Well-drawn characters and a complex crime are a winning combination in Daheim's 18th Emma Lord mystery (after 2005's Alpine Quilt
). The sleepy town of Alpine, Wash., is shocked when a local home goes up in flames in an act of arson—and murder. Tim Rafferty, a young husband and father-to-be, was at home when the blaze erupted, and Sheriff Milo Dodge soon realizes Tim was beaten to death with the proverbial blunt instrument before the fire was lit. When Emma, editor of the local paper and inveterate sleuth, learns that Tim was having an affair with another local gal, she wonders if Tim's bride, Tiffany, who isn't exactly playing the part of the grieving widow, might have offed her man. Or perhaps Tim's father-in-law did the awful deed. Emma gets so engrossed in the crime that she lets her nascent romance with a Seattle journalist wane, prompting hope that perhaps she and the sheriff will get back together in the next installment in this popular cozy series. (Mar.)
