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Kitty Hawk Confidential: A Weston Wolf Outer Banks Detective Novel
After moving into the oldest beachfront home in Kitty Hawk, Senator Reginald Forsythe hires Detective Weston Wolf to watch over his wife. The senator fears his wife may be possessed by the ghost of a woman who built the house back in 1896, Wolf's assignment is to keep Rebecca Winston Forsythe safe and make sure nothing scandalous happens that would jeopardize Forsythe's political career. Wolf soon discovers the case is more problematic than he ever imagined. Embroiled in an entanglement with the living and the dead, Wolf struggles to unravel a devious plot that places his career and very life in jeopardy.
From the Outer Banks Detective Series that has garnered outstanding praise from reviewers, Joe C; Ellis has again produced a compelling story that captivates the reader from the first page to the last. This third and final book in the series brings the series to a dramatic and fulfilling conclusion. Here are some reviews from the first two books in the Roanoke Island Murders and The Singer in the Sound.
5 Star Review -- Roanoke Island Murders -- Once again, Ohio Valley author Joe C. Ellis thrills his readers with another exciting murder novel set in the Outer Banks. "Roanoke Island Murders" takes place in the historical city of Manteo, North Carolina, which hosts "The Lost Colony" dramas, based on first English settlement which is integrated into the book's plot.
The novel's pace quickly accelerates as two murders take place on the same evening. Detective Weston Wolf is hired by a mysterious woman to help her find a missing friend but instead involves him not only in solving the murders but also in assisting her with the sale of a priceless heirloom which has been in her family for centuries. Breathing with the essence of film noir, this contemporary crime novel will hold the reader in its deadly grip till the very end. A real page turner with surprises around every corner! A must read.
5-Star Review -- The Singer in the Sound --
In this second installment of the Weston Wolf Detective Series set in the sublime Outer Banks, accomplished author Joe C. Ellis takes the reader to the serene coastal town of Corolla, North Carolina to solve a hideous crime of murder and mayhem hidden in the realms of the rich and famous. Our protagonist Detective Weston Wolf and his daring partner Angie Stallone hit the ground running in this fast paced thriller when they are hired to solve the mystery of a missing girl with the voice of an angel, the daughter of an elderly fisherman. While working on solving the crime, Wolf meets the beautiful enigmatic Freyja Beck who is known to be an enchanting singer herself as well as an actress. With the help of Angie and Freyja, Wolf uncovers the dark underbelly of Hollywood when it comes up with more missing girls seeking fame and fortune but finding themselves at the mercy of a deadly killer. Along with the excitement and witty repertoire, the reader will find themselves falling in love with the idyllic descriptions of the Outer Banks. They will revel in the feel of the ocean and take trips to the historical Whalehead Club, walk the Corollian northern beaches of the wild horse sanctuary, and breathe in the brackish air of the Currituck Sound. This novel is a heady pleasure for those who enjoy reading a blend of murder mystery combined with the thrill of the Outer Banks in all its natural beauty. A real must for those who love the old detective film noir novels with a modern slant. Joe C. Ellis has done it again!
From the Outer Banks Detective Series that has garnered outstanding praise from reviewers, Joe C; Ellis has again produced a compelling story that captivates the reader from the first page to the last. This third and final book in the series brings the series to a dramatic and fulfilling conclusion. Here are some reviews from the first two books in the Roanoke Island Murders and The Singer in the Sound.
5 Star Review -- Roanoke Island Murders -- Once again, Ohio Valley author Joe C. Ellis thrills his readers with another exciting murder novel set in the Outer Banks. "Roanoke Island Murders" takes place in the historical city of Manteo, North Carolina, which hosts "The Lost Colony" dramas, based on first English settlement which is integrated into the book's plot.
The novel's pace quickly accelerates as two murders take place on the same evening. Detective Weston Wolf is hired by a mysterious woman to help her find a missing friend but instead involves him not only in solving the murders but also in assisting her with the sale of a priceless heirloom which has been in her family for centuries. Breathing with the essence of film noir, this contemporary crime novel will hold the reader in its deadly grip till the very end. A real page turner with surprises around every corner! A must read.
5-Star Review -- The Singer in the Sound --
In this second installment of the Weston Wolf Detective Series set in the sublime Outer Banks, accomplished author Joe C. Ellis takes the reader to the serene coastal town of Corolla, North Carolina to solve a hideous crime of murder and mayhem hidden in the realms of the rich and famous. Our protagonist Detective Weston Wolf and his daring partner Angie Stallone hit the ground running in this fast paced thriller when they are hired to solve the mystery of a missing girl with the voice of an angel, the daughter of an elderly fisherman. While working on solving the crime, Wolf meets the beautiful enigmatic Freyja Beck who is known to be an enchanting singer herself as well as an actress. With the help of Angie and Freyja, Wolf uncovers the dark underbelly of Hollywood when it comes up with more missing girls seeking fame and fortune but finding themselves at the mercy of a deadly killer. Along with the excitement and witty repertoire, the reader will find themselves falling in love with the idyllic descriptions of the Outer Banks. They will revel in the feel of the ocean and take trips to the historical Whalehead Club, walk the Corollian northern beaches of the wild horse sanctuary, and breathe in the brackish air of the Currituck Sound. This novel is a heady pleasure for those who enjoy reading a blend of murder mystery combined with the thrill of the Outer Banks in all its natural beauty. A real must for those who love the old detective film noir novels with a modern slant. Joe C. Ellis has done it again!
331 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 7, 2021
9 people want to read
About the author
Joe C. Ellis
45 books22 followersJoe C. Ellis, a big fan of the North Carolina's Outer Banks, grew up in the Ohio Valley. A native of Martins Ferry, Ohio, he attended West Liberty State College in West Virginia and went on to earn his Master's Degree in education from Muskingum College in New Concord, Ohio. After a thirty-six year career as an art teacher, he retired from the Martins Ferry City School District.
Currently, he is the pastor for the Scotch Ridge Presbyterian Church and the Colerain Presbyterian Church.
His writing career began in 2001 with the publication of his first novel, The Healing Place. In 2007 he began the Outer Banks Murder Series with the publication of Murder at Whalehead (2010), Murder at Hatteras (2011), Murder on the Outer Banks (2012), Murder at Ocracoke (2017), The Treasure of Portsmouth Island (2019), and Roanoke Island Murders (2020)
Joe credits family vacations on the Outer Banks with the inspiration for these stories. Joe and his wife, Judy, have three children and five grandsons. Although the kids have flown the nest, they get together often and always make it a priority to vacation on the Outer Banks whenever possible. He comments, "It's a place on the edge of the world, a place of great beauty and sometimes danger--the ideal setting for murder mysteries."
Currently, he is the pastor for the Scotch Ridge Presbyterian Church and the Colerain Presbyterian Church.
His writing career began in 2001 with the publication of his first novel, The Healing Place. In 2007 he began the Outer Banks Murder Series with the publication of Murder at Whalehead (2010), Murder at Hatteras (2011), Murder on the Outer Banks (2012), Murder at Ocracoke (2017), The Treasure of Portsmouth Island (2019), and Roanoke Island Murders (2020)
Joe credits family vacations on the Outer Banks with the inspiration for these stories. Joe and his wife, Judy, have three children and five grandsons. Although the kids have flown the nest, they get together often and always make it a priority to vacation on the Outer Banks whenever possible. He comments, "It's a place on the edge of the world, a place of great beauty and sometimes danger--the ideal setting for murder mysteries."
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 28, 2024
My family has been going to the Outer Banks since the 1960s. On my last visit I had some business at a furniture store in Manteo and afterwards wandered 100 yards down the block to Downtown Books, where they always have a large selection of local books. I had not read Joe Ellis before and they seemed to have his whole catalog plus were preparing for a coming book signing so were very well stocked. I asked the clerk if he was any good. She said she hadn't read him but that he seemed to be popular so I took a chance. The author states that his books can be read in any order so I picked up a signed copy of Kitty Hawk Confidential - it was the first one I saw. Usually I start with the first book by an author and then will buy more if I like them. In this case I did not, but kind of wish I had - not sure how he usually finishes his books, but this one seemed very final like it was the end of the series.
In general I found it a pleasant book. The author writes in a very jocular style that is easy to assimilate. You're not going to increase your vocabulary or be amazed by sentence structure but that is fine for a summertime read.
I give the author five stars for writing about the local area. I really liked the history - which was about something I had not heard about before but is totally accurate - and the mention of numerous local businesses. Most books have only vague descriptions of local places, presumably to avoid any liability issues, but in this case numerous businesses were described and very accurately. I assume this was done with permission of the owners and allowing them to screen the copy before publication to avoid any lawsuits, but it was nice to see places I go to often - including the bookstore where I bought my copy - mentioned by name in the book. One place was very near where I was staying and I wanted to go there to see if there is a gray-and-white cat but didn't get a chance. Based on what I saw about the other places, that cat almost certainly exists - will try to check on my next visit. The author also cleverly wrote himself into his own book - can't remember other authors doing that before.
The author concocted a nice mystery, which of course was nicely explained in the end. I thought that part was also very good.
Where it fell down was with the love story, which frankly was just lame. Based on that part, plus what the author wrote when he put himself in his book, his target audience appears to be women over 40, especially those who confuse lust with love. The author clearly does not, based on what several of the characters said, but appears to have tailored his book for that target audience. Love at first sight is lust - a perfectly fine thing to feel, but not to be confused with love, which cannot develop after only a couple of days. Planning a life and proposing having children together after only a couple of days of meeting someone is just plain silly, and the protagonist's constant yearning to be a father might appeal to his target audience, but that was not me. For me, the love story made me feel - I suppose "Gag me with a spoon" would be the proper description using the common vernacular of the last century. It also was weird to be madly in love with someone, then not when they become unavailable, then still not when it turns out they actually are available. Guess it wasn't love after all. Anyway, gag me with a spoon.
I had a couple of other minor quibbles. Although the descriptions of local sights were mostly accurate, some were not. I am not a rock climber, but I happened to go to a monument described in the book a couple of days after reading the relevant section and checked to see whether it could be climbed. Unfortunately, the ridges on the monument actually go the wrong way to serve as handholds and I believe the climb described is impossible. I'm also pretty sure that for most of us if we found ourselves several miles out to sea in the middle of the night it would be a one-way trip, especially if we had to follow a lighthouse while up to our necks in water. Maybe for Michael Phelps but not for me (or the vast majority of us I believe). Of course it is fiction so you don't expect everything to be accurate but it should be at least somewhat feasible.
I am not familiar with the publisher and possibly it is self published, but the book could be improved by hiring a good copy editor or even a mediocre one. There were numerous minor errors throughout the book - missing connecting words, occasional double or repeated words, wrong verb tense, sometimes using the wrong word (e.g., feint instead of faint, or possibly that was a misspelling), problems with hyphenation - that would have been caught and corrected by a competent copy editor. These did not occur on every page but usually there were at least several per chapter and sometimes more. This kind of error shows up in most books but were more numerous than usual in this one. Not a major problem but annoying to those of us who notice such things. I thought about marking them all and sending a list to the publisher but was too lazy (plus not sure if they could, or would, make changes).
Overall, this was an easy read, a nice mystery with lots of accurate information about the Outer Banks. Will I read anything else by this author? I loved the use of local history and accurate descriptions of the area, but not sure I could stomach another lame love story. Plus I just looked at reviews of some of the author's other books and it sounds like they are heavy on religion, another turnoff. Therefore, probably not, but was glad to learn more about the history of Kitty Hawk in this one.
In general I found it a pleasant book. The author writes in a very jocular style that is easy to assimilate. You're not going to increase your vocabulary or be amazed by sentence structure but that is fine for a summertime read.
I give the author five stars for writing about the local area. I really liked the history - which was about something I had not heard about before but is totally accurate - and the mention of numerous local businesses. Most books have only vague descriptions of local places, presumably to avoid any liability issues, but in this case numerous businesses were described and very accurately. I assume this was done with permission of the owners and allowing them to screen the copy before publication to avoid any lawsuits, but it was nice to see places I go to often - including the bookstore where I bought my copy - mentioned by name in the book. One place was very near where I was staying and I wanted to go there to see if there is a gray-and-white cat but didn't get a chance. Based on what I saw about the other places, that cat almost certainly exists - will try to check on my next visit. The author also cleverly wrote himself into his own book - can't remember other authors doing that before.
The author concocted a nice mystery, which of course was nicely explained in the end. I thought that part was also very good.
Where it fell down was with the love story, which frankly was just lame. Based on that part, plus what the author wrote when he put himself in his book, his target audience appears to be women over 40, especially those who confuse lust with love. The author clearly does not, based on what several of the characters said, but appears to have tailored his book for that target audience. Love at first sight is lust - a perfectly fine thing to feel, but not to be confused with love, which cannot develop after only a couple of days. Planning a life and proposing having children together after only a couple of days of meeting someone is just plain silly, and the protagonist's constant yearning to be a father might appeal to his target audience, but that was not me. For me, the love story made me feel - I suppose "Gag me with a spoon" would be the proper description using the common vernacular of the last century. It also was weird to be madly in love with someone, then not when they become unavailable, then still not when it turns out they actually are available. Guess it wasn't love after all. Anyway, gag me with a spoon.
I had a couple of other minor quibbles. Although the descriptions of local sights were mostly accurate, some were not. I am not a rock climber, but I happened to go to a monument described in the book a couple of days after reading the relevant section and checked to see whether it could be climbed. Unfortunately, the ridges on the monument actually go the wrong way to serve as handholds and I believe the climb described is impossible. I'm also pretty sure that for most of us if we found ourselves several miles out to sea in the middle of the night it would be a one-way trip, especially if we had to follow a lighthouse while up to our necks in water. Maybe for Michael Phelps but not for me (or the vast majority of us I believe). Of course it is fiction so you don't expect everything to be accurate but it should be at least somewhat feasible.
I am not familiar with the publisher and possibly it is self published, but the book could be improved by hiring a good copy editor or even a mediocre one. There were numerous minor errors throughout the book - missing connecting words, occasional double or repeated words, wrong verb tense, sometimes using the wrong word (e.g., feint instead of faint, or possibly that was a misspelling), problems with hyphenation - that would have been caught and corrected by a competent copy editor. These did not occur on every page but usually there were at least several per chapter and sometimes more. This kind of error shows up in most books but were more numerous than usual in this one. Not a major problem but annoying to those of us who notice such things. I thought about marking them all and sending a list to the publisher but was too lazy (plus not sure if they could, or would, make changes).
Overall, this was an easy read, a nice mystery with lots of accurate information about the Outer Banks. Will I read anything else by this author? I loved the use of local history and accurate descriptions of the area, but not sure I could stomach another lame love story. Plus I just looked at reviews of some of the author's other books and it sounds like they are heavy on religion, another turnoff. Therefore, probably not, but was glad to learn more about the history of Kitty Hawk in this one.
February 19, 2023
Kitty Hawk Confidential has definitely been my favorite is the Weston Wolf books so far. Lots of action, mystery with plenty of twists and an emotional rollercoaster. I didn't want to put this one down. Great audio narration and enjoyable story!!
June 18, 2022
Great author
I read every one of joe ellis' outer banks books. Brings back fond memories of obx and I cannot wait for the next book.
I read every one of joe ellis' outer banks books. Brings back fond memories of obx and I cannot wait for the next book.
July 10, 2024
Another great book with lots of suspense
This author really knows how to keep you reading. You have to keep going to find out what comes next.
This author really knows how to keep you reading. You have to keep going to find out what comes next.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews