Emma Lord (Series) Books In Order

Publication Order of Emma Lord Books

Emma Lord is a mystery series written by Mary Daheim, and it tells us the story of a small-town newspaper owner and editor in Alpine, Washington. The first book in this series is called “The Alpine Advocate”, and the setting of the story is one year after Emma has been a publisher-editor of the Alpine Advocate, which is the name of her publication. At this juncture she is looking for a major story to spice up the newspaper, and we all know the saying; be careful what you wish for because you just might get it.

When Mark Douglas, the grandson of a rich man called Neeny Doukas is killed, Emma finds herself in the midst of a murder mystery. She soon finds out that attempting to get honest answers from Mr. Doukas and his son is just like poking around a hornet’s nest. What initially begun as an innocent tale about the man who was just murdered, ends up being a very interesting, and most likely the last interview that Emma might conduct, because she’s staring down the barrel of a gun. Things also get a bit complicated when further down the line, another murder is discovered, and word of a scandal soon starts spreading.

Apart from running a newspaper, Emma has a life outside of work, and she is currently seeing Sheriff Milo Dodge. Their relationship seems a little bit too casual and even Emma isn’t sure where the relationship is heading. In addition, her son Adam has not returned from visiting his uncle. She is also worried that Adam’s father, Ed Bronsky, might try to take her son away from her. Despite betraying Emma, Ed also has some schemes up his sleeve, which continue to irritate her and make her life complicated.

To compound her stressful situation, things are going haywire at St. Mildred’s Catholic Church, which also runs a school. The Parish Council is at loggerheads with the school board, and traditional members have raised some concerns, fearing that the non-catholic members have schemed to make the school private. Father Kelly is having a difficult time settling the differences between the warring factions. Being the first church that he is overseeing, the members don’t think too highly of him, and they are even thinking of having him removed if he doesn’t toe the line. When the decision is made to expand the council membership, the church decides to hold elections.

Ursula O’Toole Randall has just retuned to Alpine with Warren Wells, her fiancé. Even though she is not wealthy, she runs for council, and in the process, manages to piss off other members because of the superiority complex. So when her lifeless body is found drowned in a river, there’s no shortage of suspects. Warren’s ex-wife, Francine Wells is one of the suspects because she’s still bitter from her divorce and loathes Ursula. Jake and Buzzy, Ursula’s brothers are also suspects, and we also have a ski shop owner who might have been trying to eliminate the competition. If you want to find out who was the real killer, you had better grab yourself a copy of The Alpine Advocate, and get up to speed with the Emma Lord murder mysteries.

The second book in the series is called “The Alpine Betrayal” and in this story, Emma soon finds out that running a small-town newspaper is worse than nutty-it’s downright dangerous. A local girl called Dani Marsh has just returned to Alpine as a star, and she is here to film a Hollywood movie. The tension is so thick that you could cut it with a knife, and things take a turn for the worse when the former husband of Dani goes berserk while wielding an axe before later being found dead. He had previously wished to see Dani dead only for him to end up dead.

As Emma starts covering the mystery, she and the sheriff start to suspect that there’s more to the story than what they’re being told. For starters, people who used to know Dani are exhibiting very strong emotions. On top of that, no one is feeling any sympathy for the person who has just been found dead. There seems to be an impenetrable mystery surrounding the small town like a thick fog, and Emma once again finds herself involved with another murder mystery.

It’s the season for the annual Loggerama Festival in Alpine, and everyone running a contest, selling stuff or having a special event is looking to advertise in Emma’s newspaper, the Alpine Advocate. To make things a little more interesting, her son first abandons college in order to work and now would like to change colleges. Things get thick when we learn that Dani is running away from a horrible situation with the death of her baby, and a divorce from her husband Cody Graf. When Emma gets wind of the story, her curiosity is piqued when she learns that no one likes Dani.

When Cody Graf is found dead, no one believes that it’s a case of murder. His brother Curtis, Dani and her mother all believe that Cody overdosed. Emma and Sheriff Milo Dodge have other ideas, and they believe that he was murdered, and that it is related to the death of Dani’s baby five years back, which was followed by a young deputy’s death while investigating the death of the baby. Even though the ruling was that this was a suicide, Milo didn’t believe that. Now it’s up to Emma to unravel the mystery before the murderer can strike again.

What is likeable about the second book in the Emma Lord mystery series is the fact that the author has improved the characters and given them more depth. The author also keeps the reader in suspense and it is very hard to guess who the real killer is until the very end. In addition, these books are fast paced and once you start reading, it’s very hard to put down. There is humor throughout the books, and if you’re looking forward to exploring this murder mystery series, there are other books from the same author. If you’re looking for cozy mystery that is not too gritty, then the Alpine series is highly recommended.