Adventures of the First Woman Mountie III. The Third Omnibus

RCMP Corporal Alexandra Houston and her friend and partner, police service dog Silver, continue their adventures in a series of cases that take them across Canada, from east to west, and then back again. This third omnibus edition contains novels nine through twelve in the "Adventures of the First Woman Mountie" series. It is 1979. No sooner does Alex get engaged than she and her fiancé are invited to a family funeral and reunion at a lodge on Cape Breton Island, where she learns about an ancient family curse and some suspicious events. When one of the lodge staff is found murdered, she has to move quickly if she is to figure out what's been going on and identify the killer before another murder takes place (Book 9, "An Intimate Mountie"). Later, when a young American woman visiting Ottawa experiences two attempted kidnappings, Alex and Silver are assigned to protect her from some surprisingly persistent and well-informed pursuers while the woman's father concludes secret international negotiations. To buy time, they hide out in a secret, underground military installation, but their location is soon discovered and they find themselves under siege. With stealth and secrecy gone Alex realizes that, this time, she may have to shoot her way out of trouble (Book 10, "An Ineradicable Mountie"). Later that same year, Alex, her fiancé Don, and Silver make a late-fall visit to a brand-new ski lodge high up in the Canadian Rockies. After only a short period of hiking and mountaineering in this idyllic setting, their vacation is threatened by a snow-storm that cuts off both power and access to the lodge. While they and a group of university students wait out the storm, a suspicious death puts Alex on the trail of a murderer (Book 11. "An Incommunicado Mountie"). Finally, when Alex and Silver are called to the scene of a train derailment in Central Canada, the horror of the devastation is magnified by their discovery that it was intentionally caused; and by a bomb. The bombing turns out to be the first of many, leading Alex and Silver across Western Canada as they try to figure out where the next strikes will occur - and how to stop them (Book 12. "An Instructive Mountie").