A Shot to Die For

August 1, 2005
Incest and murder, plus the power and attraction of wealth, provide the menacing and murky background for Hellmann's less than compelling fourth novel to feature Ellie Foreman (after 2004's An Image of Death). The Chicago documentary filmmaker has a way of stumbling into murder and romance, and then coping with their competing demands in entertaining and effective fashion. Ellie's at a rest stop near Lake Geneva, Wis., when an apparently random shooting snuffs out Daria Flynn, a young woman with whom she'd just been talking. But the shooting turns out to have deep roots that lead back to Lake Geneva and the resort where Ellie had been filming. When Daria's family approaches Ellie to learn about her last moments, Ellie is drawn into the resort's dark history. She also meets handsome, rich, arrogant Luke Sutton, scion of the influential Sutton family and, because of a rumored link to Daria, a possible suspect. As usual, Hellmann creates a vivid setting, but Ellie's dithering over one fading relationship-and a bad case of raging hormones more appropriate for her 16-year-old daughter-reduce her appeal.