Ransom for an Angel

Jeremy Ransom/Emily Charters #2

by Fred W. Hunter

Jeremy Ransom isn't your usual police Given to reading Dickens while bathing, to consulting with his adopted grandmother, Emily Charters, when he's puzzled, and known for his "attitude," Ransom is one of a kind. Unless, of course, you can picture Sherlock Holmes taking a day job with the Chicago police department.
So, when he's visited by Angela Stephens, who tells him she's going to be murdered and hints that her husband will be the killer, Ransom looks askance. When she goes on to say that the murder is in the cards - after all, her fortune teller had just laid them out and read about it in the pattern - Ransom is prepared to dismiss the entire episode.
But there's no avoiding Angela's corpse the next day, and while he discounts the prophesy, he can't discount the fact that Angela's husband is not just the prime suspect, he's the only one.
Nor can he ignore the fortune teller's corpse.
Embittered and filled with uncomfortable doubts about his own perceptions (and the little lines appearing around his eyes), Jeremy Ransom begins putting the pieces together (helped by the insights and Shakespearian quotes served with tea by Emily). He is too late to stop the bloodshed, but right on time to be an avenging angel.

Genres: Mystery

237 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1995

Reviews

[Khanson919 · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good, solid mystery with an engaging plot and an interesting ending. The only thing I do not understand is how they call this a Jeremy Ransom and Emily Charters mystery. Emily Charters is barely in the book. I really thought he would be talking with her more and that she would have a lot more involvement in solving the mystery. I did not need her to be involved more, I was just expecting it.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was interesting. It took a while to get into but I quite enjoyed it once it started going. The main character was Jeremy Ransom a detective who is kind of like Sherlock Holmes and mulls things over before arriving at the conclusion. The story is about Angela who comes into the police station saying that her fortune teller told her that she would be murdered and gave a description of the killer which was similar to her husband. Ransom and his partner can do nothing as no crime has actually be committed. A couple of days later Angela's body shows up and the only suspect seems to be her husband. I was taken on an interesting journey through the life of Angela (who it seemed was almost perfect), however when the fortune teller shows up dead is when the story gets more interesting.

This story was a fun easy book to read with not too many deep plots and character development, just a fun read. :)

[Ronald Wilcox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second of a series of mysteries / police procedurals starring Jeremy Ransom as the detective with his elderly friend Emily Charteris who acts as a sounding board for him when he investigates cases, bringing insight into his turmoil. This case involves a woman who is told by a fortune-teller that she is about to be murdered and the description of the assailant matches the woman's husband. She goes to Ransom to report her upcoming murder and the next day is found to be murdered. Ransom has to sort out if her husband really was the culprit or was there another explanation. Involving story that was pretty well written. I am hoping Emily has a larger part to play in future books in the series.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I checked this book out of the library because I was told that Fred W. Hunter and Garrison Allen are the same guy, but his series wasn't nearly as good as the Empty Creek books...

So I read another and it also wasn't as gripping, so I didn't read any more.