Frederick Ramsay

An Ike Swartz Mystery
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The third Ike Schwartz mystery finds the Picketsville, Virginia, sheriff (and former CIA agent) in a bit of a quandary. A dead body that’s appeared just inside the town limits looks like it belongs to Alexei Kamarov, a Russian spy who supposedly died several years ago. But the ID on the body identifies him as a member of the notorious Harris clan, who are well known for feudin’ and fightin’ with another family, the Sutphins (kind of like the Hatfields and McCoys). Ike decides to investigate both possibilities simultaneously, assigning his deputy, Whaite Billingsly, and his IT tech, the beautiful Sam Ryder, to follow the Harris lead. Meanwhile Ike hits up his former CIA colleagues for intel on the Kamarov connection. Ramsay demonstrates once again that he is a superb storyteller, adroitly mixing the spy and small-town mystery genres and shocking us with one walloping big surprise midway through the book. An excellent entry in this still-young but steadily improving series.

– David Pitt
(Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved)

Secrets
“It’s Mitford with murder”

Waldo Templeton was, at best, a mediocre organist. He was also careless, so his killer was able to follow him to the sanctuary of Stonewall Jackson Memorial Church in Picketsville, VA, and dispatch him. Then the Vicar’s secretary follows Waldo to an early grave.
The Vicar, the Reverend Blake Fisher, sent to Picketsville when his ambition overcame his common sense, had had enough trouble in Philadelphia. He did not need a corpse behind his altar. He did not need his gun to be stolen, and he definitely did not need the local police breathing down his back as a suspect in a double murder.

Aided by the computer wizardry of his newest deputy, Sam (Samantha) Ryder and the country wisdom of Billy Sutherlin, Sheriff Ike Schwartz must sort through false leads, the unsolicited helpfulness of a politically connected parishioner and missing counseling files belonging to Blake’s predecessor. Then the Vicar himself becomes the killer’s third target.

Secrets is a marvelously plotted traditional mystery, set in the hamlet of Picketsville, Virginia and populated with vivid characters you grow to care about in the course of this tightly written novel.
– Julia Spencer-Fleming

With regional police procedurals like this one, Frederick Ramsay will not remain a secret to readers.
– Harriet Klausner

Secrets is the sequel to Ramsay’s first novel, Artscape, featuring Sheriff Ike Schwartz.

Frederick Ramsay’s debut novel
An Ike Schwartz Mystery

Small-town sheriffs come in all shapes and sizes, but Ike Schwartz, who dominates Ramsay’s solid debut, is both engaging and extravagantly overqualified for the job. Ike retreats to his hometown of Picketsville, Va., and wins the job of sheriff after a personal disaster in a botched CIA operation. In quiet Picketsville, Ike’s biggest worries are domestic squabbles, speeding tickets and an occasional problem with a Callend College student. It’s Callend’s superb art collection, valued at half a billion dollars and protected by a state-of-the-art security system, that changes all that. Funded by terrorists, and using a disaffected federal agent, mobsters plan to hijack the collection and hold it for ransom. The smoothly planned operation goes off with several hitches, including a killing and the taking of hostages. Callend president Ruth Harris, who believes Ike to be the stereotypical small-town sheriff, is screaming for “higher” authorities to take charge. Laid-back but decisive, Ike does that, calling on his experience, his country roots and old allies as he matches wits with the savvy professionals who committed the crime. While Ike emerges as the most fully developed character, several secondary characters stand out as well, as Ramsay nicely mixes town and gown, sophisticates and rustics, thugs and masterminds. Ike Schwartz seems destined for a bright future. -Publishers Weekly, July 19, 2004

“Frederick Ramsay uses a deceptively easy going pace in setting up this thriller, then gradually ratchets up the tension as the stakes grow increasingly higher…The mixture of CIA and FBI expertise, along with country sheriff initiative makes for an exciting read.” — Sally Powers, I Love A Mystery Newsletter

“…solid debut …. Ramsay nicely mixes town and gown, sophisticates and rustics, thugs and masterminds. Ike Schwartz seems destined for a bright future.” — Publisher’s Weekly

“Ramsay spins a masterful tale full of suspense of the nail-biting variety. His characters, both male and female, are well-drawn, and the portrait of small-town life realistic. This is a first novel, and a very good read.” — Mystery Morgue