Sunday, February 15, 2004

Alpine mysteries by Mary Daheim features Emma Lord, small-town newspaper owner & editor in Alpine, Washington.

1. Alpine Advocate
2. Alpine Betrayal
3. Alpine Christmas
4. Alpine Decoy
5. Alpine Escape
6. Alpine Fury
7. Alpine Gamble
8. Alpine Hero
9. Alpine Icon
10. Alpine Journey
11. Alpine Kindred
12. Alpine Legacy
13. Alpine Menace
The Seattle strangling murder of Alpine native Carol Stokes is generating headlines, but the accused killer is Emma's long-lost cousin Ronnie, who swears he was out drinking when his girlfriend was strangled. But he can't prove it, and neighbors claim they heard the couple fighting moments before the murder. Now Emma and supersnoop Vida, the Advocate's house-and-home editor, must find another suspect. So they spend their Easter weekend up in Seattle looking into Carol's life as well as Ronnie's. As usual they find distant relations to Vida but will it be enough to help discover the truth.
14. Alpine Nemesis
15. Alpine Obituary - Still distraught over the death of her lover, Emma mopes through the first half of the novel and even considers turning down a request by Marsha, the local judge, to look into a threatening letter she has received. But when Emma learns that Marsha and Jack Froland, an elderly resident who may have been murdered, are distantly related, she decides to find out if the two incidents are connected. For some reason the the book is divided between the present and Alpine of the 1916-17 time period. Every chapter switches between the two. It isn't really that clear of why we need to know about the early families even by the end of the book. But it's good to see Emma's character develop.