I love love loved this new series by Ellie Alexander. After gorging myself on her previous set of books. I was so pleased to see a new series with a new main character but nervous it wouldn’t be as good, well it is! Meg is starting out as a journalist and carrying the baggage of her deceased father everywhere she goes. He died after being discredited running a drugs story in a local paper. This storyline runs in the background of Meg getting her first job and then seeing her first murder. The characters are well rounded and fun, from the mystic grandma to the sexy boss and mean coworker. A very fun read.

Meg Reed graduated with a degree in journalism only to have two major blows: the paper she intended to work for laid off 40 reporters and her father died in a bike accident. In the year since, she has been sleeping on her friend Jill's couch and (barely) supporting herself freelancing. When a chance encounter at a coffee shop (it is Seattle!) brings her to the notice of Greg Dixon, editor of Northwest Extreme, she jumps at the chance to write for a real publication. Who cares that she REALLY doesn't like to hike and is afraid of heights?!! An accident to the featured writer covering Race the States gives Meg the assignment. She is terrified of being in the field and of not being equal to writing the major story. She doesn't like any of the contestants and is put off by the film crew. Things go REALLY downhill (seriously, a pun!) when one of the contestants is pushed off the mountain.
With the help of her family and friends Jill and Matt (who would like to be more than friends) she figures out the complicated relationships of the victim and discovers who is the killer, but it might be too late.
This is the first book of this new series and a great introduction to the characters and setting. I enjoyed getting to know the sometimes quirky characters and seeing Meg grapple with her inexperience and fears to finally win out. Can't wait to find out more about Gram and her mother and get more of the backstory on Pops.
Highly recommend!

Many thanks to Netgalley for this book. I received this book in exchange for my honest review.

In this book we meet Meg Reed whose father died recently and she’s still grieving and decides to become a journalist at an adventure magazine. Meg isn’t an adventurer and ends up with blisters from her hiking boots and ends up falling and seeing Lenny fall to his death after being pushed. At first nobody believes her until they start going down and realize that Lenny did fall and Meg decides to look into things, even her boss seems to agree that there is something fishy with the adventure show. Meg is able to figure things out using her journalism skills and things she learned from her dad and her grandmother’s advice. I think this is such a cute cozy and I think it’s a great first series.

The book was formerly published with the title Scene of the climb. A murder on the mountain is the first book in Ellie Alexander’s Meg Reed investigates series. I enjoyed the authors secret bookcase mystery series but this book didn’t live up to the expectation I had. The main character fumbles around looking for clues with no regard for the danger she’s putting herself in while investigating the murder of a reality star, she comes face to face with the killer pointing a gun at her and still believes her theory of the murder is correct. I found there to be too much left up to coincidence and a lack in character development to rate this book as high as I would have liked to. I stuck with it to the end only out of curiosity to see if I had correctly guessed the killer then out of any concern for the fate of the main character

A Murder on the Mountain

Meg Reed Investigates Book 1

By: Ellie Alexander

Publish Date: July 21, 2025

Publisher: Storm

General Fiction (Adult)/Mystery and Thriller

#AMurderontheMountain#NetGalley

200 Book ReviewsProfessional Reader

I would like to thank both Storm Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book. All opinions are my own.

Book Review:

This is a new cozy mystery series that Ellie is writing. It is a little different than what I am use to reading but I still enjoyed it once I got into it. I gave the book 4 stars and can’t wait for the next installment.

This is about Meg who is having a hard time getting over the death of her father. He was a well-known journalist which is why Meg study to be one. She is living with her college friend Jill who is very supportive of her and worries about her also.

Meg gets a job with Northwest Extreme magazine and finds herself hiking to places she has no business doing. She kind of lied on the application and now finds herself hiking up a mountain. Oh, Meg has one major problem, she is deathly afraid of heights. On her first hike things don’t go well and then one of the contestants goes over a cliff. Meg witnesses the whole thing and realizes that he may have been pushed instead of it being an accident.

Her boss tells her to leave things alone and let the police handle it. This wouldn’t be a cozy mystery if the main character does what they are told. She decides to investigate because that is what she studied to be, a journalist.

I really enjoyed the friendship in this book between Meg, Jill and Matt who was also from her college days. Her boss wasn’t bad either. Meg really loves her Gam (Grandma) and has a love hate relationship with her mom.

The book leaves you on a small cliff hanger, so it makes you want to read the next book. Which of course I will.

A Murder on the Mountain has a beautiful cover that immediately caught my eye, and the premise sounded promising, a reluctant adventure reporter witnessing a murder during a mountain race in the scenic Pacific Northwest. I was intrigued by the idea of a cozy mystery set in the world of outdoor sports, and I appreciated the unique setting and the contrast between Meg’s fear of heights and her determination to do her job.
Unfortunately, the story didn’t fully live up to my expectations. The pacing felt a bit slow, and I struggled to stay engaged with the mystery. The characters, including the protagonist Meg, didn’t feel as developed or compelling as I would have liked, which made it harder to connect emotionally with the story. The mystery itself also lacked tension for me and felt somewhat predictable.
That said, readers who enjoy light, low-stakes mysteries with charming locations and a touch of humor may still find something to enjoy here. While it wasn’t quite the right fit for me, I can see its appeal for fans of the cozy mystery genre—especially those looking for a murder case that’s more about setting and character than high suspense.
Thanks to Netgalley and the author for the chance to read this book in advance.

Meg is a budding reporter in a world where journalists are being laid off due to online news.
Determined to find her way after the death of her father she finds herself landing on an extreme sports magazine. It seems she'll need to fudge her experience to keep this job.
Her first job is to cover a race with large prize money, a death on the mountain, blisters on her feet and threatening messages are just the tip of this story. She is determined to get to the bottom on this death, is it murder or a dreadful accident? So many possibilities as we can try and guess the culprit. This was quite a fun read and I look forward to more.

This was a DNF for me. If I had known that spiritism was a large part of the story, I wouldn’t have even started it.

Thrill ride from the get-go! Meg Reed is a baby journalist looking for her first real job post-graduation in A Murder on the Mountain. As the daughter of a recently deceased investigative journalist, Meg was inspired from childhood to dig deep and get the story. Her first real job is as a junior writer for an outdoor adventure magazine. Meg is not a real outdoorsy type and most assuredly not an extreme sports junkie! Her first big assignment involves following the finale of a big cross country race. In her Portland area home, the finalists are set to hike, climb, zip-line across the Columbia River to the finish-line. On Meg's first day on the assignment they are hiking Angel's Rest. Meg lags behind and stumbles under her too heavy backpack, almost falling off the side of a cliff. As she holds on, she sees someone cartwheeling off the side of the mountain. Like any good journalist, she cannot let it go. Come along as Meg fumbles along trying to figure out which of the rest of the finalists, crew and all those involved is responsible. Meet Meg's friends, Jill and Matt, her mother and grandmother (Gam), boss Greg and Sheriff Daniels.
Ellie Alexander has a wonderful gift for painting locations, especially her obviously much loved Pacific Northwest. I could see the areas around Angel's Rest and hear the roaring of the Columbia River as Meg looked down from the bridge. She creates characters I really want to know better and a community where I want to spend some time, so I definitely looking forward to Meg's next adventure!
Thanks to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest review.

To see this first entry in this series has a new publisher. Alexander is extremely talented and I love her work. Hoping that this will kick off a whole bunch of new entries in the series.

This is the first book in the Meg Reed Investigates by Ellie Alexander and it was such a fun, easy book to read. Meg is an interesting main character in the way she lands her first real job, even though she is so unqualified for it. I am so glad that this series is being re-released because I am new to the Meg Reed series and am so happy to have found it.

A chance meeting in a coffee shop with Greg Dixon, editor of Northwest Extreme, and Meg soon finds herself with a job as a junior writer for an extreme sports magazine. The only catch is that she should be able to participate in extreme sports, and she is one of the least qualified people to do this job, especially regarding heights. I love Meg’s determination to do this job despite her fears and how she is going to “fake it until she makes it.” I laughed at many of the descriptions of Meg’s adventures as she works hard to keep her job and become an adventurer.

Meg’s first assignment is to cover Race The States, an adventure race filming in Oregon where Greg is the sponsor of the event. There is tension amongst the three contestants (Lenny, who thinks he is god’s gift to women, Leaf, an environmentalist, and Alicia, the only woman of the group), Dave, the executive producer, Krissy, the production assistant, and Andrew, the camera operator. When Lenny meets with an unfortunate accident on their very first competition, suspicion is cast upon the group. When you read about this group, you know they can all tell that Meg is inexperienced, yet they don’t call her out on it or make trouble for her with her boss. That is surprising, yet nice.

Because Meg is sure it wasn’t an accidental fall, she starts snooping around, even though Greg tells her not to. She soon enlists the aid of her best friends, Matt and Jill, to help her. The story does an excellent job of keeping you guessing on the killer because several of the people seem to have motive and opportunity. The ending exposing the killer is done really well, as well as the ending of the book with a great cliffhanger involving Meg’s father, who recently died in an accident.

I can’t wait to spend more time with Meg, her grandmother, her friends Matt and Jill, and her boss Greg. Is he flirting with her or is it a younger sister vibe? I want to find out what happened with Meg’s father, and if he was correct thinking that there are corrupt high-ranking officials and drug trafficking in the Northwest. I also hope we will see Jill come to the realization she needs to be true to herself and become an artist.

Thank you NetGalley and Storm Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a dedicated reader of this author, with a long-term goal of devouring all her works. Discovering this previously unread series was a real treat, and it certainly lived up to my expectations.

The story introduces us to Meg Reed, who starts out a bit down on her luck—couch-surfing and relentlessly searching for a journalism gig. Her ambition was to join The O, where her father once worked, but recent layoffs closed that door. Opportunity knocks unexpectedly when she lands an interview at Northwest Extreme Sports magazine. Deciding to bluff her way through, she secures the job and her first assignment: trailing an intense, reality TV-style race. However, while hiking, she becomes the only witness to a fatal fall from a cliff. Suddenly, Meg's mission pivots from reporting to unraveling the mystery and identifying the true culprit.

I found myself completely immersed in Meg's journey and the unfolding investigation. The setting made me long for a trip to Oregon, although I'll likely opt for less perilous hikes than those Meg braves! I'm genuinely excited to continue with the next books in the series.

A fun, curl up in front of a fire with a cat and mocha type of read. I loved this book and would definitely read future books in the series. Also, as my husband loves trail running and races and I am usually on the sidelines cheering him on, this one felt a little more real to me as I could imagine the setting.

Nunca había querido visitar tanto Oregón como después de leer a Ellie Alexander. La autora traza con destreza una línea narrativa que guía la evolución de sus personajes, construye diálogos ágiles con una prosa expositiva y culmina con una revelación final que realmente no ves venir.

La historia sigue a Meg, una joven periodista que acepta un trabajo que llega inesperadamente a su puerta. Sin buscarlo, se ve envuelta en una investigación de homicidio. Para Meg, esto representa una oportunidad para proyectar su carrera; sin embargo, su impulsividad, falta de sentido común y la aparente ausencia de miedo hacen que tome decisiones arriesgadas, arrastrando a otras personas con ella.

La historia de Meg no solo gira en torno al misterio, sino también a las consecuencias de sus decisiones cuando creyó actuar con buenas intenciones, pero sin medir los riesgos. Aunque por momentos esto hace que se pierda un poco el hilo principal, también aporta un trasfondo más humano y realista al personaje.

En cuanto al misterio, está construido con precisión: mientras lees, crees tener las piezas resueltas, conectas pistas, haces conjeturas… pero entonces llega el giro final, y te toma completamente por sorpresa. Es un final que, sin sentirse forzado, rompe con las expectativas que tú mismo te habías formado.
Este libro me dejó con ganas de seguir acompañando a Meg en futuras aventuras.

Gracias Storm Publishing por el ejemplar anticipado a través de NetGalley. Opiniones 100% personales

A Murder on the Mountain is book #1 in the Meg Reed Investigates series by Ellie Alexander.

I am a fan of Ellie Alexander’s work. This was an early series that I wasn’t familiar with so I was really looking forward to it. I wasn’t disappointed. The characters were interesting. I thought the premise of working on an extreme outdoor magazine when you don’t like to go outdoors was fun. You take what you can get when you are desperate for a job. There were plenty of twists that kept me guessing until the end. I look forward to the next book.

Thank you to the author, Storm Publishing, and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) copy of this book and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

I enjoyed this mystery. It is the first in the series so there was a lot of time spent on developing the characters and giving background about Meg Reed, the MC, who had a journalism degree but was having a hard time find a job. Her father was a renowned investigate journalist whose death has last a real scar on her psyche. I liked getting to know Meg and her friends. Meg has a few quirks that are a bit ludicrous but a lot of us those quirks that to us don't seem weird but seem very weird to outsiders.

And I have to admit I liked that Meg fudged a little bit about her experience with outdoor activities at an interview to get a job in the field that she loved but hadn't been to get a permanent position at. In a difficult job market or when you are freshly out of college it can be very hard to get a job. I think a lot of people have tempted, maybe fudged a little bit or left out some things because they would otherwise be considered over qualified in the job hunting process.

It was a solid mystery that kept me guessing until near the very end with plenty of suspects who had substantial reasons to do a way with the murder victim. I also enjoyed how Meg wasn't right about all her deduction about who did it. Particularly since this was the first murder she had ever investigated.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

2⭐️ Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for an advanced copy of A Murder On A Mountain.

Meg works at an outdoor magazine and she is covering a race when one of the contestants falls to their death. Meg was the only witness and knows that it was not an accident. She decides to investigate to get answers.

I felt like this read a little YA for my taste. I just could not get connected to the story.

I really enjoyed this book—the mix of outdoor adventure and mystery made it a refreshing and immersive read. Following Meg as she covered the extreme sports event and unexpectedly got pulled into a suspicious death was both tense and engaging. I liked how the story let her vulnerability show without making her feel weak—she's determined, curious, and easy to root for. The Northwest setting added an extra layer of atmosphere, and there were just enough twists to keep me guessing without it feeling overdone. It left me both satisfied and eager to see where Meg goes next.

A Murder On The Mountain (previously released and titled "Scene of the Climb") introduces readers to a new amateur sleuth named Meg Reed. She's 23, couch-surfing, and down on her luck as she tries to find a job as a newspaper reporter. Her luck changes when she lands a writing gig at an extreme sports magazine. She's so excited...if only she didn't hate climbing. And heights. And most outdoor sports.

When she fills in for another reporter who is covering an extreme adventure called Race The States that ends in Oregon, she's over the moon. Until she learns she'll be climbing along with the contestants. She's nervous, but determined to fake, er, make her way through it. She's not doing too badly...as long as you don't count the blisters, hat falling, and oh yeah, seeing one of the racers falling off the cliff. Meg isn't sure what happened, but she's determined to figure out if Lenny died accidentally or was pushed. Her job, and her life, could be on the line.

A fun and interesting first book in the newly republished contemporary cozy mystery Meg Reed Investigates series, formerly titled A Pacific Northwest Mystery. I enjoyed meeting Meg and her friends and the descriptions of Oregon and the surrounding mountains. Lots of red herrings kept me guessing, although I did guess correctly on whodunnit. I was still surprised at all the revelations. I'm looking forward to reading more books in this series.

Note: I consider this a contemporary cozy mystery vs traditional as there is some salty language in the book.

Many thanks to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. My thoughts and opinions are my own and without bias or favor or expectation.

This is the first in the reissued "Pacific Northwest Mystery" series originally by Kate Dyer-Seeley in 2011. Storm Publishing is reissuing
the series under her pen name Ellie Alexander and calling it "Meg Reed Investigates". In the author's notes at the end she admits that
this was her first mystery, and in comparison to the new "Secret Bookcase Mystery" series it certainly is not as polished. I read all six
books in the new series and I loved them - the characters, the plots, the descriptions were all great.

"A Murder on the Mountain" aka "Scene of the Climb" was a very good cozy mystery and a good introduction to the main character Meg.
The murder plot is good and I didn't guess the culprit. Lots of factual information about prominent Oregon hiking sites.

If you like the author's other series, I think you will enjoy this one too.