The Alpine Journey

Emma Lord #10

by Mary Daheim

A JOURNEY OF TERROR

Murder is news--even when editor-publisher Emma Lord is away from The Alpine Advocate. A picturesque Oregon seashore village may not be Emma's traditional beat, but when a sensational headline-grabbing murder occurs, she's on the case.

It all begins as sexy Audrey Imhoff emerges from her nightly nude dip in the Pacific--and a killer makes it her last. A week later Audrey's husband disappears, and the couple's three adolescent children seem strangely relieved by his absence.

What's the story behind all this bizarre behavior? Emma Lord will find out-- or die trying. . . .

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Cozy, Crime, Mystery Thriller

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 28, 1998

About the author

Mary Rene Richardson Daheim was an American writer of romance and mystery novels.

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my favorite Alpine mystery. Emma seemed extra cranky and she had no skin in the game. She wasn’t in Alpine, wasn’t following the story for journalistic reasons, and she didn’t even know the victim or group of suspects. She had little to no interest in solving the mystery and she kept wanting to leave and go home. Vida was visiting relatives, though they didn’t know each other really, and Emma showed up to help Vida.

Even though the mystery and its solving was lackluster, there were some personal developments for Emma. She reflected on her friendship with Vida and we see those two be there for each other. She also reflected on her relationship with Milo, which resulted in a breakup that actually made me a little sad.

[Johnna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this series with newspaper reporter Emma Lord

[Claudia Cheyne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emma Lord has finally managed to take a few days vacation to visit her old friend Mavis in Portland. Vida is headed in the same direction but she refuses to tell anyone where or why she is going away. It turns out that Audrey Imhoff, a niece by marriage, was brutally murdered after emerging from her nightly dip in the ocean. The setting is a small tourist town so this book takes them out of Alpine. We have a different group of characters. A theme running through the story is marriage. What makes a good marriage? What should a couple expect from each other? How important is commitment especially when there are children involved? Emma realizes that she has not missed or thought about Milo during her time away from him. Their friendship turned into sleeping together but something important is missing. Could they go back to the easy relationship they once had?

[Catherine Woodman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a competent if not exciting seres, and definitely one of my favorites by the author

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

As usual, I'm not as fond of books set outside the regular milieu of a series.

[Elliott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was enjoying this series a lot in the beginning, but have gradually found myself less and less interested in the characters. one of my biggest complaints is that Emma Lord, the protagonist, comes across as so spineless. if she were interested in exploring Vida's family mystery and wanted to stay in Cannon Beach, that would be one thing; instead, she was continuously thinking about leaving and trying to set boundaries (like going to sleep and not getting involved) where she almost immediately allows herself to be steamrolled into whatever Vida wants. for whatever reason, that's not enjoyable reading for me. I want Emma to treat herself better or to be around people who treat her better. ostensibly that's why she broke up with Milo, but that feels totally arbitrary. the last I recall, she had just barely started to develop this interest in him at the end of the previous book, and then this one has jumped ahead by a few years and they're already burned out - or at least Emma is. what was the point of introducing their romance in the first place? and PLEASE, can we get over Tom and move on from him? this isn't a real spoiler because I don't actually know, but I'm assuming they're going to get together in the end and that's supposed to be like such a great thin for Emma. yuck. anyway... Vida used to be one of my favorite characters, but she's become increasingly difficult to like. (like Vida laughing at Emma when she was in pain from getting into a car accident - what was that even about?) I probably would have given this 2 stars but the solution to the mystery was pretty interesting.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emma travels to Oregon with Vida in this story, and there is some detail about life in a seaside town. The story centres around Vida’s extended family, and the outcome is quite a surprise, at least for me.
While the story itself is a good stand alone cozy mystery, there is some development in the lives of central characters, which is a reason I enjoy Daheim’s mystery series.

[Nathalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was already a fan of Mary Daheim through her Hillside Bed-and-Breakfast series in Seattle. I'd tried to read this series previously but never clicked. This one hooked me because it mostly transpires in Cannon Beach, a little town that I love on the Oregon Coast. Then I was drawn into the mystery and am now looking forward to reading more of her Emma Lord adventures.

[Denise Spicer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emma Lord, editor of a small-town WA weekly newspaper is off for a weekend vacation but ends up trying to help her “House and Home” columnist Vida find out who murdered her niece. They spend time on the Oregon coast so the author gives us interesting descriptions of that area

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book lacks the charm of most of the others in the Alpine series because it does not take place in Alpine. The people who contribute to the local color are sorely missed in this one. While this book is not among the best, I know the series storyline improves dramatically from here to the end!

[Zermeena · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was grim. It was all about family and how families can fall apart and grow apart from each other. In the end Emma breaks up with Milo because she doesn't think she is marriage matterial.

[Jewett · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is okay but I like it better when they are in Alpine.

[Sharon Bezrutczyk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very slow reading I kept losing interest.

[Monica Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vida's family is a hodgepodge and spread out. After the death of a relative in Oregon, Emma's time with an old friend is cut short. She is off to help Vida solve the mysterious death of Audrey.

[Karin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book started out strong but by halfway through I was starting to lose interest. Not one of the better books in this series.

[Darinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 10th book in the Emma Lord series. A light, cozy mystery.

[Ailisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good book in the series. In this book we get the see more of the Runkel family. Although the story is told by Emma, Vida is 100% the star of this story. We get death times three, car accidents, illegal substances, wacky relatives, and relationship drama. I was a little disappointed that we didn't get to have more of Mavis, Emma's long-time friend, in the story, especially since the initial purpose of Emma's "Journey" is to visit Mavis. Hopefully, Mavis will pop up in the later books.

Lastly, I am confused, or better yet, frustrated with Mary Dahiem when it came to matters of Emma's relationship with Milo. From the beginning of this book, Emma is already done with this relationship. She doesn't miss Milo while she is on her trip, nor does she even think of him. Daheim uses the previous books to build Emma's and Milo's relationship from friends that occasionally have dinner, to friends that frequently have dinner, to friends that has shared a few kisses, to romance. At the end of "Icon" things were good between the two. In this book Emma is tired of the relationship. Granted, Emma and Milo are in their 20th month of dating, so there has been a time jump, but I didn't expect Emma to grow wary of the relationship that fast, especially since Daheim took the time to gradually build their relationship to romance. In the end she ends things with Milo, right when he tells her that he wants to have a future with her. Emma is either seriously confused with what she wants or Daheim never had any real exceptions for this relationship. I won't know until I read the other books...

[Lorena Drapeau · Rating 2 out of 5]

quick read- funny characters but lacking heart.
and i've never really been able to get behind authors who write their stories alphabetically- which is funny cause i'm picking books at the library alphabetically...

[Gwen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Entertaining because it is set in Cannon Beach. But, otherwise, too fuddy-duddy. Emma is a newspaper journalist and goes to Cannon Beach with her co-writer Vada who tries to solve the mystery of her grand-neice's death.

[Patricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Still reading my way through this series. On the one hand, it was nice that this mystery happened out of town so there was a little diversity but on the other hand there was not a lot about the regular characters in the series.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the third or fourth Emma Lord book I've read and I think I'm getting to saturation. There is a murder, Emma pokes around, she solves it. Vidal plays a bigger role here but I really have never been able to get a handle on her or form any attachment.

[Mary Kovarik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emma Lord travels with Vida to the seashore. They encounter murder and mayhem. Ultimately they uncover three murders. Vida's dubious relatives are dropping like flies. I think this is one of the best in the Emma Lord series.

[Pam Bales · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy these books, enough to have read ten of them with this one. Jesse Stone runs a small newspaper on the eastern side of the Rockies. There are well developed characters and entertaining situations. There is always a murder to solve.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series is going bad. The mystery in this one was good, but Emma's making a disaster of her personal life. And Vida is...crazy not helpful.

[Mary]

Again, I enjoyed this book but got lost in the long cast of characters! They are all quite real though.

[Carol Bruxvoort · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the whole seres

[Glenn Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emma and Vida are in Cannon Beach for this one, a complex family saga (and, of course, murder mystery). Another good one.

[Temperance · Rating 2 out of 5]

blah!