Summit Murder Mystery Series

MURDER ON ELBRUS PROLOGUE I was in the Ice Flow again. Diana Maurasi, anchor of the Sodoc News Service evening news, was with me along with Peer Borgen, renowned European Alpine climber and guide. “Scott,” Diana said. “I have to stop.”  We were descending from near the summit of Everest where we’d been caught in a terrible storm. She looked exhausted, as exhausted as I felt. “Not here,” Peer cautioned. “The ice is soft. We must keep going.” The Ice Flow is a great ocean of white that slowly crept down the mountain from just above Base Camp. Passing through its treacherous corridors was the most dangerous part of the climb and descent. Over the decades it claimed more lives than any other cause.  We followed the pathway that had been carefully carved from the ice and snow but now in the afternoon sun, our way had turned glassy on the ice and the snow gave beneath our feet like fluffy cotton. All about us the walls of blue ice leaned towards us precariously and everywhe...

I thought I would share the prologue of Murder On Everest with those of you that haven't read the book.  Take a look!  I bet you can't stop there!     The wind whipped my face. I wiped my goggles with my gloves and stared directly into the blizzard, searching for shadows or any sign of life. We’d left Camp Five at midnight—more than seventeen hours earlier—and I was beyond exhaustion. My lungs were raw. Every breath I drew burned like cold fire. I fought a nagging cough that threatened to consume me. For two hours, I’d not climbed and my body temperature had fallen precipitously. Little feeling remained in my feet and hands and I was in danger of frostbite. I could sense my internal organs starting to shut down and a deadly lethargy engulfed me. I didn’t have long. The snow was so thick that I could scarcely see more than two feet before me. The wind howled with a ferocity I’d never experienced. To stand erect, I had to lean into the gale. If the wind sudd...