3 Stars
I was going to give this book 4 stars then this happened After blundering onto the killer pointing a gun at her Meg still seems to believe that Alicia is the killer. Even though she is supposed to be a journalist who has done extensive research on the race participants and production crew, it's her friend Matt who finds background on Krissy. Linking her to the victim Lenny, her exhusband.
Lastly in just too big a coincidence Lenny the victim was actually formerly married to two people closely associated with the race. The killer Krissy and the red herring Alicia.
I did like Meg, she's a great character and not having much experience out of doors is actually quite smart, as Meg learns so does the reader. The other characters in the series are less formed, although it seems obvious that Matt and Greg are being set up as a love triangle for Meg. I also saw the big reveal about the father, a prominent disgraced journalist, being murdered coming a long way off. I suspected even before Meg found the calendar entry.

On the day he died in tiny letters it said, “1:00 P.D.J. bring MM file.”

But this nicely sets up a series wide mystery, if I'm not mistaken.

Cozies Reading Challenge ( )

Scene of the Climb (Pacific Northwest #1) by Kate E. Dyer-Seeley is a fantastic enjoyable cozy mystery.

Wow what a book. It ranks right up there with Nevada Barr and her National Parks Mysteries.

Meg is a journalist who really needs a job and lands one literally by accident with the Northwest Extreme Magazine when she bumps into Greg who owns the magazine and by fudging and saying she is an experienced outdoor person who can hike the tough trails. When her boss Greg assigns her to cover the Race the States event will he finally find out that she really lied about her experience in hiking? Then Lenny one of the contestants falls to his death right in front of her on the trail and she is sure that the way he flew over he was pushed. Meg starts to investigate all the people involved with the race but someone doesn't want her to. Things get dangerous and Meg finds herself in harms way. Can Meg find the answers to Lenny's death, keep her job and stay alive?

This a cozy mystery that has a klutzy smart character in Meg as well as a quirky Grandmother, good friends Matt and Jill and a good looking mysterious boss . The outdoors theme adds an extra element that really makes this a great mystery. The many possible murderers keeps you guessing with a surprise or two also. Just when you think you have it figured out another twist is inserted. This is a good, fun, exciting mystery with many credible suspects, with twists and turns and surprises.It has an ending that leaves you with questions and wanting more. I look forward to reading the other books in this series.

Here is a link to purchase the book:
https://www.amazon.com/Scene-Climb-Pacific-Northwest-Mystery/dp/0758295316/ref=s...

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/scene-of-the-climb-kate-dyer-seeley/1116781992?e...

If you want to check out the author and her other books here is a link to her website:
http://www.katedyerseeley.com

Until Next Time:

GRAB A CUP OF COFFEE OR TEA, SOME CHOCOLATE, A GOOD BOOK AND KEEP ON READING! ( )

This book’s central character is Meg Reed, a young college graduate who, as the book opens, is living on a friend’s couch and desperately looking for a job. Fortuitously she one day spills a coffee on the editor of an adventure magazine and he offers her a job. Meg can write and she is the daughter of one of the city’s most well-known investigative journalists, her recently deceased father, so she doesn’t bother to mention that any sports, let alone extreme ones, are not really her forté. The product reviews and other minor articles she starts out writing are easy enough but when she is tasked with covering the Portland leg of an extreme sports reality TV show things start to get more complicated.

I have a low threshold for the cutesy titles beloved by cosy mystery series but in the case of SCENE OF THE CLIMB the wordplay is relevant. Set in Oregon in the northwest of the US the book’s central events combine murder with recreational climbing in some beautiful-sounding locations. I will admit to getting sidetracked more than once as I googled Angel’s Rest and other key locations for the story’s set pieces. It’s a part of the US I have not yet visited but the author made Portland, with its relatively low population and eco-friendly ways, and the surrounding areas very inviting. Even with the odd murder.

The story here is a good one, with a decent amount of plausible suspects for the crimes that pile up. Meg’s magazine is sponsoring the local leg of the reality TV show so there is a lot of access to the contestants and crew. Plus a couple of locals, including Meg’s new boss, also come under suspicion. The disparate threads and red herrings are all woven together well so the reader is easily swayed from one suspect to another before the final resolution. As with most cosy mysteries Meg has a circle of friends and family that are enjoyable to get to know. Her beloved grandmother is an entertaining mix of pragmatist and psychic and I can see her being a popular drawcard for future instalments of the series.

The cosy end of the crime fiction market is crowded and one I generally avoid these days due to the preponderance of gimmicks over the basics of story and character development. But SCENE OF THE CLIMB keeps the gimmicks and quirkiness to an acceptable level and it tells a suspenseful story that does not rely too heavily on unrealistic coincidences and the superhuman behaviour of its amateur sleuth. Although the main plot is well-wrapped up there’s a teaser relating to future possibilities for a minor thread that did make me add this book’s sequel to my wishlist for the next time I fancy a visit to the mountains. My only real gripe with the book is that its Australian character (one of the reality TV show’s crew) is not very authentic (for example the word ocker is not Australian for womaniser). I know it’s a small thing but unnecessary errors like this annoy me.

Meg is afraid of heights and many outdoorsy things, but she is like a dog with a bone and sifts through the list of suspects that kept me guessing and kept the mystery alive in this fun cozy. ( )

When I started reading Scene of the Climb, I will admit to wondering what I had gotten myself into. Climbing? On mountains, over rocks, defying death? Won’t happen for this gal under any circumstances. But by the time I figured out that although I got dizzy just thinking about some of the messes Meg gets herself into, it was too late to back out. Kate Dyer-Seeley has a winner on her hands. Meg is a young gal who is pretty much clueless, but will go to great lengths to deny it. Yes, there’s a lot of physical exertion in the story, but the back to back murders are just too connected to be coincidence. Then there’s Gam, the saucy grandmother who is part psychic, part sorceress, and exudes a whole lot of compassion and understanding. Everyone needs a Gam. The way Dyer-Seeley ends this book is astonishing, although somewhat disconcerting. I want to know what happened to her father, but it looks like I will have to wait for the second book in her Pacific Northwest Mystery series to find out. Don’t plan on going to sleep quickly when you put this one down, you’ll find your mind racing with questions about what happens next. Great read! ( )