I have such a hard time between three and four stars on these books. I am a bit of a process nerd, and I’m willing to believe characters have exceptional abilities when their use has the appearance of a practical application or rational flow. And the plot of the Eleanor Ames books sometimes fails that credulity hurdle due to seeming inconsistencies or short cuts. Much of this plot didn’t work for me, I think I would have liked it more if Ellie was back in the day to day world rather than once again embroiled in high level espionage. But there were a few plot twists I enjoyed (and didn’t anticipate), so that plus engaging characterization has me leaning towards four stars. This series may get an emotional bump from my tendency to project Veronica Mars on top of Ellie, but in general the characters are engaging and well written.