Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Alpine Advocate | 1992 | Emma Lord (Series) | Buy |
| 2 | The Alpine Betrayal | 1993 | Emma Lord (Series) | Buy |
| 3 | The Alpine Christmas | 1993 | Emma Lord (Series) | Buy |
| 4 | The Alpine Decoy | 1994 | Emma Lord (Series) | Buy |
| 5 | The Alpine Escape | 1995 | Emma Lord (Series) | Buy |
| 6 | The Alpine Fury | 1995 | Emma Lord (Series) | Buy |
| 7 | The Alpine Gamble | 1996 | Emma Lord (Series) | Buy |
| 8 | The Alpine Hero | 1996 | Emma Lord (Series) | Buy |
| 9 | The Alpine Icon | 1997 | Emma Lord (Series) | Buy |
| 10 | The Alpine Journey | 1998 | Emma Lord (Series) | Buy |
| 11 | The Alpine Kindred | 1998 | Emma Lord (Series) | Buy |
| 12 | The Alpine Legacy | 1999 | Emma Lord (Series) | Buy |
| 13 | The Alpine Menace | 2000 | Emma Lord (Series) | Buy |
| 14 | The Alpine Nemesis | 2001 | Emma Lord (Series) | Buy |
| 15 | The Alpine Obituary | 2002 | Emma Lord (Series) | Buy |
| 16 | The Alpine Pursuit | 2004 | Emma Lord (Series) | Buy |
| 17 | The Alpine Quilt | 2005 | Emma Lord (Series) | Buy |
| 18 | The Alpine Recluse | 2006 | Emma Lord (Series) | Buy |
| 19 | The Alpine Scandal | 2007 | Emma Lord (Series) | Buy |
| 20 | The Alpine Traitor | 2008 | Emma Lord (Series) | Buy |
| 21 | The Alpine Uproar | 2009 | Emma Lord (Series) | Buy |
| 22 | The Alpine Vengeance | 2010 | Emma Lord (Series) | Buy |
| 23 | The Alpine Winter | 2011 | Emma Lord (Series) | Buy |
| 24 | The Alpine Xanadu | 2013 | Emma Lord (Series) | Buy |
| 25 | The Alpine Yeoman | 2014 | Emma Lord (Series) | Buy |
| 26 | The Alpine Zen | 2015 | Emma Lord (Series) | Buy |
| 27 | Alpha Alpine | 2017 | Emma Lord (Series) | Buy |
| 28 | Bitter Alpine | 2020 | Emma Lord (Series) | Buy |
The Emma Lord series by Mary Daheim is a long-running cozy mystery franchise set in the fictional town of Alpine, Washington, nestled in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. Emma Lord, the protagonist, is the owner and editor of The Alpine Advocate, the local weekly newspaper. She moved to Alpine from Portland looking for a quieter life, but the town has a habit of producing murders and scandals that keep her busy both as a journalist and as an amateur detective.
The series ran from 1992 to 2020, with each book title following an alphabetical pattern using the word “Alpine” (The Alpine Advocate, The Alpine Betrayal, The Alpine Christmas, and so on through the alphabet). Daheim drew on her own Pacific Northwest roots and journalism background to create a cast of recurring townspeople who anchor the stories. The real Alpine was a logging town that existed from 1910 to 1929 before being abandoned, and Daheim, a descendant of former residents, brought it back to life through fiction. Fans of authors like Diane Mott Davidson and Joanne Fluke will find a similar blend of mystery, humor, and community in these pages.