August 1944. Prague is where the story begins, with a seemingly casual exchange. But in wartime, is any act, any one thing, trivial? Decades later, in contemporary Chicago, the consequences emerge through the medium of television. Documentary filmmaker Ellie Foreman gets a letter prompted by the success of her show Celebrate Chicago. One viewer was the elderly Ben Sinclair. When he suddenly dies, his landlady, Mrs. Fleischman, finds Ellie’s name among his effects and writes to her. Ellie, who hasn’t a clue about a connection to Ben, is curious. And she agrees to help dispose of Ben Sinclair’s possessions. She became a filmmaker to help people tell their stories. The books and wartime relics Ben left behind – will they be enough to tell his?
All too soon, Mrs. Fleischman dies. Then Ben’s things are stolen from Ellie’s suburban home. The single mom, working to move past her ex, doesn’t know what to think. But she has to scramble for work and is soon embroiled in producing a campaign video for a steel magnate running for a Republican seat in the Illinois Senate. Despite these distractions, Ellie stays focused on her odd link to the dead man and turns to her father, a retired lawyer with deep roots in Chicago’s Jewish community, for insights into the mystery of Ben Sinclair.
In time, a terrifying scenario develops that reaches back into several pasts. From the political present of the North Shore to the buried memories of the city’s ethnic neighborhoods, the components of Ben’s story eventually merge into an explosive climax.
An Eye for Murder was nominated for an Anthony Award (Best First), which is one of the most prestigious awards in the mystery community.
Don’t start this unless you have time to fininsh it! My title for my review says it all. I started this book and could not put it down until I had finished it. The story and the main character grabbed me from the first, and I found myself racing through the story to not only see the end, but see if my guesses were right. Well, on some I was right, on others, not! Still, I really enjoyed this book and applaud Ms. Hellmann from taking me away from this holiday cooking and shopping madness. I look forward to her next one.
Engaging Heroine, Convoluted Plot Hellmann’s heroine is tough and honest woman. You can’t help but like Ellie and her family and friends (her father is grand). However, the plot here is so over the top–Nazis, Chicago politics, etc, etc…that I got a bit lost. The resolution was too neat. The story needed a more steady pace. You can tell it is a first novel. As a native Chicagoan, I did like the the wonderful use of the city. I may read another Ellie Foreman novel to see how Hellmann has grown as a writer.
A good read with a likable protagonist Documentary filmmaker Ellie Foreman’s interest is piqued when she learns that an elderly stranger, Ben Sinclair, has died in a Chicago boarding house leaving a scrap of paper with her name on it among his possessions. Ellie’s attempts to understand the deceased’s interest in her, beginning with a meeting with the dead man’s landlady, lead her into a much larger mystery: Sinclair’s death is somehow connected with Nazi-era intrigue and Chicago politics, an illicit love affair, and more than one…