An Image of Death

Ellie Foreman Mysteries, Book 3

De: Libby Fischer Hellmann

Narrado por: Nan McNamara

Chicago filmmaker Ellie Foreman is back, and she's tackling her most dangerous case yet in this dark amateur sleuth thriller from critically acclaimed crime writer Libby Fischer Hellmann.

An Image of Death sees Ellie in the midst of producing another video documentary, financed by a successful Chicago real estate developer. But things take an unexpected turn one winter night when a mysterious package arrives anonymously on Ellie's doorstep. Inside, she finds a surveillance video apparently showing the murder of a young woman. Who was the victim, why was she murdered, and what is her connection to Ellie?

Despite being pushed to one side by the cops, Ellie begins to uncover the victim's dark history, forged in Eastern Europe at the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Her search for answers takes her into the murky world of money laundering and diamond dealing, ultimately ending up at a deserted construction site in the hands of people who believe she knows too much....

Ellie's latest outing as an amateur sleuth comes hot on the heels of Libby Fischer Hellmann's 2002 Anthony-nominated thriller An Eye for Murder and the 2003 Picture of Guilt. Packed with memorable characters, and neatly tying together a number of gripping plotlines, An Image of Death has been praised by mystery fiction fans as insightful, compelling and entertaining.

©2004 Poisoned Pen Press (P)2023 Libby Fischer Hellmann

Ellie is amazing!

Any additional comments?

Ellie is a video editor so it isn't unusual for her to review videos. However when she finds a video on her front steps one night and starts looking at the video she is shocked to find a video of a young woman being murdered. The police have nothing to go on as they try to figure out what who this young woman was and why anyone would want to kill her. As Ellie starts digging, just for her own peace of mind, she discovers a mystery and a crime circle that covers multiple continents. Will Ellie find the killer before the killer finds her?

I received this book for free from AudioBlast in exchange for my honest review.

An intriguing mystery

Ellie Foreman is really, really trying to be good--to go along with the variously expressed wishes of her dad, Mac, and David that she stay out of trouble. She goes to a ladies' charitable lunch as the guest of occasional nemesis Rikibeth Feldman, and isn't surprised when it turns into a request to make a video for the project. The project, it seems, is transitional housing for kids aging out of foster care.

How can that lead to trouble?

But this is Ellie, with her curiosity, her need to help, and her general gift for attracting trouble. Her doorbell rings one evening, and her daughter Rachel answers the door to find a van driving away, and a package left at their door.

It's a videotape. When she plays it, Ellie is relieved that Rachel got bored and went upstairs.

It's a video of what appears to be a a murder.

Ellie does the sensible thing, and gives the video to the police, specifically to Georgia Davis, whom she and Rachel know from when she was the youth officer. Except that, of course, being Ellie, she makes a copy at Mac's studio before she does.

What follows is, for Ellie, a confusing and alarming series of events. She can't leave that video with its apparent murder alone, and can't shake the idea that whoever brought it must have had some reason for wanting her to see it. Meanwhile, David has gotten word that his uncle--long believed dead in the Holocaust with all of his family except David's mother, Liesl, may be alive. The basis of this is an anonymous letter to a former neighbor back in Freiburg, but David reacts badly when Ellie gives perfectly sensible advice about being careful of anonymous letters.

Hellmann always does good character development, and the tangled relationships and storylines here make a very good read. The foster care project is not the sideline it might have been, but becomes intertwined with both the murder shown in the video and David and Ellie's complicated and strained relationship.

It's a very good mystery, with Ellie continuing to learn and grow from her sometimes terrifying experiences. We also see Georgia Davis perhaps experiencing the first strains which lead to her later moves. Very much worth reading.

Recommended.

I received a free copy of this audiobook.

A tale of murder

I enjoyed that this tale of murder was told from the victim's POV. It's chalk full of sleuthing and questions with intrigue. A worthy listen and intriguing story.

I received a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Keeps you enthralled

I love the Ellie Foreman Mysteries series. It has strong characters, intriguing plots, and lots of twists to keep you guessing. An Image of Death was no different. Part of it has an unnamed woman telling her story in a series of flashbacks. At first, it's a bit confusing because you're trying to figure out how that fits in but once you make the connection and the length of time between the flashbacks and present time narrows it all becomes clear. There are lots of threads to be connected and the author does a wonderful job of tying them all up into a tidy bow.

An Image Of Death

Ellie Foreman receives an unsolicited video by an unknown person at her home. She is an independent producer of industrial videos and thought it may pertain to work. Instead, what she receives is what looks like the murder of a young woman in some basement. Thus begins her desire to find the truth. Meanwhile, in Russia we learn of the lives of two friends, Mika, and Arin as the Soviet Union crumbles and their lives change drastically.

How these two stories come together, I found interesting. This is a slow moving mystery and not a fast paced thriller. As the stories development, we get to know what makes Ellis tick and what she deals with on a regular basis. But since is the third installment of the Ellie Forman mysteries, I found I was lacking in knowing her backstory and why she was so paranoid at the beginning. Other than that, I enjoyed how it all seems to mesh and make for a satisfying story.