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Ellie DeFarr grew up in the surrounds of Pittsburgh, PA, playing in the forested foothills and wading through the streams that flow between them. She attended the University of Michigan, where she earned a Masters Degree in a scientific field so far removed from creative writing that it's mind boggling. After graduation she entered the demanding and fast-paced world of leading-edge technology. But this inauspicious start did not deter her from her love of the written word. She is delighted to be the author of the Hera Hunter Mysteries and is currently hard at work on the next book in the series. If you'd like to know more about her, visit her website, elliedefarr.com.
Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite
They Called Her Paperback Rose: A Hera Hunter Mystery is a private sleuth novel written by Ellie DeFarr. Hera Hunter is a private investigator in Centreville. On her way to visit Bernie’s Market, she saw two teenaged girls fighting, with one girl obviously larger and more powerful than the other. Hera felt compelled to intervene. She offered the larger girl ten dollars to leave, which she quickly accepted. Hera tried to talk to the remaining girl who said her name was Calamity Jane. She accepted Hera's offer of a meal, and the two of them entered Bernie’s. Bernie, a widower, housed, fed and employed some of the homeless youth of Centreville, and Hera contributed funds to help him do that. While Jane left without the promised bowl of beef stew, she did manage to steal some baseball cards from the kid who was charged with getting her fed. When Hera followed her outside, she noticed a crowd gathered around the still form of a young girl. It was the girl she had given the ten dollars to. People were saying she jumped off a tenement roof to commit suicide, but her mother doesn't believe it. She's retained Hera to find out who killed her daughter.
Ellie DeFarr’s private investigator mystery, They Called Her Paperback Rose: A Hera Hunter Mystery, is hard-hitting and compelling. Hera is no stranger to the plight of the homeless children who call Centreville their home. She became one of them after her father shot and killed her mother, and she still has close friends and acquaintances from her times on the streets. This is not the first book in DeFarr’s Hera Hunter series, but she does include enough background information to allow this book to be read on its own. That being said, I’d strongly recommend that readers read these books in order. DeFarr builds a complex and believable character in her sniper turned private eye Hera, and Hera’s story is well worth following in its entirety. DeFarr’s mysteries are a welcome addition to the hard-boiled and crime noir genres, and They Called Her Paperback Rose continues that tradition. The plot is credible and original; the writing is smooth and fluid, and the story just sings, even if it is a somewhat dark tune -- but isn’t that usually the case with good crime noir? This newest Hera Hunter Mystery is highly recommended.
