The Mummy's Ransom [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Fred Hunter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2, 2004

In an attempt to sidestep his negative image as a destroyer of Chicago's famous landmarks, real estate mogul and Chilean expatriate Louie Dolores brings an exhibit of ancient Chinchorro mummies to his huge downtown skyscraper. But when a "mummy" comes to life and starts haunting the exhibit, Chicago detective Jeremy Ransom - with help from his trusted confidante, the elderly Emily Charters - starts questioning those who might want to cause Dolores trouble.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Murder, mummies and shady real estate dealings haunt this solid entry in Hunter's Ransom series (after 2000's Ransom at the Opera). Real estate baron and Chilean expatriate Louie Dolores brings an exhibit of ancient Chinchorro mummies to his massive downtown Chicago headquarters in an effort to counter some bad press. His image as a high-stakes destroyer of the city's classic architecture is, indeed, in need of philanthropic polish, but some aren't taken in by the ploy. When a "mummy" starts stalking the exhibit, it seems as if even the dead are displeased with Dolores. Chicago P.D. detective Jeremy Ransom, his partner, Gerald White, and grandmotherly confidante Emily Charters are presented with numerous suspects who might want to disrupt the show: Hector Gonzalez, the exhibit's nervous curator; his assistant, Lisa Rivera, whose relationship to the tycoon may be more than businesslike; Dolores's strong, independent wife, Martita; and a host of protesters picketing the exhibit. The mystery is, of course, not whether Dolores will be killed but by whom. The author introduces characters and clues easily and naturally into the story. His eye for details of the urban rich is true, right down to the credenza in Dolores's office and Martita's "pale pink blouse." Though the murder itself doesn't take place until well into the book, Hunter keeps things moving by detailing the thoughts, plans and foibles of his varied cast. Series fans will be well pleased, and even a few mummy buffs should pick this one up, despite the understated jacket art. (Apr. 8)Sept. 3) and other novels in the Alex Reynolds series.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Chicago Police detective Jeremy Ransom is up to his eyeballs in mummies, thanks to a controversial museum exhibit sponsored by Louie Dolores, a land-grabbing developer known for replacing architecture of at least quasi-historical interest with boxlike condo buildings. The 3,000-year-old Chilean mummies first draw picketers decrying the desecration of ancestral remains, then reports of one mummy roaming the museum, much to the horror of a Polish-speaking cleaning woman traumatized by the apparition. Inevitably, this leads to an attack and then the murder of Dolores, who is survived by a not-very-grieving widow, a relieved city alderman whom the developer had been pressuring, the leader of the protesters, and an attractive heir apparent to the post of personal assistant to the land grabber. All are suspects, and that is enough to make Ransom throw up his hands and scream, "Oh, Mummy!" Fortunately, his elderly friend, Miss Emily Charters, provides her usual insight. A fan-pleasing addition to the Ransom-Charters series. Whitney Scott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 466 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press; 1 edition (March 2, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786262028
• ISBN-13: 978-0786262021
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,300,839 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars exciting police procedural, January 24, 2002

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mummy's Ransom: A Ransom/Charters Mystery (Jeremy Ransom/Emily Charters Mysteries) (Hardcover)

The Chicago Dolores Towers sponsors the first American showing of pre-BC Chilean Chichorro mummies. The exhibits brings protests from native Chileans who were already upset that archeologists dug the grave sites of their ancestors, but find this sideshow to be as deep an outrage. Sponsor Louis Dolores feels the publicity of his support to a historical exhibit will help him with his latest plan to raze a historical site.

Police detective Jeremy Ransom feels confident nothing will go wrong at the exhibit because his friend, senior citizen Emily Charters, a magnet for homicides, is not attending the gala opening. However, he is sent to look into death threats and a breech of security that Louis would prefer to ignore. However, Louis should never have disregarded the threat because someone kills him. Jeremy investigates a wide range of suspects that include a sighted mummy running loose at night, an angry personal assistant, the Chilean protesters, and the Chilean museum curator with doubts about the exhibit- among other suspects.

THE MUMMY'S RANSOM is an exciting police procedural that leaves the reader guessing whether it is a supernatural murderer or a more earthly killer. The story line succeeds because the cast feels real and Fred Hunter insures the audience understands the motives of the key secondary characters. Fans of the series will relish the return of Jeremy and his "extended family" in this engaging who-done-it.

Harriet Klausner

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pleasant and light--but it ends too quickly for impact, May 6, 2002

By 

booksforabuck "BooksForABuck" (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Mummy's Ransom: A Ransom/Charters Mystery (Jeremy Ransom/Emily Charters Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Louie Dolores strides over Chicago like the skyscrapers he builds. While he has built a formidable array of enemies by his law-skirting tactics and his lack of regard for the architectural history of his city, he has also built a fortune--some of he is using to bring in a set of ancient mummies from Chili which he plans to show in one of his own buildings. The protests outside don't bother Dolores--he'll use them for publicity. When the mummies inside seem to be coming to life, Dolores is quick to bring that to the newspapers as well. But is he too smart for his own good? When Dolores ends up murdered, a two-thousand-year-old mummy is the only suspect.

Police Detective Jeremy Ransom, along with his friend the elderly Miss Emily Charters is called to look into death threats against Dolores--threats that become horribly real. The two sleuths find that Dolores hadn't just made enemies, a whole range of people hated him and wanted him dead. Yet hatred isn't enough. Someone had to actually kill--and neither believe that one of the museum mummies really came back to life.

Author Fred Hunter uses a light touch to deal with a deadly subject. Hunter does a fine job depicting the destruction associated with murder--ruins of marriages, careers, and even sanity that extend far beyond the victim and perp.

I felt a little cheated by the end of the novel--which came too quickly to deliver the full impact of the solution but otherwise found THE MUMMY'S RANSOM to be quite enjoyable