The Alpine Winter: An Emma Lord Mystery

Daheim’s 23rd Emma Lord cozy (after 2011’s The Alpine Vengeance) will gratify longtime fans emotionally invested in the characters, but isn’t likely to attract new ones. As 2004 turns into 2005, Emma, the editor and publisher of the Alpine Advocate in Alpine, Wash., is gearing up for a visit from her brother, Ben, and her son, Adam, both priests. Meanwhile, the discovery of a human femur and two ankle bones by some kids renews speculation about the fate of Myrtle Everson, a grandmother who went out berry picking 16 years earlier and never returned. Complications arise after Troy Laskey, the son of one of Lord’s reporters, breaks out of jail, where he’s serving time for drug dealing, and a decomposing corpse turns up in a mountainside hole. As usual, the detecting tends to take a backseat to Lord’s love life, in particular her uncertain relationship with local sheriff Milo Dodge. (Nov.)