Trail of Echoes - (Detective Elouise Norton) by Rachel Howzell Hall (Paperback)

About the Book

Detective Lou Norton investigates crimes against exceptional African American girls who belong to the same school district.

Book Synopsis

Trail of Echoes: the third Elouise Norton mystery novel from critically acclaimed crime writer Rachel Howzell Hall.

On a rainy spring day in Los Angeles, homicide detective Elouise "Lou" Norton is called away from a rare lunch date to Bonner Park, where the body of thirteen-year-old Chanita Lords has been discovered. When Lou and her partner, Colin Taggert, take on the sad task of informing Chanita's mother, Lou is surprised to find herself in the apartment building she grew up in.

Chanita was interested in photography and, much like Lou, a black girl destined to leave the housing projects behind. Her death fits a chilling pattern of exceptional African-American girls--dancers, artists, honors scholars-gone recently missing in the same school district, the one Lou attended not so long ago.

Lou is valiantly trying to make a go of life after her divorce and doing everything she can to avoid her long estranged father. She races to catch a serial killer, but he remains frustratingly out of her reach, sending cryptic cyphers and taunting clues that arrive too late to prevent the next death. This one is personal, and it's only a matter of time before he comes after Lou herself.

"Gives voice to a rare figure in crime fiction: a highly complex, fully imagined black female detective." - Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

Review Quotes

"Lou . . . is a formidable fighter--someone you want on your side." --New York Times Book Review

"A fresh voice in crime fiction." --Lee Child, New York Times bestselling author

"Hall..has a true gift."--Crimespree Magazine

"Another smart LA procedural...this determined African American protagonist makes a wonderful addition to the genre."--Booklist on Trail of Echoes

"Hall's complex plot keeps readers guessing to the very end of this taut mystery. Hall has created a strong and likable African American detective who rivals Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch in grit, intelligence, and tenacity. Anyone who enjoys police procedurals with well-developed, tightly woven plots will delight in Hall's mysteries."--Library Journal (starred review)

"Hall outdoes her stellar debut in an exploration of vile secrets that pays homage to that earlier master of complex California homicide, Raymond Chandler."--Kirkus Reviews on Skies of Ash

"Rachel Howzell has written another riveting thriller starring her favorite (and mine!) female sleuth, the fabulous when furious and even better when behaving Lou Norton...one of the summer's best."--Huffington Post on Skies of Ash

"A racially explosive Los Angeles provides the backdrop for this exceptional crime novel...Dead-on dialogue and atmospheric details help propel a tale full of tormenting moral issues. Lou, a brave lady in a brave book, does the best she can." --Publishers Weekly, starred review on Land of Shadows

"Hall deserves to be compared to Kathy Reichs or Patricia Cornwell, and it will not be long before she is recognised as every bit as big a crime writing star."--Daily Mail (UK)

About the Author

RACHEL HOWZELL HALL is the author of the acclaimed Lou Norton series, the standalone thriller They All Fall Down, and co-author of The Good Sister with James Patterson, which appeared in the New York Times bestselling anthology The Family Lawyer. She is the senior development officer for the Donor Relations Department at Cedars Sinai. Currently she serves on the Board of Directors for the Mystery Writers of America, is a member of Sisters in Crime, and has participated as a mentor in the Association of Writers and Writing Programs' Writer-to-Writer Program. She lives in Los Angeles.