Rocketgirl's Full Review: Mary Daheim - The Alpine Christmas
Christmas would be a little less hectic in the small town of Alpine, Washington, without someone getting themselves killed. Or two someones. This book is one of a series by Mary Daheim, starring Emma Lord, newspaper editor. Emma is a transplant from the Portland Oregonian, and she is getting used to small town news. But Emma has a knack for stumbling onto and solving tricky cases.
First a dismembered female leg is found in the lake. Then another woman's body is found buried in the snow. These murders are a real downer for the residents of Alpine, who suddenly feel threatened in their small town. It is especially ominous during the Christmas season. At the same time, some sneaky prankster keeps changing the theater marquee sign and stealing a Santa Clause suit. What's up at Alpine?
I enjoyed the first book in this serious, which is called Alpine Advocate. Advocate is the name of the newspaper. In that book Emma had just arrived in Alpine and was getting used to the slower pace of small town life. And the fact that everyone knows everyone else. In this story, Emma has settled in, with her college age son and quirky employees.
The plot is a bit slow and a bit weak in this one. And the ending is a bit convoluted. Its higher rating is due to its endearing group of characters. The funny thing is that Emma's character isn't as quirky as the rest. Other than her habit of turning up in the middle of a murder mystery, she is portrayed as very "normal." My favorite character is actually Vida, one of Emma's reporters. She knows everyone in town and who is related to who. Her own extended family are members of an extensive rumor network. She is an older lady who has no problem saying what she feels without beating around the bush. Oftentimes, she is quite humorous.
Some other characters are fun too. There is Ed, who is always trying to talk advertisers OUT of buying ad space and instead lower their prices for the consumers anyway. There is Carla, the reporter who has good ideas for stories but can't type worth a darn. There is Adam, Emma's son, on Christmas break to spend time with his mom and a special girl. Emma's brother Ben is a Catholic priest, who ends up filling in for the local priest, who is in the hospital after a stroke. He ends up playing a pivotal in solving the mystery.
As stated earlier, the plot does seem to drag in places and the investigating takes awhile to get going. It was also not the "sterile" mystery I was expecting for something of this type and title. Reading about body parts wasn't my idea of a "little mystery." As is typical with this series, though, there is absolutely no description of gore or anything gross. There was no profanity or sex, so, despite the fact it is a murder mystery, I would say the book is safe for teenagers.
Though a little disappointed in this particular book in the series, I plan to read the others. I like the setting of a small mountain town. I really like the characters and their habits and traits. Emma Lord is a likeable character, being a businesswoman and a divorced mom, something most people can relate to. There is a small element of romance, whether Emma is going to hook up with small town sheriff Milo Dodge, or whether she is still pining over her old flame. This book is early in the series and not too bad at all. They can only get better.
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