A Fall in Denver: An Em Hansen Mystery - Hardcover

Geologist/amateur detective Em Hansen, a lowly mudlogger in Tensleep, is struggling up the professional ladder in her second appearance. On her first day at Denver's Blackfeet Oil, where she's just been hired as a geologist, a body falls past the 12th-floor office window of CEO Josiah Carberry Menken?who's only momentarily distracted from the saccharine welcome spiel he's flinging at Em. For Em, who's more comfortable on a horse than at a desk, this is a fitting introduction to corporate culture, which continues to baffle her. She wonders why she's been assigned to evaluate the pros and cons of drilling a particular field when colleague Pete Tutaraitis is clearly more qualified; and she wonders what drove Gerald Luftweiller to throw himself through some very thick glass on the 16th floor. Then, after awkwardly trying to alert Em to some danger, a co-worker hurtles to his death from the same building. The author's scientific explanations make geology come to life; Em's first-person narrative gives the prose added punch. With this cliche-free plot and memorable supporting players?notably foul-tongued colleague Maddy McNutt; gnomic detective Ortega; and the wily Mencken?Andrews solidly establishes her series.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Em Hansen, former oil-field roustabout, has a new job as a geologist for the prestigious Denver firm of Blackfeet Oil. Scarcely able to believe her good fortune in securing a well-paying job where her talents and education will be put to good use, Em quickly finds things turning sour when she's given nothing to do, the rest of the staff treats her coldly, and in her first week on the job, two men leap to their death from the sixteenth floor of the Blackfeet Oil building. The only bright spot in Em's unsettling life is Pete Tutaraitis, one of the higher-ups at Blackfeet, who seems to be reciprocating Em's strong attraction to him. Unfortunately, Pete is married--and his wife is an old school friend of Em's. When Em finds a connection between the two "suicides," some missing oil-field maps, and Pete Tutaraitis, she decides to investigate. Andrews has written a gripping, original mystery, and Em Hansen is an intelligent, appealing heroine. A fine choice for all collections. Emily Melton