The Alpine Quilt
An Emma Lord Mystery
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- $5.99
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
“[A] well-paced and compelling murder mystery.”—Romantic Times
Quilters at the Burl Creek Thimble Club in Alpine, Washing-ton, are planning a fête to welcome back returning member Genevieve Bayard. But Gen’s homecoming is cut short when she dies suddenly at a dinner party. Emma Lord, owner and publisher of the local newspaper The Alpine Advocate, vows to sleuth her way to the truth, and enlists the help of her trusted “House & Home” editor, Vida Runkel. Surprisingly, Vida seems downright unwilling to get involved. To make matters worse, murder isn’t the only crime in Alpine. There have been several burglaries, which may or may not be connected to Gen’s de-mise. As Emma digs, she uncovers a shocking scandal that may point the finger of guilt at one of her nearest and dearest . . . while changing the history of Alpine itself.
“[Daheim] amiably captures the rhythms and crosscurrents of small-town life.”—Kirkus Reviews
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Quilters will especially enjoy Daheim's 17th cozy (after 2004's Alpine Pursuit) to feature Emma Lord, publisher of the Alpine Advocate, the weekly newspaper of rural Alpine, Wash. When Genevieve Bayard, who grew up in Alpine, returns for a visit after a long absence, Annie Jeanne Dupr , the gentle, heavy-handed organist at St. Mildred's, decides to hold a welcome-back party for Gen and the other members of their old quilting group. Gen's sudden death at the party (from eating poisoned cheesecake, an autopsy later reveals) upsets everyone, but Emma's House & Home editor, Vida Runkel, who was absent at the time of the murder, is unusually disturbed and starts to behave strangely. Break-ins, a stranger in the local motel, burned quilt patterns, an anonymous letter, suspicious medications and another death compound the mystery. Daheim sympathetically portrays the small mountain town and its denizens, particularly Emma and her brother, Ben, a priest who's serving as St. Mildred's interim rector. Readers will also be enticed by the food and drink the characters often turn to for comfort.