Product Description

Bodyguard to a glamorous, bestselling novelist?

It's the last kind of case that San Francisco private investigator John Marshall Tanner would normally accept. But Chandelier Wells comes with a personal referral Tanner cannot refuse.

For all her money and fame, Chandelier is scared. Someone is sending anonymous notes: If you don't stop, you will die! Stop what? She says she doesn't know, and she has no time to find out before beginning the publicity tour for her new book, Shaloon.

Chandelier writes romantic suspense, but she takes on tough issues. Shaloon attacks the cosmetics industry, and next year's book, just finished in manuscript, dissects the luxury cruise business. Could the research for her books have made her the kind of enemies who would wish her bodily harm?

Tanner's inclined to think that the lady might exaggerate her peril, but when a car bomb explodes, leaving one person dead and another gravely injured, Tanner regrets he didn't take Chandelier's fears more seriously. She has annoyed many people over the years, but who would want her dead? As Tanner begins to probe Chandelier's background, he discovers many potential suspects, including her ex-husband, a spurned lover, and a jealous writer who accuses Chandelier of plagiarism. Is one of them behind the car bomb, or is the answer even more complex and frightening?

Drawn into the bizarre life of a superstar author and an investigation that threatens to go full circle and bring back demons from Tanner's past, Tanner must also deal with his own grief for a departed friend and his developing love for a very special assistant district attorney. His life is at a turning point. The future is vast and vitalizing. The present is poignant.

Recently nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award, mystery writing's highest honor, author Stephen Greenleaf with Ellipsis adds another mesmerizing chapter to one of the most intoxicatingly powerful series in all of crime fiction.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #972199 in Books
• Published on: 2000-07-18
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 272 pages

Amazon.com Review
This is the 16th outing for Stephen Greenleaf's series hero, San Francisco PI John Marshall Tanner (Past Tense, Strawberry Sunday). In Ellipsis, Tanner signs on as bodyguard to a bestselling romance novelist. Chandelier Wells's connections to people Tanner loves persuade him to temper his dislike and protect her from the death threats she's been receiving as she prepares to embark on a book tour. At first Tanner doesn't take the threats very seriously; he's halfway convinced they're just a publicity stunt. But when a car bomb kills a former FBI agent who's been moonlighting as Wells's driver, Tanner gets serious in a hurry.

Suspects aren't in short supply; it seems that Wells has as many enemies as readers. Is the perp a deranged fan, a fellow writer who swears Chandelier plagiarized her work, a real estate mogul she dumped in an act of public humiliation, or an ex-husband who believes he's entitled to a share of her wealth? With Tanner on the case, the chase is on, in a smartly paced story that gives the reader a deeper look into Tanner's emotional complexities and capacities. Greenleaf is a master plotter, and Tanner gets more interesting with every adventure. --Jane Adams

From Publishers Weekly
Still smarting from having been forced to shoot dead his best friend and rogue cop, Charley Sleet, in 1997's Past Tense, San Francisco PI John Marshall Tanner must protect a famous novelist in this high octane addition to a justly acclaimed sleuthing series. Imperious megaseller Chandelier Wells is at the receiving end of death threats. Naturally, her tempestuous lifestyle comes with the usual detritus: an embittered ex-husband who claims she owes him everything, a demented fan decked out in costumes taken from the author's pages, an insecure agent about to be left in the dust and a hapless unpublished author shouting accusations of plagiarism. Wells is mythically unpleasant, so Tanner takes a decidedly laid-back view of this gig, until a car bomb kills the author's driver, a former FBI agent. The subplots include Tanner's approaching 50th birthday, his elderly neighbor's attempts to cash in on a magazine's lofty sweepstakes claim and his romance with an assistant DA that seems to require selling out sources as tokens of affection. The solution is light by Greenleaf's usual high standards, but the plot has an irresistible momentum, and Tanner's emotional evolution continues to fascinate. Then there's the moment when a trio of publishing women eagerly watches as Tanner enters a restaurant. As Greenleaf puts it, "The three of them looked up expectantly, as if I were bringing an advance copy of Publishers Weekly." (July)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Greenleaf (Strawberry Sunday) delivers an entertaining but ultimately disappointing addition to his John Marshall Tanner series. The San Francisco private investigator takes on the assignment of protecting rich and famous novelist Chandelier Wells against death threats. Despite Tanner!s surveillance, a bomb explodes in her limousine, seriously injuring Wells and killing her chauffeur. His investigation and questioning of potential suspects leads Tanner to the Triad, a corrupt police group that Tanner!s good friend Charley Sleet went after in Past Tense. When Tanner confronts the bad guys, the police arrests them"so much for suspense. The ending, which has Tanner inheriting neighbor Pearl Gibson!s millions in prize winnings and acting tearfully grateful at a party given for him, lacks depth and authenticity. Although Greenleaf!s prose and repartee could not be better, many characters are flat, and there is precious little dramatic effort on Tanner!s part. Recommended with reservations for larger collections."Michelle Foyt, Russell Lib., Middletown, CT
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

I love this hero!
This book is just another example of Stephen Greenleaf's ability to write a fast-paced, tight, suspenseful, and ultimately fulfilling mystery. If you haven't read any of his books yet, you can start here, or go back to his earlier works in paperback.

Our hero, Tanner, is great...Not to uptight or politically correct...Thank goodness he's not another recovering alcoholic! He's tough, takes a lickin, but lovable too...He's got his faults, but that just makes us identify with him that much more. The plot is great (as always), steeped in current issues and events. The pages turn too fast and the end comes too quickly..

Pick up this or any of his other books. Well worth even the hard cover price.

Stephen Greenleaf Delivers in Elipsis
John Marshall Tanner is back as the reluctant bodyguard to a driven sucessful novelist whose life has been threatened. Stephen Greenleaf lays bare today's literary world with a parade of suspects ranging from the jilted ex-husband to the soon to be fired agent, and the cross-dressing devoted fan obsessed with Chandelier Wells. But as always with Greenleaf what appears to be a simple mystery is actually a very complex character study. Tanner is still struggling from the death of his best friend Charley Sleet, commitment issues with his new love interest Jill Coppelia, and a daughter from an earlier indiscretion. An honorable and principled though somewhat rusted white knight with an Oreo addiction Tanner continues to do battle in in an unscrupulous world. After twenty years he's come to realize that "other people's problems, particularly those brought brought on by stupidity or self-indulgence, which in my experience is most of them, seem to provoke my ire more than my sympathy these days." John Marshall Tanner may decide to retire with Elipsis. If so it will be a loss to the literary world equal to John D.MacDonald's Travis McGee. Greenleaf has expertly written a wonderful tribute to a dying breed. It will prove satisfying to even the most devoted Tanner fans. Thanks for everything, Stephen Greenleaf.

A Mystery With Brains
John Marshall Tanner, private investigator, tells his story of this case. His client is Chandelier, a super successful writer of romance novels. Her secretary is Lark. Tanner's girl friend is Coppelia. And the author surely has fun inventing names. Aside from that, he writes in clear, concise language, presents a tight plot that is well thought out. It is a book that is a pleasure to read because it is written intelligently and without the usual gimmicks. What more can one ask for? I highly recommend it.