Alice in Jeopardy — Ed McBain

Since her husband Eddie's tragic death in a boating accident eight months ago, thirty-four-year-old Alice Glendenning has struggled to maintain a normal life for her two children, Ashley and Jamie. To help make ends meet while she waits for the insurance company to pay up, Alice takes a job as a real estate agent. The commissions have been nonexistent, but she does make a new friend, Charlie Hobbs, when she is sent in to try to buy his waterfront land for a developer.

Things have been tough for Alice, but they quickly become a nightmare when Ashley and Jamie don't come home on the school bus one day, and Alice gets a phone call from a woman claiming to have her children. When the kidnapper calls again and asks for a ransom identical to the amount Alice is due from the insurance agency for Eddie's accident, Alice forgoes contacting the police and instead calls Charlie for help. But as all sorts of people scheme to get their hands on her money, Alice wonders whether anyone can be trusted in her fight for everything she holds dear.