The big news story in Chicago is the murder trial of Johnny Santoro, a dock worker whose girlfriend has been killed. Most Chicagoans are betting on a quick guilty verdict, but Ellie Foreman has doubts about his complicityāSantoro is strangely familiar to her. Checking back to the outtakes of a video project in progress while the murder took place, Ellie finds evidence that could save Santoro from a lifetime behind bars. It seems the perfect alibi, but the tape is compromised by radio interference and Santoro goes to jail.Almost immediately, Ellieās world begins to shift: a suspicious vehicle follows her, the Chicago mob shows up, and the FBI wants to question her. She doesnāt have answers, but she has questions of her own about the radio transmissions. Everything indicates that someone wants something from her, something bigger than the Santoro case. If only she could figure out what it is... A Picture of Guilt follows Ellieās award-winning debut in the crime thriller An Eye for Murder.
Smart and excitingā¦ Hellmann knows what people are willing to die for and that knowledge makes her work shine. Dick Adler, Chicago Tribune
Hellmann owes a debt to fellow Chicagoans Sara Paretsky (complex plotting) and Barbara DāAmato (excellent research) ā but sheās the brash young thing making this formula new again. I canāt wait for the next book. Robin Agnew, Aunt Agatha's
Hellmann has surpassed herself. Well-crafted, intense and exciting, right up to the last pageā¦ a must read. Midwest Book Review
This sequel to AN EYE FOR MURDER has it all ā action, excitement, increasing tension ā with the usual family complications. Library Journal