Set in Alaska in the late fall immediately preceding Pearl Harbor, Murder Breaks Trail involves a Congressman, a Senator and his daughter, an Alaska politician, a pretty schoolteacher, an airplane pilot and a grocer on vacation-marooned near a small lake where their plane came down. Against the approach of winter and the mounting tensions among themselves there occur murder and unexplained comings and goings in the new and ever-deepening snow.  "No scientific sleuthing this, but a blending of clues, coincidences and concentration by mystery-avid groceryman, Smyth, passenger on a plane, flying Alaska, carrying a Senator, Congressman and a Mayor. Forced to stay in a deserted settlement when gas is drained from their machine, murder and approaching winter produce near-panic among the castaways. Another killing and the problem of the mysterious skier, the abandonment of the colony, imminence of Japanese penetration and Nazi fifth column, add to the questions Smyth must solve before the Army takes over. A better than most brain workout." -Kirkus Reviews ca. 1943 "One of the most interesting parts of this story is the look Boyd gives us of Alaska during the war years and before the territory became a state. Smyth is not, perhaps, the swiftest of detectives--but he certainly does get there in the end and comes up with a plan to flush the murderer out (in lieu of direct of evidence). I did appreciate the set-up of the stranded party and thought the way they handled their situation was realistic and probable--with nerves fraying just the right amount and petty squabbles seeming more important than they should." -Bev (Goodreads) "I found this little mystery in a second hand bookshop. It's great. F. Millard Smyth, a middle-aged grocer and keen reader of mystery stories, has managed to get himself included on a fact-finding trip to Alaska round about the time of Pearl Harbor. They decide to land at a remote settlement, which is when things start to go wrong."-Liz (Goodreads) Eunice Mays Boyd (1902-1971) Eunice was an award-winning mystery writer during the Golden Age of Agatha Christie. Her books are intelligent, cozy whodunnit murder mysteries with many twists and turns. She loved to read mysteries and prided herself in identifying the murderer well before the end. After graduating from UC Berkeley in 1924, she moved to Alaska where she based the F. Millard Smyth mystery series: MURDER BREAKS TRAIL (1943), DOOM IN THE MIDNIGHT SUN (1943), and MURDER WEARS MUKLUKS (1945). A fourth book in the series, ONE PAW WAS RED will be forthcoming. She co-authored THE MARBLE FOREST that was made into the movie "Macabre" (1958). Eunice's new vintage murder mysteries were discovered fifty years after her death. DUNE HOUSE (2021) and SLAY BELLS (2021) are set in San Francisco. A VACATION TO KILL FOR (2022) takes place in France.