Detective Ella Marconi Series - Katherine Howell

Category: Detective, Mystery, Novel
Language: English
Keywords: Australian Detective Ella Marconi sydney

Written by Katherine Howell
Read by Caroline Lee
Format: MP3
Unabridged

The “Detective Ella Marconi” series by Katherine Howell is a thriller mystery crime series. The series is set in the city of Sydney, Austrailia. She features paramedics as good guys throughout the series. The novels are published in many countries and in many languages.

She worked as a paramedic for fifteen years, and draws on the experience to write her books. Working as a paramedic helped Howell pay the bills while she was getting her Bachelor’s and Masters degrees in the field of creative writing.

When she wrote the first novel in the series, it was actually the fourth novel that she had written. The first three she has somewhere, that will never see the light of day. The fourth one (which would later become her debut novel “Frantic”) was given back to her, after she gave it to her agent, and she was told it had no suspense. So she studied for her Masters, then apply what she learned when rewriting the novel. It worked, and it sold quickly as part of a two book deal that a publisher gave her; she now goes back and re-reads her thesis when starting a novel to remind her about suspense.

The series has won awards. In the year 2008, the first novel won best adult crime novel from Davitt awards. In 2009, it won Davitt’s reader’s choice for the second novel in the series called “The Darkest Hour”. In 2011, she would become the first author to win Davitt’s best adult crime novel twice; she won for her novel “Cold Justice” (which is the third book in the series).

“Frantic” is the first novel in the “Detective Ella Marconi” series and was released in the year 2007. It only takes just one terrible moment for Sophie Phillips’s (a paramedic) life to be ruined. It happens when her cop husband, Chris is shot on their own doorstep and their son Lachlan (who is just ten months old) is taken from his bed. Sophie believes that the attack was personal, but there is suspicion that it has to do with the fact that Chris was considered a dirty cop and police corruption surrounds him. Sophie thinks that the perpetrator is much more dangerous. Chris is in the hospital, and the police (led by Detective Ella Marconi) start looking for Lachlan. Sophie is led, by her desperation, to look for her child herself. She teams up with Chris’s partner, Angus Arendson, to find her son. But is the history the two of them have going to make it hard to find her son? One wrong move and she may have to kiss her whole life goodbye.

Fans of the novel found this to be written with an easy and engaging way. The twists and turns that the plot had kept readers guessing as to what would happen next in the book. It has well developed characters that make you feel like you actually get to know them, just by reading the novel. This book features human relationships that are not simple, a lot like the ones in real life. Ella seems like a great character to get to know, and some readers cannot wait to read more about her.

“The Darkest Hour” is the second novel in the “Detective Ella Marconi” series and was released in the year 2008. Lauren Yates, a paramedic, wanders into a world full of trouble one night and finds a dead man in an alley way. The alley is located in the inner city, and the killer is still nearby. The murderer threatens her life, should she go to the police, and Lauren takes him seriously. The man is someone she knows. His name is Miles Werner; he is Lauren’s sister’s ex and father of Lauren’s niece. He is quite a bad man. A man that was stabbed tells Lauren, while he is dying, that Miles stabbed him too. She has blood on her hands, and Detective Ella Marconi on her back. Lauren makes for a great witness, as she heard the victim’s last words and can testify to that fact. This may be the thing to help Ella get a full time spot in the homicide department. Lauren tries to change her statement, Ella knows that Lauren is keeping something from her, a big revelation. Her colleagues say that is obsessed, so she starts up her own investigation of what is going on. She digs into Lauren’s past, making Lauren dig in her heels more and more. Ella looking into things, makes Werner’s threat much more serious. Is this investigation going to put her career in jeopardy, just when she is starting to make a name for herself? Is Lauren going to be able to protect her family, before Werner makes good on the promise he made?

Fans of the novel found this to be non stop action and does not slow down. It keeps you on your toes until the very end of the novel. It is full of suspense and just a little romance, which seems to be the right balance. This book keeps readers glued on the pages, wondering how things are going to turn out for everyone. Some feel that the books get better and better in this great series.

“Cold Justice” is the third novel in the “Detective Ella Marconi” series and was released in the year 2010. A young girl finds the body of Tim Pieters hidden in the bushes. Tim is her classmate, and his family is devastated. No one is ever caught for the crime. Eighteen years later, some political pressure gets the case reopened. Detective Ella Marconi finds Georgie Riley (she found the body when she was just a teenager). She became a paramedic. If Georgie is telling the truth, which is what Ella believes, why does someone call Ella, anonymously, and tell her that Georgie is holding back some information? Is it only a coincidence that Freya, Georgie’s partner in their ambulance, went to the same high school? Ella grows more confused when Tim’s mother, suddenly wants nothing to do with the investigation; whereas before, she was more than willing to get the police involved. The MP (Tim’s cousin) who had enough influence to get the case reopened is doing all he can to help. The more and more Ella goes into the past, the more she is finding everyone’s secrets and dirty laundry. Is she going to be able to find the killer before more people get hurt?