Escape on Skis

by Amelia Elizabeth Walden

While training for the skiing olympics in Switzerland, Kim Merrill is caught up in the intrigue surrounding the mysterious disappearance of her fiancé, Clint, who has mysteriously vanished from the village of Zermatt. The flavor of Olympic skiing combines with international intrigue in this book set in Switzerland.

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Amelia Elizabeth Walden was born January 15, 1909 in New York City, and died in 2002. After graduating from Columbia University in 1934, she attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, also in New York. From 1935 to 1945 she taught English and Dramatics at Norwalk High School, Norwalk, Connecticut. In 1946 Miss Walden married John William Harmon. This was also the year that her first book was published. At the request of her editor she revised the manuscript, entitled Gateway, to fit a new genre emerging at the time, called the "young adult" novel which was aimed at a post-adolescent but not yet adult audience, approximately ages 16 to 18. She is considered a pioneer in this area of American literature. Miss Walden found success writing for this audience, and commented, "I respond to young people because I remember my own adolescence so vividly - and fondly. It was a period of total involvement, of enjoying life to the hilt."

Miss Walden wrote over 40 novels published by McGraw-Hill, Lippincott, William Morrow, The Westminster Press, and Appleton Century-Crofts. She was residing in Westport, Connecticut when she died.

Reviews

[Rebekah Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me just a little to get into the story, but then things picked up and I just kept reading.
I liked Kim and her determination to find her fiancé who had gone missing in Switzerland, but also her commitment to continue with her training for the Olympics. A few times I got a little nervous about her investigating on her own, but then, after any potential danger was passed, I could breath a sigh of relief. This mystery was confusing! I wasn’t sure who were bad guys and who were good guys! Which is pretty unusual for me. Some things that happened left me more confused about who was who, and it wasn’t until the very end that I got things straightened out.
The setting of the Alps between Switzerland and Italy was so cold and snowy that I half expected to find snow outside. All the parts about skiing were interesting even though I’ve never skied in my life and only have a sort-of idea of what you do.

There was one mild swear word near the beginning and that was it. This was not a Christian book and there was no mention of prayer, the Bible, or anything like that. But it was clean except for a few kisses mentioned.

Altogether I enjoyed this story.