From Publishers Weekly
Emily Charters and her detective pal, Jeremy Ransom, have their seniors' Great Lakes cruise aboard the Genessee rudely interrupted by murder in Fred Hunter's Ransom at Sea: A Ransom/Charters Mystery, the ninth entry in this reliable semi-cozy series (after 2002's The Mummy's Ransom). This book's a natural companion for a holiday cruise. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Although he sets the ninth Charters and Ransom caper on the small ship Genesse, chartered for a four-day "preseason" Lake Michigan cruise by a Chicago senior-citizens group, Hunter proves not in the least adrift. Amateur sleuth Emily Charters, accompanied by her much younger friend Lynn Francis, surveys the cast of characters as they board at Navy Pier, which is just as well, because more than a dozen of them, plus the crew, makes for plenty of suspects when a querulous old woman with Alzheimer's disease, who is traveling with her niece, Rebecca, is murdered in her cabin. Enter Chicago police detective Jeremy Ransom at the octogenarian Emily's request, for she has misgivings about local police suspicion of Rebecca, and she is usually right. What about the victim's startling scream at "sighting" a man in her room on the first night out of Chicago? And what of the furtive stranger who keeps popping up in port after port? All aboard for an entertaining mystery. Whitney Scott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Book Description
With a relaxing few days in mind, Miss Emily Charters signs up for a four-day seniors’ cruise of the Great Lakes organized by her church. In the company of her friend and housekeeper, Lynn Francis, Charters and the other seniors set sail from Chicago, but while the waters on the lake are calm and predictable, her fellow passengers are not. However, a little tension is the least of the problems when one of her fellow passengers is found horribly murdered in her cabin.
While the police investigate, the ship remains at port, leaving Emily stranded until her friend, Chicago Police Detective Jeremy Ransom, comes to her rescue. Together they set out to solve a most perplexing puzzle of a murder committed without seeming opportunity or plausible reason, not mention right under Emily’s nose
From the Back Cover
Critical Praise for Fred Hunter
“Hunter’s story recalls some of the backstage murder yarns spun out by Ngaio Marsh. Like Marsh, Hunter writes with technical familiarity about the opera and about the financial skullduggery plaguing a new production. . . . Smugly, I had the killer spotted half-way through and---okay---I was wrong, wrong, wrong.”
---Chicago Sun-Times on Ransom at the Opera
“Lots of falling snow, warm muffins, children’s choirs, and---oh, yes---a few dead bodies laced into this satisfying mystery that makes it just right for a cozy read.”
---San Antonio Express-News on Ransom for a Holiday
“The plot has enough twists to keep the reader guessing. . . . Writing in a suitably ‘operatic’ style, Hunter delivers a dramatic and fully satisfying denouement.”
---Publishers Weekly on Ransom at the Opera
“Hunter’s astringently accurate sketches of how the aged are perceived bring a piercing social commentary to the mystery.”
---St. Petersburg Times on Ransom Unpaid
“Hunter has created a fabulous sense of atmosphere; twice I had to make sure I was reading in a well lit room. And Emily is a terrific character. It’s a pleasure to find an older character portrayed without the stereotypical claptrap.”
---Contra Costa Times on Ransom Unpaid
“Ransom and Charters make a great team, reminiscent in some ways of Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin. Great fun.”
---Booklist on Presence of Mind
About the Author
Fred Hunter is the author of eight previous novels in the Ransom/Charters series, most recently The Mummy’s Ransom, as well as five novels in the Alex Reynolds series. He lives in Chicago.
Ransom at Sea FROM THE PUBLISHER
"With a relaxing few days in mind, Miss Emily Charters signs up for a four-day seniors' cruise of the Great Lakes organized by her church. In the company of her friend and housekeeper, Lynn Francis, Charters and the other seniors set sail from Chicago, but while the waters on the lake are calm and predictable, her fellow passengers are not. However, a little tension is the least of the problems when one of her fellow passengers is found horribly murdered in her cabin." While the police investigate, the ship remains at port, leaving Emily stranded until her friend Chicago Police Detective Jeremy Ransom comes to her rescue. Together they set out to solve a most perplexing puzzle of a murder committed without seeming opportunity or plausible reason, not to mention right under Emily's nose.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Emily Charters and her detective pal, Jeremy Ransom, have their seniors' Great Lakes cruise aboard the Genessee rudely interrupted by murder in Fred Hunter's Ransom at Sea: A Ransom/Charters Mystery, the ninth entry in this reliable semi-cozy series (after 2002's The Mummy's Ransom). This book's a natural companion for a holiday cruise. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
Emily Charters hopes to enjoy a seniors' cruise on the Great Lakes, but one of the passengers is murdered. Naturally, she attempts to solve the case, with help from detecting partner Jeremy Ransom. Fans will enjoy this ninth entry in the series. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
A Great Lakes cruise seems the perfect summer getaway for sleuthing Chicago spinster Emily Charters, who hopes it might also soothe the grief of her young friend Lynn Francis, whose longtime lesbian lover has recently died. But many of the other passengers and crew seem far from friendly or happy to be aboard. Some are unnervingly secretive. Beautiful Claudia Trenton, who finds fault with many aspects of the cruise, remains aloof from the others. At the other end of the spectrum is noisy busybody Muriel Langstrom, who can clear a room faster than a skunk. Demanding Marcella Hemsley drives her shy young niece and companion Rebecca to frequent tears with her abuse. And on and on. Lynn develops a bit of a crush on Rebecca, who responds warmly to her kindness. So when Marcella is found murdered in her cabin and Rebecca arrested for the killing, Emily takes more than an academic interest in solving the crime. Fortunately, the detective in charge is Jeremy Ransom, Emily's partner in crime-solving on eight previous cases (The Mummy's Ransom, 2002, etc.). Their investigation unfolds in the old-fashioned manner, with a parade of interviews, each followed by the comparing of notes, with much discussion of the crime scene's characteristics and the comings and goings of the suspect passengers-and of two overfriendly stewards named David and Hoke, stiff Captain Farraday and his sneering wife Samantha, and the frail but shrewd Lily DuPree. A crisp, traditional whodunit with amusing character portraits and a satisfying finale.
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