When pretty, smart Sara Long is found bludgeoned to death, it's easy to blame the man with the bat. But Georgia Davis -- former cop and newly-minted PI -- is hired to look into the incident at the behest of the accused's sister, and what she finds hints at a much different, much darker answer.It seems the privileged, preppy schoolgirls on Chicago's North Shore have learned just how much their innocence is worth to hot-under-the-collar businessmen. But while these girls can pay for ...

Young Lena Bentheim is forced to flee Nazi Germany for Chicago in 1935, leaving her family and boyfriend behind. After learning English, she eventually finds a new life as a secretary in the Physics Department of the University of Chicago. She meets and marries another German refugee scientist and has a child. Then tragedy strikes, and Lena is forced to spy on the nuclear fission experiments at the U of Chicago. A novella set in the early years of the Manhattan Project, The Incidental Spy ...

This anthology includes 21 stories by Stuart Kaminsky, Max Allan Collins, Sara Paretsky, Libby Fischer Hellmann, Marcus Sakey, Sean Chercover, J.A. Konrath, Barbara D'Amato, and more. Originally published in hardcover and paperback in October, 2007.Blue is the new Noir, and nobody does Blues like Chicago.Migrating north from the Mississippi delta, the Blues found itself on the frozen streets of Chicago, struggling to survive in the Windy City's sti...

"Exceptional... Offers no easy solutions to the various security threats America faces today... As Hellman's convincing, conflicted characters face impossible choices, the tension is real and memorable." Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW"Hellmann's writing sparkles...plenty of suspense in this richly detailed thriller, but Hellmann’s characteristic wit and warmth are evident, too." —BooklistChicago video producer Ellie Foreman has ...

On the eve of the Cuban Revolution, headstrong 18-year-old Francesca Pacelli flees from her ruthless Mafia-boss father in Havana to the arms of her lover, a rebel fighting with Fidel Castro. Her father, desperate to send her to safety in the US, resorts to torture and blackmail as he searches the island for her.So begins the first part of a spellbinding saga that spans three generations of the same family. Decades later, the family is lured back to Cuba by the promise of untold ric...

A masterful blend of politics, history and suspense,” -Publishers Weekly"Libby Fischer Hellmann has written a wonderful thriller. Jeremiah Healy author of the John Francis Cuddy mysteries ""Complicated, fascinating. Hellmann has a beautifully tuned ear," -Dick Adler, Chicago TribuneThe first novel in crime writer Libby Fischer Hellmann’s popular Ellie Foreman mystery series, An Eye for Murder, introduces the documen...

With a twisted tale of greed by masterful writer Kate Wilhelm, Fiction River Special Edition: Crime covers the entire gamut of the mystery genre—cozy to noir. New York Times bestselling author Julie Hyzy joins Edgar Award-winner Doug Allyn and several others to create one of the strongest (and most diverse) anthologies of the season.“Fiction River: Crime edited by Kristine Kathryn Rusch leads off with strong new tales by two familiar EQMM contributors: Doug Allyn with a gangster wh...

Winner, Fiction Book of the Year, 2020-21, Chicago Writers AssociationIS THERE A WARNING BEFORE THE MOMENT LIFE SHATTERS INTO PIECES?In 1968 two young Vietnamese sisters flee to Saigon after their village on the Mekong River is attacked by American forces and burned to the ground. The sole survivors of the brutal massacre that killed their family, the sisters struggle to survive but become estranged, separated by sharply different choices and ideologies. Ma...

Curious how Ellie Foreman and Georgia Davis, the protagonists of my Libby's crime ficiton series, met? This short story explains. While her thriller, DOUBLEBACK,(October, 2009) features them both and Georgia made an appearance in AN IMAGE OF DEATH, they already had a passing acquaintance. How they met is explained in The Murder of Katie Boyle. The story takes place when Georgia was still a police officer. The story was published in a limited numbered edition and can also be found on audio ...

Following on the heels of several excellent standalone novels, (this is) a dark, well-told tale. Hellmann is an expert at tearing into the fabric of villainy that lies in ... our cities." Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine"Thrilling... Hellmann ratchets up the suspense with every chapter, and the reader is constantly kept wondering about the fate of both sisters." Publishers Weekly"Conflict so real it grips the reader. You dare not b...

Libby Fischer Hellmann’s thriller TOXICITY is as gritty as it is spellbinding. Populated with fully-realized characters, TOXICITY introduces us to Hellmann’s signature heroine, Georgia Davis. But we meet Georgia ten years earlier, when she is a young and determined rookie on a Chicago police force. In Georgia’s debut, we see her tenacity and strength, but also her vulnerability: the seeds sown for the woman she will become. TOXICITY works on all levels, drawing the reader inexorably into a...

"Libby Fischer Hellmann powerfully illustrates what individuals could have faced while living in such perilous times. This is an engaging read with much food for thought." BookReporter.com"Fast reading and well told, the three tales are intriguing, smoothly written and enjoyable. Highly recommended." Midwest Book Review"Libby Hellmann's prose is powerful. Every part of her WW II era yarns are methodically researched, taut, twist-filled and colorful with well developed suppo...