The Ransom — Nancy Boyarsky

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?

“Nicole Graves is a charming and straight-shooting heroine” – Foreword Reviews

“Boyarsky's weightless complications expertly combine menace with bling, making the heroine's adventures both nightmarish and dreamy.” – Kirkus Reviews

“Nicole Graves is the best fictional sleuth to come down the pike since Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone.” – Laura Levine, author of the popular Jaine Austen Mysteriesbr>
The Nicole Graves Mysteries

1. The Swap
2. The Bequest
3. Liar Liar
4. The Ransom

All Nicole Graves Mysteries can be read as stand-alone novels.