A Fall in Denver: An Em Hansen Mystery [Hardcover]

Sarah Andrews (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1995

The heroine of Tensleep, geologist-turned-sleuth Em Hansen trades her usual dungarees for tweeds as she investigates a case of murder and ecological mayhem at the corporate headquarters of Denver's Blackfeet Oil Company.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

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.

From Library Journal

Emily "Em" Hansen, Tensleep's (LJ 5/1/94) Wyoming oil-rig "mudlogger," goes to work in the main office of Blackfeet Oil in Denver. Strange things begin to happen immediately: at least two men leap to "suicidal" deaths from her high-rise office building; most of Em's co-workers ignore her; and a particularly successful oil field is shrouded in mystery. Em gathers information, falls for a hunky but secretive senior geologist, and yearns for the tomboy life of Wyoming. Andrews has honed her narrative skills to concoct a nicely complicated plot with an appealing heroine. Recommended.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 286 pages
• Publisher: Scribner (December 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684815230
• ISBN-13: 978-0684815237
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,458,120 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Girl Geologist turns Detective, July 31, 2000

By 

Julia Dewees (San Clemente, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Fall in Denver: An Em Hansen Mystery (Paperback)

Em Hansen, the protagonist of A Fall in Denver, is a likeable, real person. She has given up life as a field geologist in Wyoming to take on an office job in Denver. On her first day, a body falls past her window to its death. With no real work to do for the company, she undertakes solving the crime. Em is a believable character with anxieties about her prep school friends and cold coworkers, attractions to a suave colleague, inspite of longing feelings for the man she left behind, and hostility to her Boston pureblood grandmother. The mystery thickens when another body falls from the same window. The conclusion is satisfying, leaving me interested in reading more Em Hansen mysteries..

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Geologist exposes oil conspiracy, February 3, 2004

By 

Lynn Harnett (Marathon, FL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Fall in Denver: An Em Hansen Mystery (Hardcover)

Andrews' second Em Hansen novel involves her geologist heroine in an oil industry plot fueled by a series of apparent suicides.

Hansen has exchanged her wide Wyoming skies for the grit of Denver and higher pay. But her first geologist's job doesn't seem to involve much work and her colleagues are decidedly hostile. Except for one - very sexy but somewhat married.

With little else to do, Hansen finds herself investigating suicide and all but stumbling into a minefield of oil intrigue and greed. Hansen is a likable, if somewhat too self-effacing heroine, and Andrews steeps her plot in plenty of oil lore and corporate machinations.

A well-written and absorbing mystery .

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Review of A Fall in Denver - An Em Hansen Mystery, April 10, 2011

By 

Martha W. Hutson (Salisbury, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Fall in Denver: An Em Hansen Mystery (Paperback)

I ordered this book because someone told me the first line, which was something like this: If I had seen the body falling past the window, I would not have accepted the job. It is the only good line in the book. The author's style is unpolished. One annoying thing which comes to mind is her character from a southern state. There are repeated grammatical errors put in that character's mouth. I read maybe a fourth of the book before I decided I could not endure reading further. The one thing I am glad about is that I bought a second hand copy.