The Alpine Escape (An Emma Lord Mystery)

The plot is a real departure from the rest of the books in the series so far, and it was great fun. Yes, some of the premises did seem a bit contrived. Did i mind? Not at all! In fact, I began to look forward to the next "disaster" and quirky plot turn, none of which were overdone. (I really got to like Paul and Jackie, and even Leo.) Daheim uses her considerable skill to weave together a good and unusual mystery story. She's a keen observer of human behavior and has a real knack for good dialogue and coherent, complex characters who grow. I'm reading this series from beginning to end!

Emma Lord, forty-two year old owner and publisher of the Alpine Advocate decides to take a short vacation after a convention. Her son, Adam is spending the summer with her brother Ben in Arizona, so there's no need to hurry home. Driving along in her trusty Jaguar, she doesn't have a care in the world, until it breaks down in Port Angeles.Fortunately, Jackie & Paul Melcher live in Port Angeles. Jackie is the daughter of an old friend of Emma's and she calls her up hoping to kill a few hours. Thinking that's all the time it will take to repair the car.Jackie is excited to hear from Emma and invites her over. She's especially thrilled to be able to tell Emma about the skelaton they just found in the basement. The body of a young woman with a crushed skull and some jewlery laying around her was found while renovations were being done. The house, which had been left by Paul's uncle, was the old family home that went back to the turn of the century. (20th)Who is she, why was she murdered and how was she hidden in the basement and why wasn't she ever missed? Emma puts on her reporters hat and starts digging for information. Paul has the history of his family as was told to him, and old newspapers and even older senior citizens fill in much of the blanks. There were three women who could be the victim. Simone Rowley, the French second wife of Cornelius Rowley the owner of the house, who was said to have run off with a French lover after her husband died.Carrie Malone - daughter of Cornelius, who had unknowingly married a bigamist, Jimmy Malone and was said to have gone to Seattle to live with him.Minnie Burke - the governess who just dropped out of sight. Paul wants to know because if it turns out to be a member of his family, he wants to have a propery funeral. Emma finds it a good way to kill time while her 1 day car repairs turns into several days of car repairs.Meanwhile Vida keeps her updated over the phone as to what's happening at the paper. Including the fact that Carla, can't spell any better than she can report, and that Darla Puckett is most upset about the misspelling of her name in a story.Ed, the advertising manager has just inherited money from his aunt who considered him to the sunniest and happiest person in her family? I really enjoyed this story. I liked the way Emma discovered information about things that had occurred almost 100 years ago. She used the skills she had honed from her years of journalism. The conclusion made absolute sense.Only downside. Not enough involvement of the Alpine characters. I missed Milo, who only appears in a couple of phone conversations. Next book - Alpine Fury. This series is going too fast.

Wow! This is the fifth book in the series, and the books are still exciting! Mary Daheim writes light murder mysteries that are both intriguing and hard to put down. If you like a good challenge, pick up one of these books and try to figure out "whodunit!" This whole series is so exciting because Mary Daheim continually lets all of her characters grow and she introduces new characters with each book! I can't wait to read the next book in the series!

I have read all of Daheim's books. Once I started, I carefully searched out all her titles and tried to read them in order as there is some carryover. I have lent them to friends, but am keeping them for another read. She writes about Washington state which I have been to but feel that I learn something about her part of the country, as well as being entertained. They are all well done mysteries.