Ellis, David 1967-

PERSONAL:

Born October 30, 1967, in Downers Grove, IL; married; wife's name Susan (an attorney); children: Abigail. Education: University of Illinois, B.S., 1990; Northwestern University Law School, J.D., 1993. Hobbies and other interests: Running marathons.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Springfield, IL. E-mail—Dave@DavidEllis.com.

CAREER:

Called to the State Bar of Illinois; practicing lawyer in both public and private sector, 1993—; serves as counsel to the Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives.

MEMBER:

Illinois State Bar Association.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Edgar Allan Poe Award for best first novel for Line of Vision.

WRITINGS:

MYSTERY NOVELS

Line of Vision, Putnam (New York, NY), 2001.

Life Sentence, Putnam (New York, NY), 2003.

Jury of One, Putnam (New York, NY), 2004.

In the Company of Liars, Putnam (New York, NY), 2005.

Eye of the Beholder, Putnam (New York, NY), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

Attorney David Ellis has worked both in the private sector and in the public, and serves as the counsel to the Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives. In his spare time, he writes mystery novels. As a child he always assumed that he would eventually write for a living, but other interests distracted him and he eventually ended up in law school. He never gave up on his dreams, however, and after passing the bar exam and settling into his practice, in 1995 he took a writing class at the University of Chicago. Here he began drafting what would eventually become Line of Vision, his first book, which later went on to win the Edgar Award for best first novel. The book is narrated by Marty Kalish, an investment banker who works for a rich law firm. Marty recounts the events that led up to the murder of Dr. Derrick Reinhardt, who habitually abused his wife, Rachel. The twist is that Marty and Rachel were having an affair. While the reader understands that Marty was somehow involved in Reinhardt's death, it is far from clear what that involvement entailed, or whether or not his actions were illegal. A truly unreliable narrator, Marty changes his story several times, based on the progress of the case against him, particularly once he is actually arrested for the murder. Ellis keeps the reader guessing all the way through Marty's trial. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly remarked that "Ellis comes on strong here, writing a twisty, spellbinding story with a subtext: that our legal system is vulnerable to producing results that defy both logic and the facts."

Life Sentence, Ellis's next offering, is narrated by Jon Soliday, the chief legal aid to a major state senator. It combines three murder mysteries, the last of which involves Soliday being wrongly accused of murder. The dark cloud hanging over Soliday is that back when he was just a teenager, he was loosely involved in a murder case that is still unsolved. Should an enterprising detective look too far into his past, his chances for keeping his secrets are slim. "It's all highly entertaining and full of satisfying twists," commented a Publishers Weekly contributor.

In Jury of One, Ellis tells the story of Shelly Trotter, a children's-rights advocate who finds herself in court on behalf of a teenager who is accused of killing a police officer. Heightening the pressure even more, Shelly learns there is a chance that the boy is actually her son. David Wright reported in Booklist that "Ellis baits a mean hook, but not all of what follows is so easy to swallow." Library Journal reviewer Jo Ann Vicarel, however, considered the book a "first-class legal thriller."

In the Company of Liars, emulating cinematic techniques of recent years, is told in reverse chronological order. Ellis relates the story of Allison Pagone, a mother who is on trial for murder and who is at the fulcrum of a multistrand tug-o'-war. The prosecutor is requesting the death penalty, fully believing Allison is guilty, while an FBI agent on the case thinks that Allison's family is actually responsible and that eventually she will turn them in. Beginning just after Allison's death, the story moves backward in time until readers learn exactly what happened and what did not. A reviewer for MBR Bookwatch found the "writing technique … brilliantly successful in David Ellis's capable hands."

Ellis's next book, Eye of the Beholder, begins with the discovery of the mutilated corpses of six girls laid out in the basement of a college auditorium. Paul Riley, the prosecutor for the case, tries and convicts a local handyman for the killings, and the man is given the death penalty. Sixteen years later, another killer emerges, and his modus operandi looks eerily similar to the first set of killings. The question becomes whether the new murderer is a copycat, or if Paul sent the wrong man to his death. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly commented that "Ellis keeps perfect control of his labyrinthine plot as it builds to a satisfying twist ending."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, January 1, 2001, Kristine Huntley, review of Line of Vision, p. 915; January 1, 2003, Kristine Huntley, review of Life Sentence, p. 806; March 1, 2004, David Wright, review of Jury of One, p. 1142; April 1, 2007, David Pitt, review of Eye of the Beholder, p. 30.

CBA Record, May, 2001, Daniel A. Cotter, review of Line of Vision, p. 58; June 1, 2003, Daniel A. Cotter, review of Life Sentence, p. 48; November, 2004, Daniel A. Cotter, review of Jury of One, p. 57; May, 2005, Daniel A. Cotter, review of In the Company of Liars, p. 49; October, 2007, Daniel A. Cotter, review of Eye of the Beholder, p. 55.

Chicago Sun-Times, April 10, 2005, Mike Thomas, "Holding Court with Author David Ellis."

Drood Review of Mystery, May, 2002, review of Line of Vision, p. 6.

Entertainment Weekly, March 26, 2004, David Koeppel, review of Jury of One, p. 77; July 20, 2007, Jennifer Reese, review of Eye of the Beholder, p. 78.

Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2002, review of Life Sentence, p. 1787; February 1, 2004, review of Jury of One, p. 99; May 1, 2007, review of Eye of the Beholder.

Library Journal, February 15, 2003, Stacy Alesi, review of Life Sentence, p. 168; March 15, 2004, Jo Ann Vicarel, review of Jury of One, p. 104; December 1, 2004, Barbara Hoffert, review of In the Company of Liars, p. 86; March 15, 2005, Stacy Alesi, review of In the Company of Liars, p. 68.

MBR Bookwatch, April, 2005, review of In the Company of Liars.

Publishers Weekly, January 15, 2001, review of Line of Vision, p. 53; February 3, 2003, review of Life Sentence, p. 55; February 16, 2004, review of Jury of One, p. 148; February 28, 2005, review of In the Company of Liars, p. 41; June 6, 2005, review of In the Company of Liars, p. 60; May 21, 2007, review of Eye of the Beholder, p. 33.

Springfield Register-Journal, February 18, 2007, Dana Heupel, "Books and Briefs: Lawyer Squeezes in Time for His Other Love—Writing."

Tribune Books (Chicago, IL), July 1, 2001, review of Line of Vision, p. 7; March 30, 2003, review of Life Sentence, p. 2.

ONLINE

Best Reviews,http://www.thebestreviews.com/ (March 10, 2004), Harriet Klausner, reviews of Life Sentence and Jury of One.

Bookreporter.com,http://www.bookreporter.com/ (January 9, 2008), Joe Hartlaub, review of In the Company of Liars; Stuart Shiffman, review of Eye of the Beholder; Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum, review of Life Sentence.

Books 'n' Bytes,http://www.booksnbytes.com/ (January 9, 2008), Harriet Klausner, review of In the Company of Liars.

David Ellis Home Page,http://www.davidellis.com (January 9, 2008).