Editor/publisher Emma Lord is in Alpine, Wash., revisiting an old crime to solve some new ones, including maple tree poaching and the shooting of an old friend, eccentric and reclusive artist Craig Laurentis.

Sassy, intelligent, single mother Emma Lord has always wanted to own a newspaper. And when she inherits half a million dollars from an ex-boyfriend, she is able to do just that. She buys The Alpine Advocate, local paper of the sleepy town of Alpine, Washington. Unfortunately, there's not much to write about in a small town. But then the murders start, and Emma finds that not only does she have front-page stories to write, she also has killers to uncover!...

A bum hip has bed-and-breakfast hostess Judith McMonigle Flynn limping off to Good Cheer Hospital--a questionable "Haven of healing" where two recent patients didn't make the cut after routine surgery. She is sharing a room with her cousin. They both make through surgery, but the ex-pro quarterback is sacked forever. Can the cousins find the killer?