The Alpine Icon

Emma Lord #9

by Mary Daheim

ALL THE MURDER FIT TO PRINT                      

Editor-publisher Emma Lord and her Alpine Advocate staff suspect excitement when glamorous Ursula O'Toole Randall returns to Alpine to marry her third husband. But hers is a lethal homecoming. . . .

Ursula, clad in satin pajamas, is found dead in the shallow waters of the Skyhomish River. Sheriff Dodge suspects foul play. Yet as Emma hunts for a stop-press story, a snake-in-the-grass killer, unappeased by one murder, slithers unnoticed through the shadows. . . .

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

336 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 30, 1997

About the author

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

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

Another typical installment of Alpine. Emma is cranky, but on a mission. Vida has bad hats and knows everyone. Roger even makes a horrible appearance!

The premise here was a little convoluted and got bogged down with so many parts and people. But I ended up really enjoying the resolution.

[Ailisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book rates as average. The victim of this book was not very likable, and didn't evoke a curiosity in me to find the actual killer. Also, the little problems in Alpine such as the picnic fiasco, the special elections, the feuding spouses, and the exhausted priest came off as filler material. I did like Emma's growing relationship with the sheriff, but the most shocking part was finding out Adam's chosen vocation. I plan on reading the books in order, so I don't want to spoil myself, but I have a feeling Adam will not stick with this choice.

[Elliott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm reading this series in order - it's a lot of fun to see the characters develop, the setting change over the years (even if things seem to mostly be getting worse and worse in Alpine), and I'm planning to read to the end. the series tackles "big topics," and in #9 the topics were religion and domestic violence. not what you necessarily expect from cozies! unfortunately, Emma tries to convince someone to stay with an abusive husband; it's not out of character for Emma, who really doesn't seem to know any better. as an aside, the men in this series can be so annoying! Emma's son, Vida's grandson, all of the abusive men who keep murdering people etc. etc.

the mystery is about a woman returning to Alpine for marriage, who instead drowns - or is drowned? as usual, the murder is solved incidentally, as Vida does some investigation and Emma tries to put together her newspaper issues (she also wants to reconnect with her spirituality and religious community). the book does a great job of catching the malaise of summer and the ripple effect of this local economy failing. I'm interested to see where Alpine is at by the end of the series.

[Denise Spicer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wealthy lady returns to her roots in Alpine only to be found dead in the river. Accident or murder? Journalist Emma Lord and Sheriff Milo Dodge investigate. Daheim’s usual quaint and quirky characters in a small-town Pacific Northwest village, politics at St. Mildred’s Catholic Church, and a cracked vase with the image of Jesus which attracts pilgrims.

[Diane Dunham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great Emma Lord mystery.

[Monica Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alway great reads for me. Alpine has some quirky residents to make you smile. Lots of ruckas with the townsfolk in this one and a good who dunnit.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favourite cozy authors. There is quite a bit of depth and character development in this book, but the stand alone mystery is good in itself.

[PRISCILLA HERD · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun read

This is one of the best books in this series. It keeps you guessing until the very end. Great book!

[Debra Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this one a bit slow.

[June Hiza]

Bess Crawford mystery #1

[Johnny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought I’d read every novel in this marvelous series of mystery novels. However, when I found a cast-off copy in a brother’s collection and read the back cover, I realized that I hadn’t read The Alpine Icon. In this “episode,” Emma Lord’s Roman Catholic background is intertwined with a mystery that involves a socialite who is prominently involved with the Seattle Diocese, a power struggle within her church, mysterious minor crimes in the small Snohomish town where she is editor, and the usual potpourri of interpersonal problems with her idiosyncratic staff, as well as her own sexual tension with regard to the local sheriff. It also has a parallel incident with regard to one of those “tabloid”-style miracles where a cracked vase appears to be a sacred image. The timing of this incident with the problems in the church and the ironic circumstances of her son’s identity crisis proves to be fascinating. I like the way everything is left pretty open-ended. It seems honest from my perspective and I appreciate the way this is done.
The mystery involves the usual misdirection with regard to phony identities and potential suspects. None of the red herrings was plausible enough to throw me off the track, but they were enough to make you wonder, enough to enjoy. Some of the foreshadowing was extra special because I had read the sequels to this book and knew where the hints were headed. It's a great series and this was an above-average mystery.

[VJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first of this series to have major continuity errors. Most glaring is the insurance settlement that allowed Emma to purchase the Alpine Advocate. All other books mention insurance money being $500k and the newspaper being $200k. This episode, the insurance was $200k.

Meh. I found this book to be much slower paced than any of the previous books. Maybe the little town of Alpine is fully described and populated in my mind. It seems as if you can almost guess the "who" without always knowing the why or how because the "who" is always going to be one of the two or three outsiders introduced. I think this series is losing its luster for me. The consistent use of vulgarity in the form of the f-bomb also has been a turn off. I'm going to take a break from this series for awhile.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

#9 in the Emma Lord newspaper publisher in a small central Washington town mystery series. Two former Alpine residents return after several years away with one dying under suspicious circumstances. Emma and her employee Vida help Emma's lover, the town sheriff, solve the mystery. There are several strands to the story involving the town Catholic Church and dealings within the congregation, the declining economic condition of the town and its affects upon the residents, and the trials and tribulations of various residents.

[Karen Hufman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used to love Mary Daheim - maybe I've read too many Emma Lord mysteries over the years. In this one, Ursula returns to Alpine after inheriting a lot of money from a former husband. She's set to marry another returning Alpine native and likes to feel superior over those she feels to be 'less fortunate' than herself. Throw in issues with the Catholic school, a miracle vase, and another reporter nosing around and you have the bones of the story.

[Janet Ankiel]

Daheim explores the role of religion, specifically Roman Catholicism,
greed and revenge, racial intolerance, the effects of a weak economy and much more in Alpine, Washington. With her observer role securely anchored in her ownership of the local newspaper, Emma can watch, speculate and evaluate all she sees. Once again the supporting characters provide comic relief even as they help move the plot. A good summer read even if it is a bit dated.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are reading the series, you will know that this is book nine, “I” being the ninth letter of the alphabet. This installment touches more on religion than the others, and many characters are added to an already sizable cast. The Alpine series is always enjoyable, with some big surprises sprinkled in every so often (hint hint). Worth the read for fans.

[Margaret]

Enjoyed this story - all of Mary Daheim's books in this series are consistently good. And in this one, Emma finally seems to be over her son's father. Now if she could just reconcile with her son, Adam ...

[Incandragon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the best way to read this series is the first three in a gulp, and then the rest slowly. You really need to have a historical investment in the characters to feel the tension of the personal issues.

[Patricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am hooked on the backstory of the characters and not as much on the mystery side of things.iconsequently, I do some scan reading. This time I did guess the culprit before it was revealed. I do not often do that in this series.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this entry, I'm glad that Emma seems to be showing some sense finally! My mom tells me this doesn't last, so I'm kind of dreading the next book, but we'll see.

[Catherine Woodman · Rating 3 out of 5]

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

[Glenn Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Editor/publisher Emma Lord once again helps Sheriff Milo Dodge find the killer. Daheim does a great job of keeping a limited number of small town characters interesting in book after book.

[Mary Kovarik · Rating 3 out of 5]

The continuing story of murder and mayhem in Alpine. I enjoyed this book a lot.

[Tiffany Westlund · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was excited to read a mystery by a northwest author....but it was just ok. Too much church business and not enough mystery.

[Pam Bales · Rating 4 out of 5]

Journalist Emma Lord has a hard time keeping her tiny paper afloat in the Washington mountains. We're up to the 25th book in the series now and it is an entertaining series of cozies.

[Claudia Cheyne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book focuses on St. Mildred's Catholic church and school, the parish where Emma Lord attends Mass every Sunday. There are a lot of seeds of discontent being sown by people who have their own agendas. One of them is Ursula O'Toole Randall. She is found dead in the shallow waters of the Skykomish River. Father Dennis Kelly is questioning his religious vocation. This is his first assignment as a parish priest since he is no longer needed to teach in the seminary due to a drop in religious vocations.
Ursula's death could be a murder. There are plenty of suspects. In the final chapter Adam tells his mother about his future plans. After attending three different universities and never applying himself to his studies this comes as quite a surprise.

[Temperance · Rating 2 out of 5]

this one was just OK. The mystery in this story seemed to take a backseat to the religious politics.