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    The Alpine Zen: An Emma Lord Mystery
    Unavailable
    The Alpine Zen: An Emma Lord Mystery
    Unavailable
    The Alpine Zen: An Emma Lord Mystery
    Audiobook9 hours

    The Alpine Zen: An Emma Lord Mystery

    Written by Mary Daheim

    Narrated by Tanya Eby

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    As an early summer heat wave beats down on Alpine, Emma and her staff are treading very lightly. For unfathomable reasons, the paper's House & Home editor, Vida Runkel, is in a major snit, refusing to speak to her colleagues.

    So when a peculiar young woman walks in claiming her parents have been murdered, and that she's in mortal danger, too, it fits right in with the rest of the craziness. Then, to the utter bafflement of her colleagues, Vida vanishes without a word to anyone. And just when Emma and her husband, Sheriff Milo Dodge, start to unsnarl these tangles, a male body, dead too long to identify, surfaces at the town dump - making what seemed merely weird feel downright sinister.

    ©2015 Mary Daheim (P)2015 Dreamscape Media, LLC

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDreamscape Media Audio
    Release dateMay 5, 2015
    ISBN9781633798601
    Unavailable
    The Alpine Zen: An Emma Lord Mystery
    Author

    Mary Daheim

    Mary Richardson Daheim is a Seattle native with a communications degree from the University of Washington. Realizing at an early age that getting published in books with real covers might elude her for years, she worked on daily newspapers and in public relations to help avoid her creditors. She lives in her hometown in a century-old house not unlike Hillside Manor, except for the body count. Daheim is also the author of the Alpine mystery series.

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    Reviews for The Alpine Zen

    3.5/5

    6 ratings16 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      The Alpine Zen is the 26th book in the Emma Lord mystery series. I received this book from LibraryThing Early Reviews in exchange for a fair review.Emma Lord is the editor of the only newspaper in a very small town. She is now married to the town's Sheriff, Milo Dodge. During a heatwave, a body shows up in the city dump, and a young woman comes to town in search of information about her mother, whom she has tracked to Alpine. As usual, Emma involves herself in the Sherriff's investigation.As the author has reached the end of the alphabet, it is difficult to know whether this series will continue or not. It seems as if this book has wrapped things up at the end, but of course, there could always be more.I have read several books from this cozy mystery series, and they are just okay. On the plus side, the author does not feel compelled to try to write around a gimmick, as some cozy mystery authors do. The protagonist's ownership of the town newspaper lends itself well to becoming involved in any and all mysteries in town. Also, the mysteries, for the most part, are believable. On the other hand, I just could not find myself caring for this character or the townspeople as I have in other mystery series.
    • 4/5
      The Alpine Zen is a fun read. The main thread that goes thru the book is the relationship between the sheriff, Milo Dodge, and the owner of the local weekly newspaper, Emma Lord who are now married altho not in the eyes of the Catholic Church. Thru all of that are numerous threads re. the various inhabitants of a small, town located on the west side of the Cascades off of highway 2. While I enjoy very much reading Mary Daheim's Emma Lord mysteries, I find that she tries to weave in too many mystery threads. It would seem to be better to have one, possibly two main threads so as to more easily remember the characters and the parts they play. However, that being said, I am looking forward to her next book since the Alpine Zen left much to still be answered in the "who dun it"!
    • 4/5
      I was excited to receive an Early Reviewer's copy of this book (although I did not get it in my hands until after publication date so it isn't truly an "early" review). In this installment, the town of Alpine is suffering through an unprecedented heat wave and drought, which makes everyone short-tempered. Add in a stray waif who has come to town looking for her mother, continued abuse by the town's least-favorite mill owner, a Californian dating the local prosecutor while researching a movie script, and a mysterious almost-skeleton buried at the local dump site, and stir. The result is a mostly satisfying mystery which has Emma and Milo working together to figure out who the victim is and who might have killed him. Along the way they deal with an extremely cranky Vida, a hostage situation, a case of arson, and more heat. The case is eventually wrapped up fairly neatly and plausibly.Even if you have not read the previous 25 entries in the Alpine series, you should be able to follow and enjoy this story. Most historical situations are explained and those that aren't are not terribly significant. This is another enjoyable entry in the Alpine series, and thankfully, not the last one despite Ms. Daheim's having reached the letter Z.
    • 4/5
      Hopefully Mary Daheim will find a new way to title her Alpine Mysteries now that she's used up the alphabet. I've enjoyed this series and this book is no exception. While there are characters and story lines that float through many titles they are all described so that one who picks up a book out of sequence isn't left in the dark. In "The Alpine Zen" a mysterious woman arrives in Emma's newsroom looking for her long lost mother. Soon she's running all over town behaving more strangely with each encounter. Soon a body shows up in the city dump, Vida disappears and the heat wave seems to be making everyone testy.All is revealed eventually with Daheim's usual clues scattered throughout. If you like cozy mysteries this is the series for you.
    • 4/5
      A fitting ending to a long and involved series. I was afraid that it would be anticlimactic as so many of the characters are settled and their story is really ended, but as usual, the calm is disturbed by a murder. This is definitely a fun series.
    • 4/5
      Emma Lord is back along with the interesting characters of Alpine. In the middle of a heat wave, an odd young woman comes to town, looking for her mother. She only has a name and an old photo but is convinced that her mother is near. When an old skeleton is found buried in the dump, the questions increase. A fun, cozy mystery, The Alpine Zen is an excellent addition to this series.
    • 4/5
      Well, Mary beat Sue Grafton to the end of the alphabet. Will she now start on Alpine numbers? I hope so as this is a series I have long enjoyed.Things, as usual, are a little bit crazy in Alpine and Emma Lord, weekly newspaper editor and her sheriff husband are in the thick of things. A strange girl comes to town looking for her mother who gave her up at birth, but she "feels" her mother's presence. Then there is the strange reclusive artist. Is he who he seems to be and then the self-proclaimed "queen" of Alpine, Vida, is angry at Emma, her boss, sad about her grandson's incarceration and then disappears. There is also the strange goings-on at the new nursing home where everything is kept "under wraps" even though Emma, her reporter and her rival...the radio journalist have all tried. A entertaining installment in this always amusing series.
    • 4/5
      The Alpine Zen by Mary Daheim is a good read. This is part of the Emma Lord series. Emma is publisher of a weekly Newspaper in the small town of Alpine. She takes her job very seriously, and so does her husband Milo, the town's sheriff. Naturally, their paths cross while they're doing their jobs, but they seem to have it worked out. I have not yet read any of the other books in this series. I plan to. This is one of those cozy mysteries that takes place in a small town, with people who know each other, and have for years. I enjoy books like this. I like getting to know people and following long wit what happens to and with them over time. This is a good story. Lots of twist and turns, a great ending and a few surprises. There was enough humor to keep the smiles coming, but nothing really laugh out loud. I liked this good, it was a good Sunday afternoon read. I recommend it.
    • 4/5
      I hadn't read any of the other books in this series, so I was at a disadvantage in that I didn't know any of the obviously recurring characters. I did enjoy the primary characters, as well as the small town feel, and would definitely give the series another chance. i did not enjoy the plot as much and frankly became quite confused - there were a lot of characters introduced rapidly and their relationships were hard to untangle. Plus there were several supposed plot stories, even a touch of the supernatural, that were hinted at but never developed. A little less complexity and this would have earned a solid 4.
    • 2/5
      Unfortunately I have not read any of the books in the "Alpine" series and I think that was why I felt I was missing so much information. For me that distracted me from the main mystery of the book which is about a young woman who walks into, main character, Emma Stone's newspaper office claiming her parents have been murdered and that she's in mortal danger. No one takes her claim seriously, not even Sheriff Milo Dodge, because of her strange behavior. When a male body is found in the town dump , the young woman wants to know if it is her father. Unfortunately the body has been dead too long to identify.This is the 26th book in the Emma Lord mystery and I know that fans who have read all of the previous books will find this one entertaining but for someone who has not it was just an OK book.
    • 3/5
      Really wanted to like this book, written by a Seattle-based writer with a proven record of published novels, but I couldn't. The writing is overly puckish and hokey, with characters named Kip MacDuff and Fuzzy Baugh and Vida Runkel. Set in a fictional, small Washington-state timber town, the story is one of way too many characters, most of whom the reader has no interest in caring about, and a mystery that is barely interesting. To boot, the main couple -- the editor of the town weekly newspaper and her county sheriff husband have an odd way of loving and communicating, such as "Hey jackass, I've got an image to keep up around here," the wife addressing her husband. I will NOT be reading any of the other books in this series!
    • 4/5
      I received this book as part of the Early Reviewers in Librarything. This is the first book I have read in this series. As noted by other reviewers, I plan to go back to the beginning of the series and read the other books about this small town. I liked this mystery and found it interesting and intriguing. However, I need the background on the characters to make this mystery novel clearer to me. Still a good read overall.
    • 3/5
      Reading The Alpine Zen, volume 26 in Mary Daheim's Emma Lord series set in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State is, for this reader, something like tuning in to a single episode of a long running TV soap opera. There are too many characters and it is virtually impossible for a new reader of the series to grasp the backstory that makes everything happening sensible. Admittedly, that is the perspective of a reviewer who had little familiarity with this series. The only thing clear to me after finishing the book is that the “z” book in an alphabet series is not the place to begin reading.I can imagine that readers who have made their way through the series enjoy reading about small-town newspaper editor Emma, her husband Sheriff Milo Dodge, prickly newspaper columnist Vida Runkel and the plethora of other characters populating the story as much as they would devouring a newsy letter from an old friend. Those kind of readers would surely give The Alpine Zen a considerably better review than I can offer. In this review, however, I can only speak for myself. To give the entire series the fair evaluation it deserves would require reading some 8,000 pages … presuming all the volumes are of similar length. The problem is that Mary Daheim, while an adequate author, is not captivating enough a writer to make that a feasible project. Her writing seems slipslod at times and lacks focus. When the mystery--such as it is--is finally revealed, it seems almost anticlimactic. If you are an Emma Lord fan, by all means continue reading the Alpine series. If you've made it this far, you are unlikely to be disappointed by the 26th offering. The good news for you is that nothing about the conclusion indicates to me that Emma's story is coming to an end so look for Ms. Daheim to devise some way to continue offering her fans periodic glimpses into the goings-on in the village of Alpine. CONTENT ADVISORY: Considerable vulgar language; expected amount of violence in a book dealing with murder.
    • 4/5
      The Alpine Zen by Mary Daheim is a 2015 Ballantine publication. I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher as a part of the LibraryThing early review program. It's hard to believe we have gone from A-Z in the Emma Lord Mystery Series. While it seems to be a forgone conclusion that this book is the wrap up of the series, I hope that isn't the case. However, the story does seem to lean on the nostalgic side just a little and takes us down memory lane on a few occasions. The mystery was even kind of poignant. A women calling herself “Ren” arrives in town claiming her mother, a one time Alpine resident, was murdered. Then a dead body is discovered in the dump, and while it may be a hippie, like it's suspected Ren's mother was, this is the body of a man. In the meantime, Ren has a breakdown of sorts and ends up in the hospital. Emma's nose for news can't resist a good mystery, so she and Milo team up once again in their cute way to solve a mystery. But, if that weren't enough to keep them busy, it's seems Vida has finally cracked up and is in one long running foul mood from sun up to sun down, seven days a week... and the unseasonably hot weather is only making matters worse for all of them.The mystery, while certainly puzzling, is not really the main focus in what could to be the last book in the series. However, some really shocking secrets are revealed involving some long time residents of Alpine. Having settled into married life, Emma and Milo have perhaps moved out of the honeymoon phase a little bit, but their banter was as sharp as ever. It was wonderful to know that Emma is finally going to have some peace of mind in regards to a situation that has been the only stumbling block to her complete happiness and contentment. The author reminds us in small ways of all Emma has gone through in the course of this series and it is so nice to see her finally settling into a stable relationship with most of the I's dotted and T's crossed. She is content and at peace I think, and although she and Milo often have conflicting agendas due to their perspective careers, they make a great detective team. So, even though we have worked through the alphabet- maybe the next title will have a number in it and those could go on for a finite amount of time- which would be fine by me.
    • 3/5
      The town of Alpine (Washington) is in the midst of a heat wave—80 degrees –and everyone is on edge. A young woman visits town to learn to more about her mother, whom she has connected with Alpine. The prosecuting attorney meets a man she doesn’t immediately cross off her “eligible” list, but he could be trouble. Emma Lord, owner/editor of the Alpine Advocate, and her ace reporter/snoop extraordinaire Vida are barely speaking. Sheriff Milo Dodge (Emma’s new husband) has a body, not of recent vintage, to investigate. The Alpine Zen is standard fare in this long-lived series. The author has worked her way through the alphabet – and it doesn’t appear likely to end with “Z.” My usual complaint still stands: too many freaking characters. The only reason I continue reading this series is my wanting to keep up with Emma and Milo’s relationship. Getting married hasn’t stopped the constant sniping at each other, but thank goodness, there’s no rancor in it and they usually wind up laughing at their own silliness.I shouldn’t be too negative, though, as I don’t want to discourage readers. Those who like to read through an entire series start to finish have their work cut out for them.
    • 3/5
      THE ALPINE ZEN by Mary DaheimThis is Daheim’s 27th outing in the Emma Lord series and perhaps her last. Emma, publisher and editor of the Alpine newspaper, and her Sheriff husband, Milo Dodge, are the hero and heroine of this romp in murder and mayhem. All of the usual characters are present which will please followers of the series, but may confuse new readers. There is so much going on in small town Alpine -- murder, wife beating, missing persons, confused identities, etc., etc. -- that even long time readers will find this outing a bit confusing and disjointed. It appears that Daheim had several “good ideas” still in her Emma Lord file and tried to use them all. If you can keep all the name changes straight the plot thickens and the resolution makes sense. A good mystery for mystery buffs who love convoluted plotting and well developed characters. You won’t find gore or gratuitous violence, but if you are offended by smoking (often), drinking (before every meal) and sexual innuendo (mostly within marriage), skip this one and find another mystery. 3 of 5 stars