Mountain Lodge #3
For those looking for a snow mountain getaway, but the weather isn’t quite cooperating or it might just be out of budget, look no further than Snow Place for Murder by Diane Kelly. This is the third in her Mountain Lodge series. Misty Murphy is our amateur sleuth, but she prefers her role as owner and caretaker of North Carolina’s Mountain Top Lodge. Misty is making a promising life for herself, forging her place in the community, and making connections. As the holiday season approaches, her two sons are coming to help out at the Lodge and take advantage of the ideal snowboarding conditions. Everything seems to be going well. Misty has a full booking at the Lodge, a blossoming relationship with her boyfriend Rocky, a loving family around her, friends a plenty, and of course her beloved cat Yeti. However, when a group that booked the whole Lodge arrives, things don’t go quite as planned.
The group is brought in at the expense of international resort developer Nigel Goodwin. The purpose of this all-expense paid ski-trip is to woo investors to invest in building a fancy exclusive resort in town, which does not exactly mesh with the locals. The idea spells disaster for the rustic atmosphere and the local wildlife that the town is known for. Such projects tend to invite protestors, and angry individuals gravitate to the Mountaintop Lodge to have their grievances heard. As if the chilly social atmosphere isn’t enough, the weather decides to pile on a blizzard on top of everything else. Despite the cold, no one chills out and tempers flare to the point that Misty has to get the local police involved. After that, she is content to keep her nose out of things and just focus on making her guests’ stay a success. W
For those looking for a snow mountain getaway, but the weather isn’t quite cooperating or it might just be out of budget, look no further than Snow Place for Murder by Diane Kelly. This is the third in her Mountain Lodge mystery series. Misty Murphy is our amateur sleuth, but she prefers her role as owner and caretaker of North Carolina’s Mountain Top Lodge. Misty is making a promising life for herself, forging her place in the community, and making connections. As the holiday season approaches, her two sons are coming to help out at the Lodge and take advantage of the ideal snowboarding conditions. Everything seems to be going well. Misty has a full booking at the Lodge, a blossoming relationship with her boyfriend Rocky, a loving family around her, friends a plenty, and of course her beloved cat Yeti. However, when a group that booked the whole Lodge arrives, things don’t go quite as planned.
The group is brought at the expense of international resort developer Nigel Goodwin. The purpose of this all-expense paid ski-trip is to woo investors to invest in building a fancy exclusive resort in town. Which does not exactly mesh with the locals, and spells disaster for the rustic atmosphere and the local wildlife that the town is known for. As such projects tend to invite, protestors and angry individuals gravitate to the Mountaintop Lodge to have their grievances heard. As if the chilly social atmosphere isn’t enough, the weather decides to pile on a blizzard on top of everything. But despite the cold, no one chills out and tempers flare to the point that Misty has to get the local police involved. After that, she is content to keep her nose out of things and just focus on making her guests stay a success – while also counting down the days until they leave.
However, she has no such luck when her kids present her with a very compelling reason to get involved in the chaos surrounding Mr. Goodwin: an actual nose. A frozen nose to be exact, mistaken as a rock. Misty handles this with the grace and poise anyone might be expected to show when presented with a piece of someone from their children – no matter how old they are, no one wants their kids exposed to that. Given her history, the fact that she lives in and owns the Lodge, and that the suspect might be staying there, the local police ask Misty to actually poke her own nose into the investigation. Misty is more than ready to jump on the case, but does so in a smart and stealthy fashion so her and her family are put at minimum risk.
I enjoyed reading of Snow Place for Murder and found myself longing for snow covered trees and howling mountain winds. Diane Kelly does an excellent job of submerging readers in the environment. I could practically hear the sound of skis on fresh snow, the crunch of it underfoot, and the whistle of a blizzard amongst the trees. It was a nice escape from the warmer temperatures of the south, that’s for sure. Reading the previous books is not necessary for enjoying Snow Place for Murder, but after finishing it, it’ll be hard to resist the urge to read the others to see how Misty got this far. There are plenty of suspects for readers to choose from, and more than a few delightful puns and cat antics to lighten the atmosphere. So if you need a quick snowcapped escape as we move to fall, Snow Place for Murder is exactly what you should be looking for. — Carla Schantz