Scene of the Climb by Kate Dyer-Seeley

This is a mystery set in the Pacific Northwest.  I grew up there and visited the sites described in this book, plus it was a mystery.  I had to read it!

Kensington Books sent me an ARC to read for review (thank you).  It will be published this month, so look for a copy at your local bookstore now.

Meg's goal in life is to be a journalist, just like her dad.  He had a bicycle accident and died, but he's still her hero.  She's trying to get her shattered life back together and move on, but newspaper offices are all shutting down and the opportunities just aren't there.  Right now she's hanging out with her girlfriend and sleeping on her couch.  She needs to find a job soon.

When she stumbles into an opportunity, she's quick to take advantage of it.  She's going to work for Northwest Extreme magazine.  She bluffs that she's an outdoorsy type and can handle things like hiking and climbing.  She thought she would have a bit of time to work her into it.  Unfortunately her first job is follow a reality TV series about extreme hikers and climbers.  They are all in shape and leave her in the dust.  She creates excuses about why she's so slow, etc.  One thing about it, you can learn all about what not to do by reading about Meg.  She wears a brand new pair of hiking boots out on the trail thinking it won't hurt much.  Ha!  What's even worse, while she's faking a fall so no one will know how inexperienced she is, she sees another climber fall off the mountain trail.  He ends up dead.  No one believes her when she says she thinks he was pushed.

As Meg and her friends begin to dig through the evidence available, they find that the show's director is funding this show with his money and is deep in debt.  Lenny had money, but he couldn't fund the show dead.  Another climber, who is the strangest of them all, has an inheritance, and Dave has been working with him for funds.

It takes a bit to get to the core of the problem and when Meg figures it out, it's almost too late.  There's hate, jealousy, a mountain lion and love all mixed into this plot.  It kept me going and the description of the area is accurate.  Meg discovers a friend is in love with her and that her father's death was not an accident.  I'm ready for the next book in this series.