Libby Fischer Hellmann's Books
Sep.03.2013
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...
Apr.01.2012
A gripping literary thriller set against the backdrop of the Iranian Revolution
It all began with a line of Persian poetry...
Anna and Nouri, both studying in Chicago, fall in love despite their very different backgrounds. Anna, who has never been close to her parents, is more than happy to return with Nouri to his native Iran, to be embraced by his wealthy family. Beginning...
Aug.27.2011
Short stories are the poetry of prose. They are precise, cut to the bone, every word a necessity. Not many authors develop that control. Libby Fischer Hellmann has the hand of a master.
William Kent Krueger:
The stories in Nice Girl Does Noir have all been published previously in traditional venues. They’re unified by the presence of two remarkable women: Ellie Foreman and...
Nov.12.2010
Someone is trying to kill Lila Hilliard. During the Christmas holidays she returns from running errands to find her family home in flames, her father and brother trapped inside. Later, she is attacked by a mysterious man on a motorcycle... and the threats don't end there.
As Lila desperately tries to piece together who is after her and why, she uncovers information about her...
Oct.01.2009
Little Molly Messenger is kidnapped on a sunny June morning. Three days later she's returned, apparently unharmed. Molly's mother, Chris, is so grateful to have her daughter back that she's willing to overlook the odd circumstances.
A few days later, the brakes go out on Chris's car.
An accident? Maybe. Except that it turns out that Chris, the IT manager at a large Chicago bank,...
Apr.15.2008
Removed from the gritty streets of Chicago, the wealthy residents of the North Shore sleep easily in their million dollar homes. Easily, that is, until a local girl is discovered bludgeoned to death in the woods. Libby Fischer Hellman’s newest novel, EASY INNOCENCE, shakes up suburbia with murder and far-reaching scandal. Quick to blame the man with the bat, the North Shore returns...
Oct.15.2007
Blue is the new noir, and nobody does Blues like Chicago. This collection of dark stories, from today's best Chicago crime fiction authors, captures the depths to which people sink when they run out of options. The emptiness and pain spawned by greed. The violence—or occasionally, the bittersweet redemption—that springs from a broken heart.
Featuring 21 stories by Sara Paretsky,...
Sep.01.2005
In the fourth title in the Ellie Foreman mystery series, the Chicago documentary filmmaker finds herself in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, producing a video for a popular resort. She is soon drawn into the history of a wealthy and prominent family, deeply rooted in a magnificent mansion on the shores of the lake. Ellie, a divorced single mom, finds the issues of trust and loyalties...
Feb.01.2004
In this the third novel, a mysterious package appears at Ellie’s door. Inside is a surveillance video showing the brutal murder of a young woman. Some digging on Ellie’s part reveals that the woman was a diamond courier with a shady history based in Eastern Europe during the collapse of the Soviet Union. More digging reveals dangerous happenings at home, (particularly in Des...
Aug.01.2003
In the second Ellie Foreman mystery, A PICTURE OF GUILT, Chicago based videographer Ellie comes across some outtakes from a production that could keep Johnnie Santoro, an alleged murderer, from a life behind bars. The problem is that the tape showing Santoro’s innocence is compromised with radio interference. In addition, someone -- Ellie doesn’t know who—doesn’t want the...
Nov.01.2002
In a small boarding house in a quiet area of Chicago, an elderly man has passed away with little more than the name and number of one Ellie Foreman in his coat pockets. When contacted, Ellie wracks her brain for answers, but she has no apparent connection to the deceased. And between her work as video producer, her attempts to move past her ex-husband, and her struggles a s a...
"Meticulously researched and fast-paced... a significant departure... this political thriller (A BITTER VEIL) will please established fans and newcomers alike.."”
—Publishers Weekly
About Libby
Libby Fischer Hellmann is a transplant from Washington, D.C., where, she says, “When you’re sitting around the dinner table gossiping about the neighbors, you’re talking politics.” Armed with a Masters Degree in Film Production from New York University, and a...