Robert Ellis (1) (1954–)

The backstory: Robert Ellis is one of my favorite mystery writers. His Lena Gamble series (City of Fire, The Lost Witness, and Murder Season) is extraordinarily good and criminally underappreciated. I've also enjoyed his earlier stand-alone novels Access to Power and The Murder Room (read before this blog, which means a long time ago.)

The basics: City of Echoes is the first in a new series featuring Los Angeles police detective Matt Jones, who catches a big case on his first night as a show more homicide detective.

My thoughts: Sometimes I have a hard time reviewing mysteries because so many things are not as they seem that by the end, I struggle to remember where I entered the story as a reader. City of Echoes is one of those mysteries. I read it while my in-laws were visiting (for the nomadbaby's first birthday), and I promptly asked my mother-in-law to read it. I'd given her copies of Ellis's earlier novels for holidays over the years, and she was excited to see he had a new one. Her husband read it next. In the span of two days, three of us read it (Mr. Nomadreader is behind the times), and we had an excellent discussion about it. It's rare that mysteries end with me still wanting to talk about things. To help me resist giving away any of this novel's delightful, surprising and horrific twists, just read it.

If you read this blog last year, you know that I read all 27 of Michael Connelly's novels last year. I was curious to see how Ellis would stack up, as they both heavily feature corruption in the LAPD and have similar writing styles filled with twists. Ellis is every bit as good as I remembered. If you've read and enjoyed Connelly, please start reading Ellis. His backlist isn't as extensive, but it's just as good, and City of Echoes is the start of something great with Matt Jones.

Favorite passage: "Two eyewitnesses who had seen everything but, like most eyewitnesses, understood nothing, in spite of their seats in the front row."

The verdict: City of Echoes is a stunningly good police procedural. Jones is a dynamic character, but the mystery and frequent shocking twists take center stage here. If you want a compelling mystery that will keep you guessing, be nearly impossible to put down, and have you eagerly awaiting the next book after the last page has turned, then pick up City of Echoes. show less

Wow! Great book, but not for the squeamish. (Think Criminal Minds). Mr. Ellis is clearly a gifted writer who can keep a reader riveted, especially if you can suspend your disbelief a bit. At least, I hope certain of the character's actions-both the supposed good guys and the evil doers- are not things that occur outside the realm of fiction. This is a very timely book that makes use of current scandals in the news and has a very sympathetic and vulnerable lead protagonist. Make sure you have show more time to read this without too many breaks as you won't want to put it down. Just keep in mind that is also quite disturbing. Thanks to the author and NetGalley for a copy of the book. show less

Lena Gabmel, L.A. Detective is given a case of a dismembered body that was found in a dumpster. Lena isn't liked by her superiour because of a former case where a police officer was involved and bad publicity of the police department resulted. For the last six months, as punishment, Lena had been doing administrative work. She wonders if she is being set up with this new case.

As she investigates the murder, she is sent a driver's license identifying the Jane Doe as Jennifer McBride. show more Unfortunately, when Lena attempts to notify the next of kin, the woman tells her that her daughter has been dead for two years. Lena now has to find out who the Jane Doe was, and why she stole the other woman's identity.

Lena works with Detective Rhoades and follow leads to a doctor named Fontaine. They know the doctor is hiding something but are ordered to tread lightly by their superiors.

The hunt for the killers goes through various trails, with the author providing some excellent plot twists to add to the tension. Lina discovers corruption and deceit within her department and believes that she may be the next target of the people attempting to keep the facts of the case from going public.

The plot was well developed and the gradual manner in which Lena figures out what was happening was excellent. As a character, Lena is determined, ready to stand alone if necessary to solve the killing, she also has the instinct to know just where to find the answers.
I was entertained by the story and recommend it. show less

The Santa Ana is known as ‘The Devil Wind’ in LA, and marks the season of massive fires that rage through the hills and canyons of the city – costly, destructive, and entirely unpredictable.

City of Fire is set during that season, and homicide detective Lena Gamble and her partner are on the track of a serial killer as maverick as the fires…

Packed with twists, turns, red herrings, ambushes and surprises, the book kept me guessing all the way. Although, with hindsight, the story is show more tricky, contrived and manipulative, it is an exciting page-turner in which the thrills just keep coming show less