, they are really tied together in some fascinating ways! The female MC is smart and strong, the mystery is intricate and spans decades, the "bad guys" reveal near the end added a touch of Scooby Doo to the mix, the romance is clean and left to the imagination, Loved Dad & the Daughter and the ex-husband is a giant ----! The book has a really good blurb in regards to a few of the different story lines that you will follow as you try to put the pieces of this mystery together, so I won't regurgitate any of that information. I'll just say that if you like mysteries with a little suspense, some danger, a touch of violence and a dash of romance, then I think you'll like this - and the audiobook is terrific! I received a copy of this audiobook free of charge from AudioBookBlast in exchange for an unbiased review.
—One-Click
An Eye for Murder, Ellie Foreman mystery #1, by Libby Fischer Hellman, A-minus, Narrated by Karyn O'Bryant, Produced by Fischer Hellmann Communications, downloaded from audible.com.Ellie Foreman is a newly divorced suburban mom raising her teenage daughter, Rachel. She makes her living by producing documentaries in Chicago. She also produces a local show about Chicago, which is what brings her into contact with the major characters in this mystery. Ellie receives a letter from a woman who was the landlady for Ben St. Clare, who had just died. Her name, because of the Chicago t.v. show, was in his effects, and the landlady hoped that Ellie could shed some light on who he was. Ellie, because she is curious and has no idea why Ben St. Clare has her name, goes to see the woman. She is allowed to go through his effects, and ultimately is asked to take all of his clothes, contained in two boxes, to a Jewish charity, but the landlady keeps the third box, which contains St. Clare’s papers. Ellie goes to the charity but finds it is closed. She goes to return the boxes to the landlady and finds her dead, and the remaining box missing. She returns home with the boxes she had been unable to give to the charity, and a couple of days later her home is broken into and those boxes stolen. As events develop, people who have somekind of relationship to Ben St. Clare keep turning up dead or, in the case of her father-the real connection with St. Clare-end up with injuries. Also, Ellie has signed on to produce a promotional film for a woman running for the senate in the republican party. All of these things end up being connected, at least tangentially, and Ellie is put in mortal danger before the story is concluded. This is a very good book where the characters and their relationship to each other are carefully unfolded providing us with some history of the holocaust and WW II along the way. This book was on the short list for an Edgar award for best first novel in 2003. Hellman is now providing her own audio productions, which means her books will come out more closely connected to her print publications, and they are well produced.
—Kathleen Hagen
