Choker

April 13, 2009
Ike Schwartz returns to his CIA roots in Ramsey's awkward cozy-thriller hybrid, the fifth in the series to feature the Picketsville, Va., sheriff (after 2008's Stranger Room
). While vacationing on the Delaware shore, Schwartz is asked by former CIA comrade Charlie Garland to look into the mysterious disappearance of his niece's fiancé, Nick Reynolds. Reynolds, a pilot and ex-navy man, left an enigmatic voice mail message before he vanished off the radar over the Chesapeake Bay. Schwartz's investigations indicate that Reynolds may have witnessed activities that threaten national security. A Picketsville subplot involving satanic rituals by high school students and missing Communion vessels distracts rather than contributes to the narrative. Ramsay is best when contrasting the smooth professional spies and military men with lively amateurs like the cranky Bunky Crispins, a fiercely independent waterman who shows that it's possible to be a patriot and a rebel at the same time.

April 15, 2009
In the process of doing a favor for a friend, the sheriff of Picketsville, Va., stumbles over a terrorist plot.

His CIA buddy Charlie Garland asks Ike Schwartz to use part of his vacation on the Delaware shore to investigate a plane crash that killed Nick Reynolds, an inexperienced pilot who was engaged to marry Charlie's niece. The plane remains undiscovered, but just before he crashed Nick called Charlie and left a cryptic message. Taking to the skies, Ike thinks he sees something in the water far from Nick's planned course. With help from Bunky, a government-hating local waterman, and some equipment borrowed from the CIA, Ike finds the plane not far offshore, near a strangely placed duck blind. Bunky is furious when someone torches his boat, and Charlie and Ike are aghast when a photo on Nick's cell phone shows a freighter unloading a missile near the duck blind. Checking back on satellite photos, they realize that six missiles somewhere close by are poised for attack. Ike figures that they'll probably be launched on Yom Kippur, only five days away. Co-opted by the CIA, Ike, Charlie, Bunky and a team of Navy SEALs search for evidence to convince the reluctant higher-ups that in order to prevent an attack, they'll have to destroy four freighters carrying missiles plus the still undiscovered weapons hidden on shore.

A fast-paced thriller that's quite a departure from Ramsay's Picketsville mysteries (Stranger Room, 2008, etc.).

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Starred review from May 1, 2009
What starts out as a much-needed day at the beach for Sheriff Ike Schwartz ("Stranger Room") builds into a white-knuckle affair involving national security when a CIA friend asks him to probe the disappearance of a plane over Chesapeake Bay. Meanwhile, the Picketsville Sheriff's Department is looking for stolen church silver, a missing cat, and a possible satanic cult. Ramsay never writes the same mystery twice, and with each book the reader learns more about the intrepid and capable Ike. Here the author combines a Tom Clancy-like knowledge of ground-to-air missiles with a Robert Ludlum-like spy adventure to leave the reader awaiting the next Ike Schwartz. [See Prepub Mystery, "LJ" 2/1/09.]

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