Pretty good read. Part of a series but can stand on its own. Ok mystery, not particularly my cup of tea but I think it was just me. I love a strong female lead so that was a plus.

Nicole Graves continues in her job as a Private Investigator, this time she is asked to look into the identity of a kidnapping victim. This 4th story in the Nicole Graves series can be read as a standalone.

I thought The Ransom got off to a very good start. Nancy set the scene in Los Angeles very well indeed. NIcole was asked to look into the identity of the third kidnapping victim in the city. Maybe there were serial kidnappers on the loose, or maybe the victims were connected. There were plenty of what-if’s thrown at the reader and I was looking forward to Nicole solving the mystery.

However, The Ransom differs from the previous Nicole Graves novels which were solely about Nicole and told purely from her point of view. This time Nicole’s sister Stephanie is dragged into the story. Now you get two points of view, the main focus being Nicole but a substantial although secondary focus on Stephanie. There are many times within the story when the reader knows more about what is going on than Nicole, because they have read Stephanie’s parts. I found this two person tale very frustrating.

The plot within this story was quite simple and nowhere near as involved or intricate as in the three earlier novels. There was no WOW! Factor in The Ransom. After a very good start this book then plodded along and became a regular search and find. The story then became rather predictable with nothing out of the ordinary. In the earlier novels we had lots of content and feeling about the life of Nicole in and out of work. The character development and living the life of Nicole was drastically reduced in The Ransom, the story being more about the searches Nicole ran than the heroine we previously enjoyed. There was a hint at romance this time but it was just a hint and was not developed.

Another frustration was when Nicole got closer to the kidnappers. The police told her about the risks involved and to stay away. What does the silly cow do? Yes, she grabs her handbag and storms off in search of the kidnappers and their victims. I lost my empathy for Nicole then.

I did like the localisation that Nancy put into her story. Not only does she use Los Angeles as a back-drop to her story but she uses American words and expressions that give British readers a lot to think about. This mix of local culture was a joy to read.

I found The Ransom to be an Okay 3 star read. I did not enjoy it anyway as much as her earlier novels which I thought had far, far better plots and a much stronger personality from Nicole.

The Ransom
A Nicole Graves Mystery
Author: Nancy Boyarsky
216 pages
Publication date: September 24, 2019
4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

As a newly minted private investigator, Nicole Graves expects to take on legal cases for corporate clients. But when her client’s son, Brad Rexton, is killed trying to protect his wife, Ashley, from a home invasion-turned-kidnapping, the firm is hired to investigate. Nicole soon discovers that Ashley is not the person she claims to be, but her real identity remains a mystery.
Meanwhile, a long-delayed and undesired inheritance is finally deposited into Nicole’s bank account. Within a few days, someone dear to Nicole is kidnapped in the same manner as Ashley. The perpetrators demand Nicole’s full inheritance as ransom. She’s willing to hand the money over but finds it’s not so easy. The kidnappers have an uncanny ability to track her every move, and they suspect a trap. When their most terrifying threat is delivered to her door, Nicole is faced with a terrible choice: Should she count on the police or risk going it alone?
🌇⭐ MY REVIEW 🌇⭐
The Ransom is a well written and suspenseful kidnapping thriller with a little bit of romance threw in it. This is my first time reading anything by this author. I am glad to have run across this series and can't wait to read the next in this series. I enjoyed the characters in this series especially private investigator, Nicole Graves. If you are looking for a Good story with good character development,with a strong lead female character give this book a try. This book is hard to put down and really keeps you guessing. Even though this is a series it can be read as a stand alone . Many thanks to the author, INscribe Digital , and Netgalley for the arc of the book.

Nicole Graves is a new licensed Private Investigator working for a firm that handles cases for corporate clients. However, when her boss asks her to investigate for one of their clients, she discovers that not everything is as it seems

The client's son was killed and his daughter-in-law was abducted in a house invasion. The father has doubts about his son's wife ... he has always been suspicious of her reasons for marrying his son for his much moneyed inheritance.

Is she who she has said she is?

Meanwhile, another invasion, another note for ransom. And then again .. only this time it is someone near and dear to Nicole. Each time, the ransom gets larger .. and yet no one has been returned after the ransom is paid.

Although warned not to contact the police, Nicole does exactly that. Working closely with Detective Greg Arnault in order to help catch the kidnappers, they seem to be thwarted constantly. Someone is watching .... and knows that she's contacted the police.

When their most terrifying threat is delivered to her door, Nicole is faced with a terrible choice: Should she count on the police or risk going it alone?

Well written and suspenseful from start to finish, this is an entertaining mystery. Throw into the mix a budding romance, and it's guaranteed to keep the reader entranced.

As the other books in this series, this one is easily read as a stand alone.

Many thanks to the author / INscribe Digital / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

The Ransom
By Nancy Boyarsky

5 stars

Fast moving thriller mystery, that is a standalone title, but also fits nicely into a series.

Although a predictable ending, the storyline moves fast. The plot reads realistically. You could almost believe that it actually happens.

Apart from the police whom come across as very Hollywood clumsy, the central characters fill the story well.

As a newly minted private investigator, Nicole Graves expects to take on legal cases for corporate clients. But when her client’s son, Brad Rexton, is killed trying to protect his wife, Ashley, from a home invasion-turned-kidnapping, the firm is hired to investigate. Nicole soon discovers that Ashley is not the person she claims to be, but her real identity remains a mystery.


This title has been reviewed by www.books-reviewed.weebly.com

This title was provided by Netgalley and the publisher in return for an open and honest review.

#TheRansom #NetGalley

This ARC was courtesy of netgalley - all thoughts and opinions are mine and unbiased

Ii did think I would enjoy this more than I did. I found it a little one dimensional which kind of spoiled it a little for me - maybe I was thinking too deeply about it

Even if I found it entertaining I couldn't connect to the characters that I found a bit flat.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

The Ransom is the fourth book in the the Nicole Graves Series by Nancy Boyarsky. The first three titles are The Swap, The Bequest and Liar Liar. On reading The Ransom I hadn't read any of the first three titles. I didn't find this impacted me at all with reading the Ransom, and there was sufficient explanation and detail for the Ransom to stand on it's own.

Nicole Graves is a seeminlgy "green" private investigator who is given a new job by her boss due to the positive outcomes she has had on previous cases. Her work generally relates to doing checks of corporate clients. On this occasion Nicole's boss has requested she meet with a wealthy businessman whose son Bradley Rexton has been killed, and the son's wife Ashley has been kidnapped. The businessman mistrusts his daughter-in-law sufficiently to think she may have been involved in her own abduction. He felt something was off about her and wants to test his theory. Her disappearance conveniently occurs at the same time as two other disappearances of wealthy men's wives where ransoms were demanded. One woman still hasn't been located.

Soon after commencing her investigation Nicole receives an inheritance from an unwelcome source. Her sister's details and her own are disclosed and lo-and-behold Nicole's sister is kidnapped and a ransom is demanded. Nicole is uncertain about involving the police and crosses paths with a detective who she feels a spark of romance might eventuate. He seems interested whilst walking a fine professional line - trying to guarantee her safety and solve the kidnappings.

The kidnappers appear to know hers and police's next steps before they make them. Nicole needs to figure out how this is happening and who she can trust in order to rescue her sister.

As a lover of the early Kinsey Milhone series by Sue Grafton I struggled to develop an attachment to Nicole in the same way. [and perhaps comparison really is the thief of joy].

Nicole is nearly intelligent, nearly brave, and nearly interesting. Her budding relationship with the detective is nearly warm. The strength in her character came from the relationship with her sister.

The premise for this book was great, but if fell short in the intrigue, suspense and speed of the action for me, and where I thought it was going to all come together it felt incomplete in some way.

Sometimes when I have picked up standalone novels with repeating characters I have felt the urge to read the earlier instalments. I would like to read another Nicole Graves mystery for interest-sake but I am not rushing to follow this one up with the same urgency I have with other books in the past.

This book sits in a neutral place with me - I can't say I loved it, and I can't say I disliked it either.

Thank you to Netgalley and INscribe Digital for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

An abbreviated review will appear on my instagram @aplace_inthesun close to publication date.

This was another book that I thought I would really like because the premise was great. Whats not to love about a a kick butt Private Investigator? Well, she didn't seem to have a whole lot of depth. Or maybe it was the writing. The writing lacked the layered sophistication that I prefer. It was also confusing and somewhat annoying that things from possibly a previous book? kept being mentioned and partially explained. Either fully explain it ONCE, or don't bring it up. I can only imagine how boring those parts were for whoever read the previous book(s) that they kept referencing.