Ransom Unpaid: A Ransom/Charters Mystery (Jeremy Ransom/Emily Charters Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Fred Hunter (Author)

Book Description

Series: Jeremy Ransom/Emily Charters Mysteries | Publication Date: November 23, 1999

The elderly Abigal Pearson has a heart attack at home when she has a "vision" of her long-disappeared husband. When Emily Charters goes to stay with Abigail to look after her, Emily begins to believe something nefarious is indeed afoot.The strangest case yet for Emily and her friend, Chicago police detective Jeremy Ransom.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

Ransom Unpaid ($22.95; Nov.; 224 pp.; 0-312-24233-6) Abigail Pearson still misses her long-missing husband Phillip, but not so much that she welcomes his return in spectral form. Now it's up to her minder, Emily Charters, and Emily's friend Jeremy Ransom, the Chicago PD's most genteel detective (Ransom for a Killing, 1998, etc.), to figure out whether the apparition that frightened Abigail into a heart attack was a vision, a fraud, or a warmup for an even more nefarious plot. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Fred Hunter is the author of five previous novels in the Ransom/Charters series, most recently Ransom for a Killing, as well as three books in the Alex Reynolds series. He lives in Chicago.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; 1st edition (November 23, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312242336
• ISBN-13: 978-0312242336
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,199,401 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not for weak hearts..., December 9, 2000

By 

Judith Lindenau "dulcie22" (Traverse City, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ransom Unpaid (Worldwide Library Mysteries) (Paperback)

Abigail Pearson has a weak heart and--according to her daughter JoAnna--an addled brain. Abigail lives alone in the family home and one night she suffers a heart 'attack', brought on by the appearance of the ghost of her husband.

The midnight visitor sets in motion a tornado of family events: Abigail's daughter and her hateful son argue over her fate, and her grandson and his pregnant young wife hover about, awaiting the promised legacy of the dark, ugly house--which they plan to sell to finance their start in life.

But events puzzle septuagenarian Emily Charters and her friend, Chicago detective Jeremy Ransom. They know the 'ghost' is human, and the torment of Abigail appears to have little motive, except for the nasty house that is all Abigail owns. What is the motive? What's the gain? And who begins killing off the players in this ill-fated, dysfunctional family?

The answers are surprising, and very real. "Ransom Unpaid" is a book about human motivation--greed, love, passion, and loneliness. It's well written, and is made more interesting by its character portrayal, particularly of the two old women.

I recommend it.