Ransom for a Holiday

Lots of falling snow, warm muffins, children's choirs ... and a few dead bodies are laced into this satisfying mystery that makes it just right for a cozy read by the Christmas tree.

Mystery traditionalists will enjoy Hunter's careful plotting and thrills of a chaste and purely cerebral nature.

The relationship between Ransom and Charters is almost as much fun to read as the mystery plot. If your Christmas holidays are always uneventful or unsatisfying, read about theirs. It was lots more interesting.

Chicago homicide detective Jeremy Ranson decides that his amateur sleuthing partner Emily Charters needs a vacation after undergoing open heart surgery. The grandmotherly Emily agrees to the two of them going to a Michigan guest house for the holidays because she thinks her young charge needs rest before he burns out from his high pressured job. Neither one expected nor wanted to get embroiled in a murder mystery at Sara Bartlett's guest house. However, this is not to be the case as a nasty drifter is murdered. Emily and Jeremy, who both like to see justice served, learn that Sara's brother was murdered two years ago. The lodge has been closed since then until it was recently reopened. It appears to the unlikely Windy City duo that someone will use murder as a tool to keep a secret involving the guest house buried. RANSOM FOR A HOLIDAY is a very interesting Midwest cozy, starring two likable characters who turn the series into the fun experience it is. Emily is the classic star of cozies while Jeremy is the epitome of the caring inner city cop. The who-done-it is well designed and the secondary players add much depth. However, like the previous books, this novel is clearly not for those who like non-stop action. Instead, readers who enjoy a an intellectual plot need to try all five of Fred Hunter's Ransom-Charters tales. Harriet Klausner