Bøker i Emma Lord-serien

Nestled in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, the charming hamlet of Alpine is preparing for Thanksgiving, while Emma Lord, editor and publisher of The Alpine Advocate, feels her spirits sink. There will be no family or friends to share the day, but a call from Sheriff Milo Dodge on the Monday after the holiday weekend leaves her no time to wallow. Three alarming letters, sent to the sheriff from an anonymous writer, assert that the murder conviction of Alpine resident Larry Petersen ten years earlier was the result of a wrongful arrest. Adding to the miscarriage of justice, Petersen recently died behind bars. Then a fourth letter arrives, threatening retribution in the form of another death-most likely Emma's or Milo's. Mary Daheim's Emma Lord novel is a rich and authentic blend of small-town life and chilling menace.

As her myriad of fans can attest, USA Today bestselling author Mary Daheim creates wonderful mysteries peopled with marvelous characters as quirky as they are endearing. The Seattle Times says Daheim is "one of the brightest stars in our city's literary constellation"-and the popularity of her irresistible Pacific Northwest crime series has swept across the nation. For a small town newspaper like The Alpine Advocate, a new play at the local community college is big news. Editor and publisher Emma Lord is duty-bound to attend opening night, but expects the amateur enterprise will serve only as a cure for insomnia. The play is dubbed "a black comedy," but the only laughs Emma gets are from the bad acting and the wretched script. And while the turgid production makes Wagner's Ring cycle seem like a vignette, the real drama begins just before the final curtain. Hans Berenger, dean of students, wasn't well known or well liked around Alpine, but the audience found his death scene genuinely convincing-until they realized he wasn't acting. No one can say how or when the blanks in the prop gun were replaced with the real bullets that killed Berenger, but the list of suspects reads like a playbill of the cast and crew. They all had opportunity, access, and their own axes to grind with the thespically challenged dean. Seeking the assistance of Vida Runkel, the Advocate's redoubtable House and Home editor, Emma Lord vows to unravel a mystery that spirals out into unexpected places. As Emma sets the stage for the most likely suspect, she finds herself in a two-character scene whose next cue could make the resolute editor take a final-and permanent-bow.

Welcome to mystery lovers' favorite destination: Alpine, Washington, Mary Daheim's picturesque old logging town in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. From the Venison Inn to the Upper Crust Bakery, Front Street is jumping-and the nerve center of the community is the office of The Alpine Advocate, Emma Lord's weekly newspaper, which keeps folks up to speed on everything from joyous weddings to sudden, violent death.THE ALPINE SCANDALIt's a quiet morning at the Advocate until the mail brings shocking news: a formal obituary for Alpiner Elmer Nystrom. As far as anyone knows, Elmer is alive and well. But he hasn't turned up for work, so Emma and her unstoppable House & Home editor, Vida Runkel, rush to the Nystrom home, where they find Elmer's lifeless body in the henhouse, half buried under straw. Not only has he been murdered, but his obituary had been mailed before he died. Though Elmer was well liked by everyone, the same cannot be said of his standoffish wife or his son, the town's new orthodontist.Rumors fly-straight into the office of the Advocate. Why did Dr. Nystrom's new receptionist resign at the end of her first day? Why are the Nystroms' neighbors so close-mouthed? Who mailed that prophetic obituary? With Sheriff Milo Dodge in the hospital, it's up to Emma and Vida to get to the bottom of the tragedy. Alpiners love scandal, and with Elmer's murder, they'll get their fill.The Alpine Scandal, number nineteen in this bestselling series, is as suspenseful and charming as its predecessors, a delicious look into the life of a small town where all inhabitants know one another-just not as well as they thought.