High Crimes: A Georgia Davis Novel of Suspense

The Georgia Davis PI Series, Book 5

By: Libby Fischer Hellmann

Narrated by: Eva Kaminsky

Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

"High Crimes is the P.I. novel for our moment, not just because of its backdrop of political tension but because of the resilient strength of its characters. Georgia Davis is a terrific lead, and Libby Fischer Hellmann calls on her own journalism background to add layers of realism to this all-too plausible plot." (Michael Koryta, New York Times best-selling author of How It Happened)

“In this ripped from the headlines and rocket-paced thriller, Libby Fischer Hellmann is at the top of her game. You won’t stop turning the pages, gripped by every twist and turn. And the tough, smart Georgia Davis is sure to take her place among the top female PIs in crime fiction.” (Lisa Unger, New York Times best-selling author of Under My Skin)

“Entertaining...(Georgia is) a shrewd investigator...for readers who watch the nightly news with dismay, the novel offers a satisfying alternate reality.” (Publishers Weekly)

How do you solve a murder when there are 42,000 suspects?

That’s the task facing Chicago PI Georgia Davis, hired to hunt down those behind the assassination of resistance leader Dena Baldwin at a demonstration 14 months after the 2016 election. The gunman, on a nearby hotel rooftop, dies within minutes of the shooting. As Georgia sifts through Dena’s 42,000 Facebook followers, she discovers that unknown enemies hiding behind fake profiles have infiltrated the group. She finds others who will do whatever it takes - including murder - to shield right-wing, wealthy elites.

Threats and bruises have never frightened Georgia, but she’s sideswiped by the sudden reappearance of her mother, who abandoned her when she was a child. Can she survive a family crisis at the same time she pursues killers whose only goal is to protect themselves?

©2018 Libby Fischer Hellmann (P)2018 Libby Fischer Hellmann

Great read, great series.

So many books, so little time to read. My tenth read from author Libby Fischer Hellman & the fifth in the Georgia Davis series. I'm a character reader, I get into the characters, their story, who/what they are. The author has done a great job of developing Georgia quickly & thoroughly throughout the first 4 books. The significant characters in her writing are developed similarly along the way. This book is in all senses of the word, a thriller! That’s it, no more spoilers from me though I can see more about this character in the future. I was given an Audible copy of this excellent book & am voluntarily reviewing it. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018).

High Crimes

I have read other books in this series and happen to like the characters. Georgia Davis is a PI who has recently gained a half-sister she never knew about and a nephew she has grown to love. The three are trying their best to get along in a small apartment meant for one person while Vanna, the sister, attends school and Georgia tries to continue her relationship with Jimmy Sacaredes, the police chief of a nearby community.

However, I have to say that this book did not engage me as much as the previous ones in the series. For one thing, there is a lot of jumping around between characters and time frames. I find this especially hard to follow in an audiobook since you can't turn back to the beginning of the chapter and see whose perspective and what time frame is involved.

Second, even though the blurb for the book states that it is "ripped from the headlines", I did not expect quite so much vitriol against the current President as this book contained. I realize that the author was writing about a resistance group whose sole focus was against the President, but I did get a little tired of the preaching tone regarding this issue. As another reviewer stated, I read to escape from the real world and this book was often like watching the evening news or reading it on the Internet.

That being said, the story did have its moments. Georgia does her usual amazing job of tracking down leads in order to solve a case that others, including the FBI, seem to have given up on. I have to say that the victim in this case is truly unlikeable, no matter your political leanings, and I was much more involved in the perpetrator's story than I was in the victim's.

The twists and turns in this book made me feel like I needed a score card to keep track of who was double-crossing who. The book often reminded me of a spy or espionage thriller more than a PI story. But, that is just in keeping with the Washington politics of the book, I guess.

The addition of Vanna and Charlie, Georgia's nephew, and the additional storyline of the reappearance of Jo Beth, Georgia and Vanna's mother, was a welcome relief to the political machinations of the book. The narrator did a great job and kept my interest throughout the book. Her voice inflections/accents were wonderful and added a lot to the story.

If you are an admirer of the current President, I suggest that you pass on this book. The other books in the series are great and I feel that the politics in this one just detract too much from the enjoyment of reading.

Very contemporary

This is a very contemporary story, closely following current events. The author explains this in a note at the end. The motivations of the assassin are a little sketchy, but easy enough to accept, resulting in a very suspenseful story.

The introduction of Georgia's mother doesn't work for me. The family drama is just a distraction.

Eva Kaminsky is back with a satisfactory performance. This remains a series I'll continue to follow.

NOTE: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Georgia on my mind!

Not the song, but Chicago PI Georgia Davis in Libby Hellmann's High Crimes, the latest in her five book series. This time after a rally organizer is murdered and her assassin dies under mysterious circumstances, Georgia is drawn into a web of lies, secrets, and government cover-ups at the worst possible time: just when her estranged mother and her teenage drug addicted sister move in with a new baby. In High Crimes, Libby does as good a job as the producers of Law and Order at ripping a story straight from the headlines. Anyone who loves thrillers, needs an escape from the current political turmoil, and/or wants to start a new mystery series with a savvy PI will love High Crimes. If you want to read them in order: ToxiCity, Easy Innocence, Doubleback (Georgia and Ellie Foreman team up. Single mom/filmmaker Ellie stars in another mysteries series that Libby writes), and Nobody's Child. High Crimes is a great read especially if you're couped up inside--like me--because of the snow! If Libby is taking requests: I would like #6 to be another Georgia/Ellie mystery! Love both of your series!! PS I started with the book, then decided to finish with audible. The reader was okay, but I liked the book better!

Georgia On My Miiiind...

Great modern detective story by a great author, Libby Fischer Hellmann.
Beautifully narrated by Eva Kaminsky, I really enjoyed this one!

It's the first in the series I've listened to, but I'm definitely a fan and will be reading or listening to all of them!
I love a good mystery, and this is one of the better ones I've listened to!
Lots of twists and turns and all sorts of fun and intrigue along the way :)

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
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Explosive!

family-dynamics, fanatics, political-intrigue, Chicago, thriller, suspense, private-investigators, law-enforcement

Chicago. Politics. Corruption. Conspiracy. Murder. All that and much more in this novel that could be pulled from this morning's Tribune. The characters are interesting and sometimes quite disturbing, and the plot is ingenious and demanding. No spoilers. Just read it!
It seems that this is book 5 in series which I am new to, but no floundering because it is perfectly fine as a standalone.
The narration by Eva Kaminsky is fantastic! Clear voice and the characters are well delineated.
I requested and received a free audio copy from the author courtesy of AudioBookBOOM.

great book, interested in more

I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

I'll start off this review with a caveat; I started this series with this book. That being said, I think this book stands alone pretty well. I never really felt like I didn't know what was going on. I didn't catch a couple obvious references to previous books, but that didn't detract much from my listening experience. I thought this was a very solid political thriller/detective story. The narration is well done and fit really well with the story. All in all, I enjoyed this enough that I'm tempted to go back and give the other books in this series a listen.

Enteraining

High Crimes: A Georgia Davis Novel of Suspense: The Georgia Davis PI Series, Book 5. This is the first L.F Hellmann novel I've listened or read and I am impressed. Interesting story line, well developed characters and the story moves along at a nice pace. Book 5 can certainly be read as a stand alone novel
Eva Kaminsky's narration is smooth and in tune with the novel and characters, it is easy to listen too.
I was given a free copy of this audio book at my own request, and voluntarily leave this review.

Too political

I enjoy mystery’s and suspense books. I don’t enjoy politics in my reading either left or right. I will not be buying any more Hellmann’s books.
Trudy Snider.

Excellent political thriller!

I usually am not a fan of politics however this murder mystery was really good. Faced with the Trump administration a local activist makes it her mission to bring him down. When she is assassinated at a rally a local PI is hired to dig in. Georgia, the PI, starts to unravel a sorted history of the political activist movement and conspiracies. From Chicago to DC and back the author really knows her cities. A really good suspenseful story that is phenomenally narrated. Looking forward to others in the Georgia PI series. I received a free review copy of this book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.