The Alpine Fury (Emma Lord Mystery) [Mass Market Paperback]

The Bank Of Alpine, a small town family owned bank seems to be having some problem. Marv Peteren, bank president seems distracted and some of their customers aren't getting the proper service they're used to receiving.

CD's are missing when a customer attempts to cash theirs in, and checks aren't being mailed out for the customers who are using the bill paying services at the bank.

And things aren't helped when on an outing with her grandson, Vida Runkel, The Advocates, House and Home editor, stumbles across the body of Marv's daughter, Linda Lindhal, the bank bookkeeper, hidden in a hollow log in the forest.

Vida is more upset that finding the body may have done great harm to her sensitve "nightmare brat" of a grandson, and is determined to help Emma find the killer.

Local sheriff, Milo Dodge seems to think that's his job and try as he might, he can't get Emma to stop investigating, which leads her to almost being killed when she comes face to face with the murderer.

Highlights:

Emma's phone conversations with her Catholic Priest brother, Ben and her college son, Adam. Adam's currently in Arizona, going to school, having already been to Universities in Hawaii and Alaska. I think he's working his way backwards through the states, from the 50th, 49th & now in the 48th. Ben is very funny and reminds me of a priest I used to know.

Emma's employee's are becoming more and more involved in the storylines and they're all a hoot. Vida is involved, the most, but now office manager, Ginny Burmeister and Carla Steinmetz, who has a journalistic degree, but can't seem to spell anything correctly. Darla Pluckett is probably still upset over the misspelling of her name. (Read Alpine Escape).

Both ladies are upset as Ginny's boyfriend Rick is stepping out with the Marv Petersen's granddaughter. Rick works at the bank and Ginny thinks he's looking to advance his career by going out with his boss's granddaughter. Carla keeps coming up with the stupidest idea's as to how she should kill herself after the tragic breakup with Dr. Flake, (His name fits him perfectly).

Emma's former ad manager, Ed Bronsky, who was left millions from an aunt who considered him to be the happiest and sunniest person in her family. Obviously this woman was crazy. Ed, who tried to talk everyone out of taking an ad in the paper is now on the town commission and is coming up with idea's as to how to make money and bring in more jobs. One of his brilliant idea's is to have a contest to see who can solve the murder of Linda Lindhal first. Which is even worse than his idea to force all the town's merchants to put up Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving, maybe around Halloween.

There is a new ad manager, Leo Fulton Walsh, who Emma met previously (See Alpine Escape). He's recommended for the job by Tom Cavanaugh. He's a drunk, and if he was in a real office, would come close to sexual harrassment. Despite that, he's a likeable character.

That brings us to the lowlights. And this is the last time I'm going to mention Tom Cavanaugh in my review unless something drastic happens.

Tom Cavanaugh is the father of Emma's twenty-two year old son, Adam. He married his wife Sandra for her money, which he used to create a publishing empire. He has an affair with Emma, who worked for him and declares his undying love, however she gets pregnant at the same time as his wife. (Not only is he cheating on his wife with Emma, but he's cheating on Emma by sleeping with his wife).

Tom stays with Sandra, even though she's nuts. Emma tells him she will raise the baby by herself without any help. So instead of going to court and establishing his paternity and helping to support and raise his son, he just says "OK".

Now, twenty years later, Tom and his wife had a second child and she's crazier and both kids are messed up, he now wants to establish contact and become Adams' father.

I think what irritates me most about this situation is not that Tom is a creep and a jerk, but that Emma, Ben and Vida all think he's wonderful. A caring guy, who has had a horrible lot in life.

I can't decide if the author really believes she's writing a good character or if she just wants us to see Emma with a weakness, but every time Tom's name comes up, I just cringe. And a storyline that started at the end of Alpine Decoy and continues through this book really makes me angry. (I can't say what it is, but if you've read the earlier books, you will probably know.)

Emma needs to get the blinders off her eyes, stop living in the past and look around a little. Milo Dodge is the perfect guy for her.

Despite this one glitch in her storyline, I love this series. Not as good as the bed and breakfast series with Joe & Judith Flynn, but so much better than many other series.