"terrific look at Upstate New York in the late nineteenth century"

In 1888, there are many newspapers competing for the large New York City market, but few "girl" reporters work as journalists. Widow Diane Spaulding is one of the few as she has worked for the Independent Intelligence newspaper.

She and her fiancé Dr. Ben Northcote take the train to rural Liberty, New York before finishing her journey in even more rustic Lenape Falls where they will stay for a few days before continuing to his family in Maine to marry. In Sullivan County, New York, Diana meets relatives that she never knew existed until recently when her cold Denver based mother for the firs time mentioned aunts and uncles. However, as she becomes involved in the lives of the Grants and Torrances, she worries that a con artist is setting up her relatives in a scam to make their family owned hotel into a Saratoga Springs-like resort. That pales as Diane uses her snooping skills to prove her Uncle Howd the artist is not a killer but the sheriff thinks he murdered the victim, whose bones were just found ten years after the homicide occurred.

The terrific look at Upstate New York in the late nineteenth century makes NO MORTAL REASON feel more like a historical novel especially through much of the first part of the novel; the whodunit subplot enhancing the period piece. The cast is as strong as Diana's relatives, other townsfolk, a seemingly shyster hotelier, a nasty goat and the corpse make for quite a family reunion for the heroine and her beau. Once Diana begins the investigation, the story line switches gear from a historical family drama into a cold case murder mystery. Fans will have NO MORTAL REASON not to enjoy this Kathy Lynn Emerson's fine tale of a woman who holds her face up with pride.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted May 27, 2007

Read an Excerpt

Summary

On their way home to Maine to be married, Diana Spaulding, intrepid crime reporter, and her fiance, physician Ben Northcote, stop in rural Lenape Springs, New York to meet Diana's hitherto unknown relatives. Once they arrive, putting an end to the family feud between Diana's mother and her uncles is the least of her problems. Confidence games, schemes to attract tourists to the area, and murder all conspire to complicate Diana's life in May of 1888.