Fred Hunter Books In Order

Jeremy Ransom / Emily Charters Books In Order

Presence of Mind (1994)
Ransom for an Angel (1995)
Ransom for Our Sins (1996)
Ransom for a Holiday (1997)
Ransom for a Killing (1998)
Ransom Unpaid (1999)
Ransom at the Opera (2000)
The Mummy’s Ransom (2002)
Ransom at Sea (2003)

Alex Reynolds Books In Order

Government Gay (1997)
Federal Fa*g (1998)
Capital Queers (1999)
National Nancys (2000)
The Chicken Asylum (2001)

Omnibus

Homicide for the Holidays (2000)

Anthologies edited

Tis the Season for Murder (1998)

Jeremy Ransom / Emily Charters Book Covers

Alex Reynolds Book Covers

Omnibus Book Covers

Homicide for the Holidays
(2000)

Anthologies edited Book Covers

Tis the Season for Murder
(1998)

Fred Hunter Books Overview

Presence of Mind

Chicago detective Jeremy Ransom can’t find a link between a slew of murders but sprightly septuagenarian Emily Charters can. She recognizes every victim reported in the newspaper from the audience the night she went to the theater. Trouble is, that makes her a target, too and unless she gets to Jeremy in time, she may not live to explain her brilliant deduction.

Ransom for Our Sins

Jeremy Ransom of the Chicago Police Department teams up once again with his surrogate grandmother, Emily Charters, to investigate a case of deception, obsession, and murder in a mysterious, cult like community. By the author of Presence of Mind.

Ransom for a Killing

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.

Ransom Unpaid

In the middle of the night, Abigail Pearson is disturbed by the sound of footfalls and someone calling her name. The voice is hauntingly familiar, and when she goes to investigate, she sees her husband a man who disappeared without a trace thirty years ago. The next morning her daughter finds Abigail unconscious on the stairway landing and she is rushed to the hospital. Her two children can find no apparent evidence of the long missing husband she claims to have seen, and since Abigail has a heart condition, they are both worried about her continuing to live alone. JoAnna, Abigail’s daughter, engages a friend of a friend, Emily Charters, to stay with Abigail for a while after she is released from the hospital. Emily quickly comes to believe that something nefarious is indeed at work and calls upon her friend, Chicago police detective Jeremy Ransom, to help her try to sort things out. The building tension between the various members of the family, another nocturnal visit by Abigail’s husband, and the mystery of his disappearance in the first place make this the strangest case yet for both Jeremy and Emily.

Ransom at the Opera

When a new production of Carmen opens in Chicago, Don Jose literally dies on stage in a moment that is very dramatic. Chicago detective Jeremy Ransom and a close friend, Emily Charters, go backstage to turn the spotlight on a killer. Available only in Senior Lifestyles 4 Series.

The Mummy’s Ransom

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.

Ransom at Sea

With a relaxing few days in mind, Miss Emily Charters signs up for a four day seniors cruise of the Great Lakes organized by her church. In the company of her friend and housekeeper, Lynn Francis, Charters and the other seniors set sail from Chicago, but while the waters on the lake are calm and predictable, her fellow passengers are not. However, a little tension is the least of the problems when one of her fellow passengers is found horribly murdered in her cabin. While the police investigate, the ship remains at port, leaving Emily stranded until her friend, Chicago Police Detective Jeremy Ransom, comes to her rescue. Together they set out to solve a most perplexing puzzle of a murder committed without seeming opportunity or plausible reason, not mention right under Emily’s nose

Government Gay

A crime story aimed at the gay fiction market, in which a casual stop for a beer at a Chicago gay bar by the main character, Alex Reynolds, turns into a case of mistaken identity followed by murder.

Federal Fa*g

After spotting an old college flame starring in a rented po*rn film, Alex Reynolds tracks him down to an L.A. address only to find him murdered on his apartment floor. Suddenly, his occasional CIA contact is very interested, and the odd spy team of Alex, his lover, and his mother, Jean, must scour the gay po*rn industry to find the murderer.

Capital Queers

Alex Reynolds and his lover Peter Livesay discover that a mysterious cult has killed friends of theirs over their friends’ accidental possession of a stolen religious artifact. Now, Alex, Peter, and Alex’s mother have inherited their friends’ annoying dog Muffin as well as the unwanted and deadly attention of the killers.
/Content /EditorialReview EditorialReview Source Amazon. com Review /Source Content In Fred Hunter’s third Alex Reynolds mystery, Alex and his lover, Peter, join forces to determine why their dear friends Mason and Ryan have been murdered. Mason’s doll collection, which he had threatened to bequeath to Alex, was found in shattered pieces surrounding his mutilated body. The attack seemed not only personal, but weirdly ritualistic. Not a week later, Mason’s partner, Ryan, was discovered in the same room of their apartment in much the same condition. An impromptu visit from State Department investigators, who seem to think that Alex and Peter have come into possession of a mysterious object at the core of the murder case, inspires them to search out the origins of Mason’s latest doll, which he had purchased on a visit to our nation’s capital shortly before his death. With the help, as ever, of Alex’s intrepid British mum, and about equal portions of help and hindrance from the police and the CIA, Alex and Peter undertake a perilous journey into an Eastern religious subculture, vowing justice for their murdered friends. Capital Queers is slightly spooky and genuinely fun. Regina Marler

National Nancys

Alex Reynolds and his lover Peter Livesay are dragooned into volunteering for a Chicago area progressive politician’s campaign, which entails stuffing envelopes, answering the phones, and dealing with the daily bomb threats from a wide variety of wackos. But one of them was serious enough to actually do it, and now the office manager of the campaign appears to have been killed in the explosion. But, of course, it couldn’t be that simple? With the help of their reluctant CIA contacts, Alex and Peter and Alex’s reluctant mother begin investigating the bombing and soon discover that something much bigger is at play and their own lives are now at stake.

The Chicken Asylum

When the CIA decides to keep an Iraqi military defector in their home, Alex Reynolds, his lover Peter, and his mother Jean are less than thrilled. But once the young defectorwho turns out to be involved with a terrorist groupmysteriously disappears, the trio find themselves in the middle of a very dangerous game, with the life of their guestas well as their own livesprecariously hanging in the balance.