Jeremy Ransom and Emily Charters mysteries

A youth helps a girl in the street and is accused of rape. After 10 years in jail, he is cleared, only to become a suspect when she is murdered. Detective Jeremy Ransom investigates.

For the inaugural performance at the newly opened Sheridan Center for the Performing Arts in Chicago, the organizers have brought in a much-discussed new staging of Carmen. Even though it has been sold out for weeks, Emily Charters and a friend have secured tickets for the opening night performance. Despite widespread rumors of back-stage troubles, the performance goes off without a hitch, up until the climactic scene when the actor playing Don Jose...

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...