Murder at Hatteras

by Joe C. Ellis

Gabe and Marla Easton move to Hatteras Island on North Carolina's Outer Banks to escape from a stress-filled world in hope of conceiving their first child. Shortly after their arrival, a brutal rape/murder occurs on the island. As the investigation proceeds, the Eastons are drawn into the search for the killer. Soon, everybody seems to exhibit suspicious behavior. When Gabe is beaten and Marla is raped, Marla can't identify their assailant and can't even reveal her plight because the rapist has threatened to kill Gabe, who is alive but in a coma. The plot comes to a head as Marla realizes she is now pregnant. The story rushes to a climax as readers learn the identity of the assailant as well as the father of Marla's unborn child.

Genres: Mystery

285 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2010

About the author

Joe C. Ellis, a big fan of the North Carolina's Outer Banks, grew up in the Ohio Valley. A native of Martins Ferry, Ohio, he attended West Liberty State College in West Virginia and went on to earn his Master's Degree in education from Muskingum College in New Concord, Ohio. After a thirty-six year career as an art teacher, he retired from the Martins Ferry City School District.
Currently, he is the pastor for the Scotch Ridge Presbyterian Church and the Colerain Presbyterian Church.

His writing career began in 2001 with the publication of his first novel, The Healing Place. In 2007 he began the Outer Banks Murder Series with the publication of Murder at Whalehead (2010), Murder at Hatteras (2011), Murder on the Outer Banks (2012), Murder at Ocracoke (2017), The Treasure of Portsmouth Island (2019), and Roanoke Island Murders (2020)

Joe credits family vacations on the Outer Banks with the inspiration for these stories. Joe and his wife, Judy, have three children and five grandsons. Although the kids have flown the nest, they get together often and always make it a priority to vacation on the Outer Banks whenever possible. He comments, "It's a place on the edge of the world, a place of great beauty and sometimes danger--the ideal setting for murder mysteries."

Reviews

[Hannah Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book while I was in Manteo (Downtown Books) and I am so glad I did! It was so fun to read about a story that takes place somewhere I'm familiar with. When certain places came up, it was nice to be able to one, fully visualize it, and two know EXACTLY where they were talking about.

Now on to the actual plotline. It was fantastic and freaked me out quite a bit! This book had me closing my blinds and making sure my doors were locked. Not only that but the characters were easy to love and the fact that the bad guy could have been anyone made it all that more enjoyable to read. The twists and turns in this book were done amazingly well and I didn't see many of them coming. Not only that but the thought process of each character very much felt like their own. Each character did things that made sense to THEM and I find a lot of books have trouble with that.

There is however quite a bit of god-related thoughts and ideas. It may have felt a tad bit much at times, however, I also felt that it made a lot of sense to the story. Not only did I feel it made sense to the story and specifically to the characters these ideas and thoughts were surrounding, but also made sense because of the author's passion for religion. Overall, I loved this book. It was terrifying, mysterious, exhilarating, and genuinely felt very real. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves mystery books!

This may be a potential ***spoiler*** but this but does deal with sexual assault so please be wary if that is something you are sensitive to.

[Courtney · Rating 1 out of 5]

The plot of this story was quite wonky. As someone who has lived, worked, and had family on the OBX it took me right out of the story with facts that were off. Biggest is that my nephew was recently flown by helicopter to a bigger hospital because of a lacerated liver. Coma patients would definitely be sent to larger hospitals or long term care facilities, not a 20 bed hospital like they have in Nags Head. The whole twin thing was also weird, not to mention the neighbors comatose wife. This is my second book in the series. Unsure if I will continue.

[Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dnf

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this book in Hatteras where we vacation every year in May. I loved that when the author was describing places of interest and businesses on the islands I knew exactly what he was talking about :)

[Jenn]

I was planning on reading this book since it's the next one in the series but the religious overtone is starting right back up. Need to take a break from it.