22nd out of 183 books
—
130 voters
Easy Innocence (Georgia Davis Mysteries #1)
by
Libby Fischer Hellmann (Goodreads Author)
Limited Edition of 250 books as part of the publisher's Evidence Collection. Each book includes police booking sheet, fingerprint, author signature, dated, and numbered 1 of 250. 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 beh...more
Hardcover, 396 pages
Published
April 28th 2008
by Bleak House Books
(first published 2002)
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Jan 14, 2009
Betty
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
murder mystery
Shelves:
fiction,
investigative,
murder-mystery,
mystery-cozy,
novels,
young-adult,
suspense-thriller,
favorites
A timely and perilous trip into the darkness of suburbia, this book grabbed me from the first page and kept me going straight through to the end. I only stopped reading long enough for a few hours of sleep! Libby Hellman has created a plot touching on two very real aspects of living in today’s world, teen prostitution and unscrupulous land development, and turned it into an absorbing read. Full of twist and turns, relationships good, bad and ugly, the main character Georgia Davis, ex-cop and now...more
RATING: 3.75
Usually, when you think of a prostitution ring, what comes to mind is a group of adult women who are selling themselves for money. One normally doesn't think of a group of middle class high school girls who are selling their bodies for the thrill and to buy the latest accessories du jour. But that's what's happening in a wealthy Chicago suburb. The ring is actually being run by an affluent teen named Lauren Walcher who has become quite the online businesswoman.
One of the girls invol...more
Usually, when you think of a prostitution ring, what comes to mind is a group of adult women who are selling themselves for money. One normally doesn't think of a group of middle class high school girls who are selling their bodies for the thrill and to buy the latest accessories du jour. But that's what's happening in a wealthy Chicago suburb. The ring is actually being run by an affluent teen named Lauren Walcher who has become quite the online businesswoman.
One of the girls invol...more
Jul 13, 2008
Carl Brookins
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone with teenagers and who love good mystery fiction
Authors work hard to develop their series characters because they know agents and publishers like the relative security of known quantities; the characters are already vetted and there is almost always a growing audience of fans. Every new book in a series helps to sell the previous ones. Authors are like anybody else, they too like the security of series work. Crime fiction authors are also like creative artists in other fields. They get ideas for work that may not fit their series. And that is...more
Oct 18, 2008
Dorothy
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
everyone
Recommended to Dorothy by:
Saw it at Borders-looked great
This book takes place in Chicago's suburban North Shore where all the affluent people of Chicago live. It is a novel of mystery and suspense. This book delves into the private, and not so private, lives of the rich. It begins with the murder of a high school student, but turns into much, much more! From the second I started reading this book, I couldn't put it down! I read it, and brought it with me, everywhere I traveled. I had a hard time not picking it up during work. I recommend this book as...more
This was, frankly, refreshing. I was given a copy for Christmas, and honestly I wasn't sure about the quality: a relative of mine is a friend of the author. But I was impressed.
Georgia Davis is a P.I. who used to be a police officer. Her latest case comes from Ruth Jordan, a woman whose mentally ill brother has been accused of battering a girl to death. As Georgia investigates she discovers twists and turns and quite a few hidden motives.
The characters are very real. They all have depth, and non...more
Georgia Davis is a P.I. who used to be a police officer. Her latest case comes from Ruth Jordan, a woman whose mentally ill brother has been accused of battering a girl to death. As Georgia investigates she discovers twists and turns and quite a few hidden motives.
The characters are very real. They all have depth, and non...more
The book is almost error-free (worth mentioning, since so many Kindle books have mistakes). The story is familiar - innocent man charged with murder because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, private eyes and cops trying to find clues that lead to the real murderer and finding another mystery instead (this one involving a ring of teenaged prostitutes).
The main character (Georgia, a private eye) is appealing and smart. One thing lacking is enough backstory to make me really, really car...more
The main character (Georgia, a private eye) is appealing and smart. One thing lacking is enough backstory to make me really, really car...more
Dec 11, 2011
Jennifer
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
people who hated New Trier
Recommended to Jennifer by:
Book Cellar
Shelves:
read-2011
This was an interesting mystery set in the North Shore suburbs of Chicago involving Georgia Davis, an ex-cop who (as many mystery novel protagonists before her) has now become a private investigator. She's thrown a bone by a former colleague--to work for the defense of a young, psychologically disturbed young man who is accused of beating a high school girl to death with a baseball bat. The case is problematic on many levels--because the young man in question had never been physically violent be...more
A teen on the edge of the “In” group is brutally murdered in an upscale Chicago suburb. The cops and DA quickly pin the crime on a local mentally handicapped man who is found at the scene with the weapon in his hands and the victim’s blood on his shirt, despite some obvious questions. Former cop and new P.I. George Davis is hired by the defense to get the real story and cast reasonable doubt. And she finds plenty to question – What were the kids doing in the forest preserve? Why didn’t the polic...more
This is my first book by Libby and I will read pick up another one and see what she has to offer in her other books as she has a lot of action and details in her writings. It was not one of those books where you know who did it in the beginning chapters but it was a book where you wanted to keep reading as the drama was unfolding right in front of you.
Georgia (a new PI, former cop) never takes no for an answer as she uncovers the layers and the clues while other individuals who are more directly...more
Georgia (a new PI, former cop) never takes no for an answer as she uncovers the layers and the clues while other individuals who are more directly...more
Apr 26, 2009
Michael
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Parents of teenagers, mystery fans, woman sluth fans.
Recommended to Michael by:
Saw review that looked favorable.
Georgia Davis is hired to show that Cam Jordan is not guilty of killing teenager Sara Long.
Georgia enters a high school world packed with cliques, peer-pressure, greed and conceit. It is a setting ripe for the crime of the murder of a supposidly innocent teenager.
Law enforcement agencies are pusing for a quick solution to the case and expect a guilty verduct but when Davis, a former Northbrook Il. police officer, now PI begins her investigation we find that not much is as it first seemed. Inc...more
Georgia enters a high school world packed with cliques, peer-pressure, greed and conceit. It is a setting ripe for the crime of the murder of a supposidly innocent teenager.
Law enforcement agencies are pusing for a quick solution to the case and expect a guilty verduct but when Davis, a former Northbrook Il. police officer, now PI begins her investigation we find that not much is as it first seemed. Inc...more
Georgia Davis is a former cop turned P.I. When she receives a request from Danny O'Malley, a cop she used to work with, asking her to look into a murder case on behalf of the accused, she agrees to help out. It seems that important people are making an especially great effort to hurry this case through the process and convict a mentally ill man with no prior history of violence. The crime? The brutal beating death of a high school girl named Sara Long.
When Georgia begins to investigate she find...more
When Georgia begins to investigate she find...more
Jul 05, 2008
Julia
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
everyone - maybe not teenagers - it is about the dark side of Northshore teens in part
Recommended to Julia by:
the author is my friend!
Libby's most recent mystery is great - like all of her mysteries (that I have read) - it is a story that feels very current and is set practically in my backyard! She writes about the North Shore of Chicago and so if you know this area, the settings will be very familiar! You may even find some charaters with your friends names on them (my name is on a character in one of her other books!). This is a fun and fast read.
Excellent, attention-grabbing style and denouement. Seemed a little bit unbelievable in parts, but perhaps that is because it is too easily possible that it could be true these days, and I just don't want to believe it. My only objection was that I had trouble keeping track of all of the characters until about the middle of the book.
Suspense. Not topics I would normally read -- school hazings/ multiple murders.Masterful telling. Author is doing book signing at Racine B&N, Friday, May 9. Setting is North suburbs of Chicago, where author currently lives. Don't start the last half of the book if you can't finish it in that sitting.
This was a mystery set in the North Shore of Chicago (with way too many street locations and local landmarks listed; I used to live there and at times felt that I was back on a visit). A girl is murdered at a Forest Preserve following a high school hazing. She is from a more middle class family than her peers who are all from real wealth. The heroine, a Private Investigator who is on an indefinite suspension from a local Police Department, is hired to investigate her killing after an autistic ma...more
I was drawn to it because it takes place where I grew up. Sure, I knew everyone's exact location but it was creepy too. The story line was on point with a situation that had occurred several years ago, not nearly as dramatic though.I don't read too many murder/mystery books but this one seems all over the place. There must of been a million characters in this book. I had to keep going back to figure who was who. Sometimes I wish I could just stop reading a book, but by some force I just HAVE to...more
Easy Innocence reminded me of Sara Paretsky's writing style with her V.I. Warshawski character. This was a complex plot, which the author handled well, keeping me in there until the end. Her main character, a female private investigator and ex-cop, was real and likable, always important characteristics to me when the main character is a strong woman. She makes mistakes, but she never gives up.
If you like a good crime mystery, you'll enjoy this novel. It was published in 2008, and she has publis...more
If you like a good crime mystery, you'll enjoy this novel. It was published in 2008, and she has publis...more
I bought this book about a private eye on the North Shore at the Printers' Row Book Fair and read it in a week. This is the first in a series and it took me a little while to get into it, but overall I really enjoyed it. I found the characters compelling and liked the way the mystery unfolded into something much different than I originally expected. The ending didn't work quite as well for me because I felt the villains became a little too conveniently wreckless/careless. But I plan to reach the...more
PROS: Good mystery that kept me guessing. Not many errors in text. Good research on subject matter.
CONS: Thought it was a little unrealistic and more after school special than i would like
FYI: I tend to rate things lower stars than other people because i want to save the 4 and 5 star ratings to apply to the truly amazing and inspiring books that are out there. So when i say it was okay, it means i thought it was worth the read,,anything less than that i usually won't finish it and waste my time...more
CONS: Thought it was a little unrealistic and more after school special than i would like
FYI: I tend to rate things lower stars than other people because i want to save the 4 and 5 star ratings to apply to the truly amazing and inspiring books that are out there. So when i say it was okay, it means i thought it was worth the read,,anything less than that i usually won't finish it and waste my time...more
In Easy Innocence, the author skillfully unravels an intriguing yet disturbing mystery. Georgia Davis is a former Chicago Cop turned PI who’s investigating what appears to be an air tight murder case. Sara Long, a seemingly sweet and innocent high school girl is found murdered. The suspect? A mentally ill man with a sex offending past and plenty of evidence against him. Georgia’s not convinced, especially with the speed in which the case is being rushed through the system. As Georgia gets closer...more
In not making the protagonist a beauty queen or the best at what she does, the author does a remarkable job putting together the character of P.I. Georgia Davis. Having recently been let go from the police force, Georgia is now a self-employed private investigator who doesn't get away with going about garnering information underhandedly.
It was a slam-dunk case after the teen girls witnessed the man standing over the dead girl with the baseball bat in hand and blood on his clothing. The man's si...more
It was a slam-dunk case after the teen girls witnessed the man standing over the dead girl with the baseball bat in hand and blood on his clothing. The man's si...more
This was not a bad read. The ground it covered certainly wasn't new, but given the glut of crime fiction these days that is not surprising. The main character, P.I Georgia Davis, was strong enough and there was enough action that it kept my interest.
The story built quite slowly, and I was just starting to become frustrated about 3/4 of the way through when the action started to take off. However, the perpetrator of the crime was also quite obvious before the Georgia figured it out. Which is fru...more
The story built quite slowly, and I was just starting to become frustrated about 3/4 of the way through when the action started to take off. However, the perpetrator of the crime was also quite obvious before the Georgia figured it out. Which is fru...more
This is the story of Georgia Davis. Suspended from the Police Force she has accepted a job as a Private Investigator. Her first job is to investigate the murder of Sara Long. The Police have their man (an educationally-challenged paedophile) and the murder weapon. Seems cut and dried but Georgia is convinced there is more to it than that, as she uncovers bent lawyers, shady businessmen, hazing and teenage prostitution, can she find the real killer before anyone else dies?
This was great. It start...more
This was great. It start...more
Hazing (a process by which individuals are subject to humiliation as part of an initiation to a group), an affluent teenage prostitution ring where the girls turn tricks for ipods over fixes, a real estate scandal, and adultery comprise this enjoyable and heinous viewpoint of the young and rich or well to-do middle class teenage girls embroiled in a murder investigation.
In Chicago’s North Shore, Georgia Davis is hired to prove the innocence of a mentally handicapped man accused of the brutal mu...more
In Chicago’s North Shore, Georgia Davis is hired to prove the innocence of a mentally handicapped man accused of the brutal mu...more
Aug 13, 2009
Kathleen Hagen
added it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2009-audio-books,
2009-mysteries
Easy Innocence, by Libby Fischer Hellman, A-minus, narrated by Beth Richmond, produced by Books in Motion, downloaded from audible.com.
Here we have Georgia Davis, who was a cop in Chicago for ten years but resigned after being suspended for not following the rules. She has gotten her license as a private eye and put out her shingle. Georgia lived in the North Shore suburbs. In these suburbs lived the richest families with the most privileged children. They felt smug and safe at night, not even l...more
Here we have Georgia Davis, who was a cop in Chicago for ten years but resigned after being suspended for not following the rules. She has gotten her license as a private eye and put out her shingle. Georgia lived in the North Shore suburbs. In these suburbs lived the richest families with the most privileged children. They felt smug and safe at night, not even l...more
What an intriguing story and a classic detective/mystery. Georgia Davis is a complex personality, tough enough but with rounded edges and someone you can't help but to like. She's flawed, of course, but has a moral center that is her compass. Georgia was suspended from the police force and is working as a PI as she awaits reinstatement.
Georgia accepts a case to try to clear her client who is accused of murdering a high school girl. As she works the case, she finds there's much more than that on...more
Georgia accepts a case to try to clear her client who is accused of murdering a high school girl. As she works the case, she finds there's much more than that on...more
This is the first book I’ve read by Libby Fischer Hellmann and it certainly will not be my last. Easy Innocence is suspense novel that keeps the surprises coming. I found the story compelling and the main character Georgia Davis, a strong, provocative heroine.
The author knows how to write a tight plot and her characters are fully developed and seem to come alive on the pages. If you pick one mystery to read this year, make Easy Innocence the one. You won’t be disappointed.
The author knows how to write a tight plot and her characters are fully developed and seem to come alive on the pages. If you pick one mystery to read this year, make Easy Innocence the one. You won’t be disappointed.
I bought this because it was cheap (on Kindle) but it's easily comparable to many 'big-name-author' mystery books (and probably better than many of them). I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, the quality of the writing was good (I didn't get distracted from the story by awkward phrases or general cheesiness), the characters were believable and I found myself thinking about the story while I was doing things other than reading. I'd definitely recommend it and am surprised it was so cheap!
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Libby's newest thriller, HAVANA LOST, is set largely in Cuba and spans 3 generations of the same family. It will be released in September, 2013.
A BITTER VEIL, was released by Allium Press of Chicago in April, 2012. Set in revolutionary Iran, PW calls it a "significant departure" from her previous work but says it will "please both established fans and newcomers."
In September, 2011, Libby released...more
More about Libby Fischer Hellmann...
A BITTER VEIL, was released by Allium Press of Chicago in April, 2012. Set in revolutionary Iran, PW calls it a "significant departure" from her previous work but says it will "please both established fans and newcomers."
In September, 2011, Libby released...more
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