Ellie Hatcher Books In Order

Publication Order of Ellie Hatcher Books

Ellie Hatcher did not, per se, fit the image that any one of us would conjure up of a professional detective and would never give her much credit as a shrewd investigator; she was more like an endearing girl next door but, once deputed, she manages to come out in flying colors in the crafty plot and flowing rendition by the author. What is remarkable about her character is that, in most situations , she is more like a fumbling, clumsy and error-prone individual who, quite often, commits unbelievable blunders putting her, and the investigation, in a quandary. But, her efforts are finally rewarded due to her methodical approach and steadfast investigations.

Overall, what we get is an absorbing, murder investigation called “Dead Connection”.

Dead Connection:

-The detective is a smart young girl; a spinster even in her real life,

-She works in the police department but that experience is limited to a year investigating small-time robberies and petty cases,

-She joins the police force to assist her elder brother who cannot keep out of trouble and needs support for sustenance since he is not financially sound ,

-She has a troubled family life and is forced to work in a second job in order to make both ends meet; more so, since she has to support her brother who lives with her,

-Her strength lies in the training imparted to her by her father; in one of his significant explanations to her, he had remarked that the key to finding the culprit was finding the motive. According to him “ Find me a motive and I shall find you the culprit”,

-The only additional quality qualifying her for the job is her knowledge of homicides and investigations which she gained from her father, also a police officer, murdered during the course of investigations into serial murders,

-The police department did not, much to her frustration, label her father’s death as a homicide;

-There are two murders a year apart and, much to her surprise, Ellie Hatcher is called upon to investigate,

-She partners Detective Flann McIlroy who specifically requests for her; he is known for his rebellious ways and the unorthodox methods that he employs in the investigations entrusted to him,

-She is an erratic, though likeable, tenderfoot and their investigations lead them to uncover other deaths suggesting a chain-killing spree; the clue that they get is the name of a matchmaking dating site called FirstDate whose name is written on a slip of paper stuffed in the pocket of a victim,

-This provides them with a take-off point to base their investigations upon; she changes her identity and joins the dating site posing as a normal customer and appearing similar to one of his earlier victims; she hopes to entrap the killer who starts to play cat and mouse with her,

-She needs to catch the killer before he claims his next victim; the distinct possibility of her being the next victim,

-During the various phases of investigation she realizes that the machinations of the killer are quite similar to those of her father’s killer,

-They face opposition from the CBI who want to scuttle their investigation,

She acts as the decoy in the dating site and comes up trumps in a thrilling plot which prompts the reader to ask for more sequels of this dynamic character.

Angel’s Tip:

The spring break is drawing to a close today and a bunch of girls want to have a last-minute blast before they submit to the drudgery of college life.

This is another of Ellie Hatchers gripping whodunit involving a young Indiana student who, accompanied her friends to a party-hopping night and , in her euphoria at gaining access to the VIP section of a high-end New York club where only the very privileged are allowed admission, overstays even after her friends have left and her hacked-up body is found next morning by Ellie Hatcher during her daily jogging run in the East River Park area. The strangest part was that a strand of her hair had been clipped off , presumably by the killer. The case was allotted to Ellie and J.J.Rogan, her partner at that time even against the opinion of her boss.

Ellie Hatcher questions a hedge fund manager, Jake Myers, one of the rich people, who was last seen getting Chelsea drunk, was questioned by her and has a foolproof case. The case attracts wide publicity due to its leakage to the press by her reporter friend who just wanted to please his taskmaster boss.

It seemed like an open and shut case and all, including her superiors were convinced that the publicity was good for their department’s image.

But, when the father of a previous victim approaches Ellie and narrates the facts of his daughter’s murder, she is convinced that there is more to this case than meets the eye. This meant that there have been similar homicides, a decade old, where the strands of hair were similarly taken away by the killer. The scenario of a serial killer on the loose was slowly unfolding. New York’s notorious areas were the scene of those crimes.

This leads her into the vortex of the high flying world of night clubs and the rich and the powerful where she is at the receiving end from both her seniors as well a dangerous killer on her heels. She gets down to reopening the old cases and studying them in great detail. There are some not-so-effective characters in this plot but overall the tempo and story-telling is very awe-inspiring and attention-catching till the end.

The plots by Alkafair Burke have several strengths as follows:

-The main character Ellie Hatcher, is easy to identify with since she faces the same troubles which an average middle class girl would face,

-The characters are very real and emerge strongly in the plots,

-The plots are intricately woven to keep the reader in a state of anticipation.