Ellie Foreman has never heard of an old man named Ben Sinclair. So when she hears from his landlady that he was found dead with her name in his pocket, Ellie is curious.

Recently divorced, Ellie is a filmmaker who lives in Chicago with her twelve-year-old daughter, Rachel. Ellie put together a documentary on Chicago neighborhoods that was well received. According to Sinclair's elderly landlady, Ben Sinclair became very excited after watching the program and seeing Ellie's name on the credits.

His landlady was hoping that Ellie might be a relative who would take care of Ben's few possessions. Ben's possessions include cartons of clothes, a locked metal box and an old Zippo lighter. Ellie informs the woman that she is not a relative, but Ellie agrees to take the cartons to a local charity.

When Ellie returns, she finds the landlady dead on the floor. And before Ellie can give anything away to charity, her home is broken into: a few pieces of jewelry are taken and the cartons belonging to Ben are taken too.

The police believe these events are random, Ellie is not so sure. Particularly when she remembers that the one carton the landlady kept was missing when Ellie found her body.

Ellie Forman is curious, gutsy and flawed - a quite likable heroine. Investigating is part of what she does as a filmmaker, so it's not a stretch for her to become involved in something, which at first, seems to have nothing to do with her.

However, there may be a few too many coincidences and a few too many awkward exclamatory statements like "I gasped" in this tale. Also, I believe the romance in the story is a little too pat. But, all in all, An Eye For Murder provides readers with a fair amount of entertainment

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry