All Day and a Night

I am a Burke-lover from way back, and I pulled some strings to get this fantastic book early so that I could read it, and then I read it in a day and a half, and then I was sad because I know Alafair hasn't even started the next one.<br /><br />Thus is the circle of my reading life.

I started reading Alafair Burke’s books a number of years ago because she came from a family of writers. Alafair is a law professor at Hofstra University. A few years ago I read the first few books in this series. This is book five in the Ellie Hatcher series. Hatcher and her partner are assigned a twenty year old cold case. An attorney, Carrie Blank, is also investigating the case. According to Alafair, the title “All Day and a Night” in prison parlance means a sentence of life without parole.<br /><br />The book is well written; the story moves right along. After I started reading, I remembered why I had stopped reading this series. The series and this story are about a serial killer. I am totally burned out on serial killer stories. So will not pick this series up to read again.<br /><br />I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book is ten hours and thirty minutes. Andi Arndt does an excellent job narrating the book. Arndt is an exceptional narrator. She is an actress and voice-over artist. In 2018 she was an Audie Award finalist and also in 2018 was installed in the Audible Narrator Hall of Fame. She narrates in multiple languages: English, Spanish, Dutch, Italian, French and Mandarin Chinese.<br />

I usually try to avoid picking up a series mid-stream, but when I picked this one up, I initially had no idea that it was the fifth book in the Ellie Hatcher series. With some trepidation, I started reading it - ready at the first sign of being lost in the series to set it aside until I could read the first four books. But, amazingly enough, Burke manages to insert information about her characters without it feeling too "series-y" - I liked Ellie immediately, and never felt too lost when there were obvious references to past novels. Burke includes Hatcher's past here which I appreciated as I have definitely read series books where the author includes no such reminders to readers (or inclusions to newcomers to the series). And most amazingly of all, I never once had that “missing-something” feeling that I expected. <br /><br />And ultimately, I was quite glad to have read this book! Last year, I read one of Burke's standalone mysteries, <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/16248179.If_You_Were_Here" title="If You Were Here by Alafair Burke" rel="noopener">If You Were Here</a> and greatly enjoyed it, but I think this one is even better. I like the dynamic between the characters, and the relationships add to their development. The dialogue flows very smoothly and along with the NY setting, adds to the realistic feeling of the novel as a whole. There are new perspectives here, too, outside of the series regulars which I think adds to making this a book that is all right to start with. I like the cold-case angle and it’s a nice blend of police procedural and legal novel. But, I am definitely planning on reading those four previous books in the series now after enjoying this one so much (in order, of course - though nothing seems to have been given away about the plots of the previous books). And I am looking forward to following the future novels as well! It's a fast paced and engaging read!

SPOILERS<br /><br />Just couldn't enjoy this book due to the convoluted and preposterous plot. It's not badly written (although not the greatest) but I just could not believe (a) a court would vacate a conviction for Murder A based on evidence relating to a different murder, even if everyone thought he did the subsequent murder; (b) after one hearing with no evidence submitted but only the argument of attorneys, a state court could vacate a conviction and the defendant gets let out in a matter of hours -- no appeals, no federal court involvement, no paperwork.....(c) an attorney who is the sibling of a murder victim could represent the man accused of her sister's murder; (d) a detective in a long-term relationship with a DA could work for the DA in a murder case.<br /><br />I also figured out who killed the sister about 40 pages in. <br /><br />Feh.

I'm so glad I read the last 2 books of the Ellie Hatcher series back to back and not procrastinate like I usually do. I was shocked to find a copy of All Day And Night in my Goodwill, but so happy to have it on my unread shelf judging me fir not having read it yet. Ellie Hatcher herself has her own brand of tact, which is right up my alley, but the partnership she has with Rogan makes the case solving so much more interesting. There is the banter between them as well as her brother and boyfriend that makes her so real. I like that there has not been a simple straight forward packaged up case the reader can easily solve without the detectives you are investigating alongside. I'm going to miss her, but I can always start at the beginning.

A strong start and plot parallels that caused me to not really care by the three quarter point. Clear dialogue for some characters, maybe inconsistent with their age.

Complicated but enjoyable book! Many interesting points and people in the story, however the ending was not that spectacularly written. Overall, a solid thriller!

A disappointment in the otherwise great Ellie Hatcher series. <br /><br />Ellie and her partner JJ, got assigned to a 20 year old case in order to give the case a "fresh look". A man has been serving jail time for 20 years after being guilty of killing 5 woman in a small town. With a similar murder occurring in present day, new lawyers are trying to prove that the real killer is still out there. <br /><br />The story was divided between Ellie and Carrie (one of the defence attorney lawyers, whose sister was one of the woman killed). I didn't like the Carrie story line and found that there was too much going on. I didn't love the plot and to me the book just didn't have the magic as the previous novels.

First book I have read by this author. Holy buckets this is a good book! I will be reading more. Although this is part of a series, it can be read alone.

There’s nothing better than small town serial killers, especially when Ellie Hatcher is on the case!