"Emma Lord is back and better than ever! This time around, the amateur detective partners up with a rookie sleuth to investigate a string of murders in her beloved Alpine, Washington"-- Provided by publisher.

For a small town nestled in the Cascade Mountains' foothills, picturesque Alpine provides more than enough headlines to fill the pages of editor and publisher Emma Lord's Alpine Advocate. The Labor Day edition's lead story features controversial timber baron Jack Blackwell's scheme to become Skykomish county manager. But the recent strangling deaths of two young women are all anyone can talk about. When a third body is found, the victim is the sister of a dashing newcomer rumored to be working for Blackwell. To discover if there's any connection between the mogul and the murders, Emma and her receptionist, Alison Lindahl, end up in the line of fire. -- adapted from back cover