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Diana Spaulding #3
No Mortal Reason
In her thirty-third published novel, the third mystery in this critically acclaimed series featuring "girl-reporter" Diana Spaulding, Kathy Lynn Emerson explores her own roots in rural New York with the aid of her grandfather's diaries. 1888 - When Diana and her fiancee Dr Ben Northcote journey to Sullivan Country, New York, they discover Diana's long-lost relative embroiled in a speculator's crazy scheme to turn the family hotel into the next Saratoga Springs. Then an excavation figs up a skeleton, and Diana must exercise her reporter's nose to clear her Uncle Howd of a ten-year old murder, enhanced by a cast of colourful humans and an aggressive nanny goat.
275 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2007
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About the author
Kathy Lynn Emerson
98 books146 followersaka Kaitlyn Dunnett, Kate Emerson, Kaitlyn Gorton
Kathy Lynn Emerson began writing as a child: a newspaper for her dolls and then a rambling adventure series featuring characters from all her favorite television shows. In addition to contemporary, historical and time-travel romance (some written under the pen-name of Kaitlyn Gorton) and historical novels written as Kate Emerson, Kathy has written children's books, non-fiction, short stories, and historical mysteries. She won the Agatha award for mystery nonfiction for How to Write Killer Historical Mysteries. She also writes as Kaitlyn Dunnett.
Kathy Lynn Emerson began writing as a child: a newspaper for her dolls and then a rambling adventure series featuring characters from all her favorite television shows. In addition to contemporary, historical and time-travel romance (some written under the pen-name of Kaitlyn Gorton) and historical novels written as Kate Emerson, Kathy has written children's books, non-fiction, short stories, and historical mysteries. She won the Agatha award for mystery nonfiction for How to Write Killer Historical Mysteries. She also writes as Kaitlyn Dunnett.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 14, 2023
No Mortal Reason by Kathy Lynn Emerson is book 3 of the Diana Spaulding mystery series set in 1888. On their way to Maine from Denver via railroad, Diana and her fiancé Dr. Ben Northcote stop in upstate New York. Diana wants to meet the relatives she just recently learned about from her mother. Diana knows there were (likely still are) hard feelings between her mother and the rest of the Grant family, so she keeps quiet about her relationship (at first).
When a long-dead murder victim is discovered at the family hotel, police suspect Diana's Uncle Howd. While she's trying to find evidence that points to another killer, one of the most suspicious characters (a con man) is murdered. Prime suspect is her Uncle Myron. Not only does Diana want to clear her uncles, but her boss Horatio Foxe wants her to write up the murders for his NYC newspaper.
In addition to the personal danger hunting a killer, Diana is tense about Ben's deceit: he introduced them at the hotel as husband and wife. Moreover, he reveals traditional views about her future as his wife, assuming she will not continue to work as a journalist.
The story's pace starts slowly, setting up the background and subplots for a wide variety of characters, planting red herrings galore. The pace picks up near the end with a rapid turmoil of violent events.
We learn a bit of hotel history: the family goat Tremont is "named after the hotel in Boston. Built almost a hundred years earlier, that landmark had been the first hostelry to call itself a hotel--someone had told Diana that the word meant palace for the people--and boasted that it had offered the first bellboys, the first inside water closet, the first hotel clerk, the first French cuisine on a Yankee menu, the first menu cards, the first annunciators in rooms, the first room keys, and the first Reading Room."
When a long-dead murder victim is discovered at the family hotel, police suspect Diana's Uncle Howd. While she's trying to find evidence that points to another killer, one of the most suspicious characters (a con man) is murdered. Prime suspect is her Uncle Myron. Not only does Diana want to clear her uncles, but her boss Horatio Foxe wants her to write up the murders for his NYC newspaper.
In addition to the personal danger hunting a killer, Diana is tense about Ben's deceit: he introduced them at the hotel as husband and wife. Moreover, he reveals traditional views about her future as his wife, assuming she will not continue to work as a journalist.
The story's pace starts slowly, setting up the background and subplots for a wide variety of characters, planting red herrings galore. The pace picks up near the end with a rapid turmoil of violent events.
We learn a bit of hotel history: the family goat Tremont is "named after the hotel in Boston. Built almost a hundred years earlier, that landmark had been the first hostelry to call itself a hotel--someone had told Diana that the word meant palace for the people--and boasted that it had offered the first bellboys, the first inside water closet, the first hotel clerk, the first French cuisine on a Yankee menu, the first menu cards, the first annunciators in rooms, the first room keys, and the first Reading Room."
May 18, 2008
The prolific writer Kathy Lynn Emerson has published the third book in her Diana Spaulding mystery series. In a series begun in Deadlier than the Pen and continued in Fatal as a Fallen Woman Emerson tells the story of Diana Spaulding and her life in 1888.
No Mortal Reason finds Diana and her fiancé Dr. Ben Northcote on their way to Maine to be married. But on the way they stop in New York, in the town that is home to Diana's relatives, her mother's hometown. Due to a family dispute many years before, the relatives are not even aware of Diana's existence. Diana comes to visit the family run inn in hopes of a family reconciliation before her wedding. But when Ben introduces them as husband and wife, resulting in only one room for both of them, it complicates Diana's visit considerably. The addition of a dead body found during the inn renovations, grandiose schemes by her uncles to attract customers and some suspicious guests raise Diana's reporter instincts while lowering her chances for a happy family reunion.
The fascinating part of Emerson's series is that, as with most of her writing, they are based in history. The book is pure fiction but her extensive research into the place and time of her novel give it its feeling of reality and truth. Characters are often based on real people, settings are detailed and thoroughly researched. So even as the characters wind their way throughout their adventures the reader feels like they are getting a picture of our ancestors, our own history. She is able to transport the reader into the lifestyle, mores and actions of America in the 1880s. Her family research adds great depth to her setting and characters.
The series has a planned culmination in book four, Lethal Legend.
For a wide variety of historical background it is strongly recommended that readers check out Ms Emerson's web site.
No Mortal Reason finds Diana and her fiancé Dr. Ben Northcote on their way to Maine to be married. But on the way they stop in New York, in the town that is home to Diana's relatives, her mother's hometown. Due to a family dispute many years before, the relatives are not even aware of Diana's existence. Diana comes to visit the family run inn in hopes of a family reconciliation before her wedding. But when Ben introduces them as husband and wife, resulting in only one room for both of them, it complicates Diana's visit considerably. The addition of a dead body found during the inn renovations, grandiose schemes by her uncles to attract customers and some suspicious guests raise Diana's reporter instincts while lowering her chances for a happy family reunion.
The fascinating part of Emerson's series is that, as with most of her writing, they are based in history. The book is pure fiction but her extensive research into the place and time of her novel give it its feeling of reality and truth. Characters are often based on real people, settings are detailed and thoroughly researched. So even as the characters wind their way throughout their adventures the reader feels like they are getting a picture of our ancestors, our own history. She is able to transport the reader into the lifestyle, mores and actions of America in the 1880s. Her family research adds great depth to her setting and characters.
The series has a planned culmination in book four, Lethal Legend.
For a wide variety of historical background it is strongly recommended that readers check out Ms Emerson's web site.
October 2, 2014
Fun reads. :)
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews