Emma Lord returns in the nineteenth book in Mary Daheim's Alpine mystery series. Lord is the owner of The Alpine Advocate, a newspaper that serves the community of 4,000 in Washington state. When Elmer Nystrom's obituary appears at the newspaper office, Emma's House & Home editor, Vida Runkel, informs her that Elmer isn't dead. However when the two arrive at the Nystrom house, they find Elmer dead in his chicken coop. Who could have murdered the man that everyone in town seems to like?
The investigation is stymied by the sheriff's reoccurring trips to the emergency ward. As Emma and Vida dig into the local gossip, they discover that no one really knows the Nystrom family. Is there something about the family that led to Elmer's death?
This isn't the best book in the Alpine series. It seems a little stale, without much mystery to it. Even the main characters seem tired with their roles in life. Perhaps it's time for Daheim to shake up the series again.
The Alpine Scandal by Mary Daheim. Ballantine Books, ©2007. ISBN 9780345468161 (hardcover), 325p.
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