Meg Reed is mourning the death of her father, a well- known journalist. She idolized her father and learned the craft at his feet. Newly graduated with a degree in journalism, jobs are hard to come by. With papers closing and magazines folding, Meg is sleeping on her best friend's couch.

A chance meeting in a coffee shop leads to a job at an adventure magazine. Now, Meg has a job which she is woefully unprepared for. Portland, OR is a great place to live but the joys of nature have never been big in Meg's life.

When one of their premier reporters breaks his leg, Meg finds herself covering one of the last challenges of a reality TV show. Climbing to Angel's rest is enough of a challenge without the shock of having one of the contestants fall to his death. No one believe Meg at first but when the body is discovered, the police will be called. Everyone is content to assume it's nothing but an unfortunate accident; except for Meg.

Meg and her friends will get caught up in an investigation which could lead to someone else's death. Life becomes even more complicated when Matt tells her that he has proof that the death of Meg's father was not the accident everyone assumed it to be.

SCENE OF THE CLIMB is the first in a new series, I enjoyed the relationships between Meg, Matt, and Jill. Her quirky Gran added a touch of levity that Meg needed to lift her from her depression. Her complicated relationship with her mother adds to Meg's difficulties. It was amusing to watch her lie to her employer about her interest in adventure travel and then struggle to fit in with the magazine's other writers.

Ms. Dyer-Seely has started an intriguing new series which will be of interest to anyone who likes cozies. Her skillfully plotted book with the unexpected revelation of the killer's identity, kept me interested from the first. SCENE OF THE CLIMB was a solid start to the series.