Ellie Matthews Novels

Ellie Matthews' life changed the day she discovered that the brutally dismembered Jane Doe she'd been examining for a month was her estranged mother. In one instant her career as a celebrated criminalist was over and her new life as a quiet academic began. But her tentative peace is shattered when the body of a female student is discovered on college property and a close colleague is named the key suspect. Ellie watches in disbelief as evidence begins to pile up against her good-natured friend and whispers of salacious affairs and toxic secrets spread.

After surviving the brutal ordeal of her last investigation, Ellie Matthews just wants to return to teaching, and put her nightmares behind her. But fate has other plans. It isn't long before the reluctant investigator finds herself drawn back into the field. And once again, tragedy strikes close to home . . . Ellie's mentor, Sheriff Jayne Walsh, reaches out to her with a desperate plea for help. A series of women have gone missing. Each victim is a family member of a law enforcement professional. And each one has turned up dead. Now, the latest victim is Jayne's niece . . .

Determined to leave her traumatic past behind and turn over a new leaf, former criminalist Ellie Matthews is taking some time for herself. Competitive running and a budding relationship with FBI Agent Vic Manetti are working wonders. But after she stumbles upon a woman brutally murdered on a local running trail, Ellie dives headfirst back into a dangerous world. A photo of the victim's gruesome killing explodes online, and a string of chilling threats quickly thrusts Ellie into a desperate race to unmask the culprit before any more innocents die.

When an unidentifiable body turns up at an abandoned water park, expert criminalist Ellie Matthews is recruited to once again step into a puzzling investigation that has "cold case" written all over it. Still nursing old wounds as she navigates a tense relationship with her former partner, and frustrated over a dead-end investigation, Ellie finds solace in her close friend, Vic Manetti. Ellie barely has time to regroup before a beloved local reporter is found dead in an apparent murder-suicide.

Marie Collins has just been released from prison after serving her time for kidnapping Shawn Baxter when he was a toddler. Reviled by the whole town, no one is surprised at the defacement of her property, and Ellie and Nick are able to bring Shawn in to face the consequences of his petty crime. Thinking the situation successfully handled and preparing to leave town, Ellie and Nick are blindsided when a dead body is found in a barn. On Baxter property. And the victim is Marie Collins.

When investigators set out to question Marcus, he is nowhere to be found. In a jarring twist, Marcus dies in an apparent drug overdose. When Ellie and Detective Baxter search Marcus's residence after his demise, they find unsettling evidence linking him to a series of murders, including the death of Ellie's own mother. Despite the mounting evidence against Marcus, the case isn't sitting right with Ellie. Was Marcus a cold-blooded killer, or was he being set up for the perfect crime?