Christmas is anything but quiet in Alpine, Washington, after a body turns up in a cave and Emma Lord and her beau, Milo, are stalked by a killer.

Forced to shelve a story about a murder victim whose information cannot be confirmed, "Alpine Advocate" editor Emma Lord investigates a series of local runaways at the same time Deputy Sam Heppner takes a leave of absence for secret reasons.

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...