Ransom for a Killing (Ransom/Charters Series) [Hardcover]

Fred Hunter (Author)

Book Description

Series: Ransom/Charters Series | Publication Date: December 1998

Nearly a decade ago, Ben Harvey was convicted of raping a high school classmate--a crime for which he has consistently maintained his innocence. After he's spent ten years in prison, DNA evidence conclusively proves that he is indeed innocent, his conviction is overturned, and he is released. But the dreams he once had for college and a career in law are now out of his reach, and the once well-liked, respectful young man has seemingly grown embittered. Meanwhile, shortly after his release, his accuser, Laura Shay, is found dead in her apartment--brutally and mysteriously murdered.

Chicago Police Detective Jeremy Ransom draws the investigation of Laura Shay's murder and quickly finds himself mired in a case with too much publicity and too few clues. With the help of his friend Emily Charters, Jeremy begins to look into the decade-old rape charge that continues to cast its shadow over this case, for if he is to have any chance of solving Laura's murder, he must first uncover the long-buried truth of that long-ago night.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Jeremy Ransom and Emily Charters are a most interesting pair of detectives--part Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin, part Kate Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, part Yoda and Luke Skywalker. Ransom is a tough but erudite Chicago cop; Charters is a gently raised, very smart old lady whose friendship brightens Ransom's life and whose insights often help him solve difficult cases.

In their latest outing, Ransom and Charters have to find out whether rape victim Laura Shay and her mother were murdered by the man that Shay sent to prison nine years before. New DNA evidence has cleared Ben Harvey of the original charge, but did his years in jail trigger a deadly rage? Or did the money that Laura got after Ben's conviction come from the real rapist? Like Archie Goodwin, Ransom does most of the legwork. But Charters also has an important role in the investigation--especially when her sharp social instincts spot a vital clue in a television interview. Other Ransom-Charters adventures: Ransom for a Holiday, Ransom for an Angel, Ransom for Our Sins. Author Fred Hunter also writes the Alex Reynolds detective series, including Federal Fag and Government Gay. --Dick Adler

From Publishers Weekly

In the detecting team of Chicago cop Jeremy Ransom and Emily Charters, Jeremy's elderly and beloved friend, there exists an unlikely yet beguiling pairing of the young and the not so young, the streetwise and the sweetly intuitive. Charters's razor-sharp mind flourishes despite her limited frame of reference; Ransom is unusually erudite and proper for a city cop. Ransom does the bulk of the legwork; in this absorbing case, he's intent on unraveling the interlocking destinies of Laura Shay and Ben Harvey, the man whom Laura accused of rape nine years ago. Ben was convicted and imprisoned, but the results of a new DNA test have now set him free. Shortly after his release, Laura is found murdered and Ben, naturally, falls under suspicion. Ben has been traumatized by nearly a decade of incarceration, while Laura was known to be both promiscuous and a second-generation drunk, who mysteriously came into some money soon after Ben's conviction. After Laura's mother dies an untimely death, Ransom is convinced that finding the identity of the true rapist will lead him to the murderer. Charters doesn't have much of a presence in this fifth in the series (which follows Ransom for a Holiday, 1997) beyond noting an odd turn of phrase in Ben's first televised interview after his release. The mutual devotion between Ransom and Charters continues to be both chaste and charming, however, and contrasts dramatically with the tone of the plot, which features doings that are notably darker and tougher than those in earlier books in the series.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 228 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1st edition (December 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312193238
• ISBN-13: 978-0312193232
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,799,982 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars His sharpest, most urgent case yet., October 15, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Ransom for a Killing (Ransom/Charters Series) (Hardcover)

Ben Harvey just can't catch a break. Eight years ago, he was convicted of raping his Chicago schoolmate Laura Shay, largely on the strength of the scratches she left on his face when he saw her walking dazed and weeping down the street and tried to help her. Now that a DNA test unavailable during his trial has proved his innocence and sprung him from jail, shiftless, alcoholic Laura's been strangled, leaving Ben another legacy of trouble as detective Jeremy Ransom's prime suspect. Yet Ransom's honorary grandmother Emily Charters insists there's more to the case than a simple revenge killing. Why did Laura lie about her attacker's identity? Why did she try in vain to keep the rapist's child? Where did her downtrodden parents get the money to send her away to college, and why did she return home before finishing? And (the biggest question of all) if Ben Harvey didn't assault Laura, who did, and what's he been doing for the past eight years? Though the few suspects--Laura's amorous boss, her disdainful school friends, the rich kid she had a hopeless crush on--are so sketchy and briefly onstage that not even the rapist leaves much of an impression, the resolute focus on these few leading questions gives normally low-key Ransom (Ransom for a Holiday, 1997, etc.) his sharpest, most urgent case yet.

5.0 out of 5 stars Very well written and well plotted -- I couldn't put it down, November 22, 2009

By 

M. C. Crammer (Decatur, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Ransom for a Killing (Paperback)

Although this is the first book I've read by this writer, it's not his first.

The story begins with a young Black man -- still in high school -- and a young White woman -- also a high school student -- who is raped. She accuses him of the rape, and the circumstances are such that there is some physical evidence to support the accusation. Many years later, DNA evidence exonerates him and he is released from jail. When shortly afterwards she is found murdered, it would be obvious to suspect this young man. The detective investigating the case -- and to a lesser extent, his partner -- are not going to jump to conclusions, and begin to look for another suspect. That requires going back in time to the original crime, to understand who did rape this woman and why she falsely accused a young man she knew and must have known was not the rapist.

Although about half-way through the book, I did have inklings of who had killed this young woman, the ending was still a surprise and masterfully done. The Chicago setting is well described (I lived there for many years) and the characters interesting and three-dimensional. I intend to read more by this author.

5.0 out of 5 stars An absorbing case., October 15, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Ransom for a Killing (Ransom/Charters Series) (Hardcover)

In the detecting team of Chicago cop Jeremy Ransom and Emily Charter's, Jeremy's elderly and beloved friend, there exists an unlikely yet beguiling pairing of the young and the not so young, the streetwise and the sweetly intuitive. Charters's razor-sharp mind flourished despite her limited fram of reference; Ransom is unusually erudite and proper for a city cop. Ransom does the bulk of the legwork; in this absorbing case, he's intent on unraveling the interlocking destinies of Laura Shay and Ben Harvey, the man whom Laura accused of rape nine years ago. Ben was convicted and imprisoned, but the results of a new DNA test have now set him free. Shortly after his release, Laura if found murdered and Ben, naturally, falls under suspicion. Ben has been traumatized by nearly a decade of incarceration, while Laura was known to be both promiscuous and a second-generation drunk, who mysteriously came into some money soon after Ben's conviction. After Laura's mother dies an untimely death, Ransom is convinced that finding the identity of the true rapist will lead him to the murderer. Charters doesn't have much of a presence in this fifth in the series (which follows Ransom for a Holiday, 1997) beyond noting an odd turn of phrase in Ben's first televised interview after his release. The mutual devotion between Ransom and Charters continues to be both chaste and charming, however, and contrasts dramatically with the tone of the plot, which features doings that are notably darker and tougher than thos ein earlier books in the series.