Showing results by author "Elaine Orr" in All Categories

From the critically acclaimed writer of A Different Sun, a Southern coming-of-age novel that sets three very different young people against the tumultuous years of the American civil rights movement... Tacker Hart left his home in North Carolina as a local high school football hero, but returns...

What if you lived in a small town, lose your job, and don't see other employment options nearby? That was Melanie Perkins' predicament when grouchy news publisher Hal Morris fired her because she took too many photos of flowers when she was supposed to concentrate on the story at hand. She lands work as a landscaper, but there's an ugly surprise her first day at the new job. At first no one thinks Melanie could be a killer. But when her hoe turns up in the same mulch pile as a body, the local sheriff isn't so sure. Mel’s initially willing to let law enforcement clear her name, but the hoe...

A dinner invitation for Digger, who is accompanied by the very pale Uncle Benjamin, gets her involved with a recently discovered relative of their elderly friend Thelma, whose brother died during World War II. DNA testing has led his until-now-unknown great-grandson, Peter, to Maple Grove in the Western Maryland Mountains. Thelma enlists Digger's help as she gets to know Peter. But his presence is not the only surprise. Letters Thelma recently received from another brother’s estate raise questions about what happened to some of her parents’ prized possessions. Were they submerged with ...

Jolie Gentil has sworn off butting into other people’s business. To those who know her, it sounds as far-fetched as finding used bubble gum on Mars. Her life revolves around her husband Scoobie, her twins, appraising the occasional house, and helping run the Cozy Corner B&B. Nothing could drag Jolie into solving crimes. Really. Except maybe a request from the most unlikely source. Sergeant Morehouse is convinced his nephew is not a runaway. Something had terrified the teenager, but before Morehouse could figure it out, Kevin was gone. Jolie has a soft spot for Kevin, who helped ...

The reverberating bangs shake Melanie Perkin's nerves. Either someone's aiming at her truck, or they don't know fireworks are supposed to go upward. Could things get any worse? Yes. The next day she discovers a dead body in the barn on her late parents' farm, Sheriff's Deputy Granger's gun pointed at the chest of a primary suspect - someone she holds dear.

Mountain Rails of Old, third book in the Family History Mystery Series. Digger Browning never paid much attention to the abandoned cottage and its long-gone occupants until she accompanied her friend Marty, who wanted to photograph it for a news story. Everything changed when Uncle Benjamin made a huge discovery nearby. What really happened to Samantha and her eight-year old daughter twelve years ago? If it hadn’t been for a growling raccoon, Digger might not have badgered enough people to find out. Her friend Holly doesn’t like the ancestors Digger found for her, and Marty thinks ...

Jolie Gentil gets tapped for some appraisal work at 10th reunion of her Ocean Alley High School class. When appraising the vacant Tillotson-Fisher house, she finds the skeleton of Richard Tillotson hidden in an antique attic wardrobe. He vanished just after his sister married his business partner in 1929. Jolie sees a link to the Fisher family's Prohibition era business and works with friends Scoobie and Ramona to gather clues from old photo albums and ledgers. The photo albums lead her to Mary Doris Milner, Richard's girlfriend, who has fond memories of him and is certain of who murdered him. But, there was nothing to link her suspect to the murder then, and he's long dead himself.

The daughter of medical missionaries, Elaine Neil Orr was born in Nigeria in 1954, in the midst of the national movement that would lead to independence from Great Britain. But as she tells it in her captivating memoir, Orr did not grow up feeling American, but rather identified with Nigerian culture. Orr came back to America to attend high school, feeling the loss of Nigeria keenly. It was only in her forties, in the crisis of kidney failure, that she began to recover her African life.

Least Trodden Ground. Digger Browning looked forward to spending time with Uncle Benjamin after damaged pipes put her kitchen ceiling on the floor. She didn't expect to find his body at his Western Maryland home, the Ancestral Sanctuary. Who would kill the parsimonious octogenarian? Sure, some people were mad about him pushing the historical society to find a new abode, but they got over it, right? And then she finds out he had a new 'foxy lady,' and she's not his usual type. Antsy before the funeral, Digger delves into family history, but makes an unexpected find. Between trying to figure ...

Fired Up and Feisty Book 1 of the Shore Shenanigans Series Fired Up and Feisty puts the Ocean Alley High School Reunion front and center. The Golden Grads (alums from long ago) end up at the Cozy Corner B&B after a fire at the local hotel, Beachcomber's Alley. Well, not all of them – Preston McKinley is found on the floor in the room where the fire started. Did smoldering high school resentments lead to his demise? Or maybe his prior business dealings? Longtime Ocean Alley resident and local PI George Winters is pulled into the fray, assisted by Cozy Corner B&B owner Madge Richards (a.k.a...

4th in the Family History Mystery Series When a Maple Grove resident discovers some old gold coins in the woods near town, it's an intriguing event -- but not one that seems dangerous. However, the article Digger's friend, Marty, wrote for the Maple Grove News, seems to have attracted unwarranted attention. Did the coins come from a long-ago bank robbery or burglary, or was someone passing through murdered in the early 20th century? No matter the source, it leads to a fresh murder today. Sheriff Montgomery asks Digger for help in tracing descendants of possible owners of the stash of coins....

B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree Digger is bouncing back from a tough year. With the new graphic design firm she and her friend Holly started, things are looking up. But then life throws her a curve when she trips over a body while she and her friend Marty are taking photos at an abandoned train depot. As she tries to piece things together, Digger begins to think the body she found is linked to a long-ago disappearance in her town of Maple Grove. Did Daniel Stevens abandon his family in 1963, or is there a more sinister explanation? When she tries to learn more about Daniel’s life, Digger ends ...

Jolie never liked the idea of sitting on the plank above the dunk tank for the food pantry's fundraiser at the carnival. Even so, she never dreamed what Scoobie saw that day would leave him battling for his life. Scoobie's ex-con mother shows up and there's a murder to add to the mix. Soon Jolie is doing a lot more than appraising real estate, though even that is complicated by home burglars. Jolie reluctantly seeks help from her nemesis - reporter George Winters - and tries to stay a step ahead of a kidnapper and murderer so she can take charge of her world again.

Can a real estate appraiser in a New Jersey beach town get in this much trouble? If your name translates to "pretty nice" in French, you've probably gotten used to teasing. It doesn't prepare you to find out that your soon-to-be-ex-husband has a gambling problem, raided your assets, and embezzled from his bank. Jolie Gentil moves to Great Aunt Madge’s bed and breakfast at the Jersey shore, taking her cat Jazz, and joining Madge's pair of prune-eating dogs. Jolie does not view this as a retreat, just a smart change. She had no idea her life at the Jersey shore was about to get even more ...

Digger Browning's Christmas season is tinged with sadness. She had had a falling-out with her reporter friend Marty and she isn't sure they can fix it. He may want to leave Maple Grove and she is conflicted about whether family commitments will hold her back from joining him. To distract herself, Digger and her very pale Uncle Benjamin are sorting through boxes in the cellar of the Ancestral Sanctuary. They come across a carefully wrapped (but broken) ornament Uncle Benjamin's late wife, Clara, found and cherished many years ago. It had been made by the Meadow Mountain Ornament Factory, ...

Remember when candidates were polite and talked about issues? Well in Ocean Alley at the Jersey Shore, they still do. Well, there was the issue with the fire at the garage... If this is your first book in the Jolie Gentil series, it’s a bit different than the others. In fact, it’s called an Aunt Madge Story in the Jolie series. In terms of story chronology, it follows "Underground in Ocean Alley" (book 11). In that book, Jolie solves a murder while Aunt Madge happens to be running for mayor of Ocean Alley. In "Aunt Madge and The Civil Election," events of the crime-solving are muted and...

Final Cycle 2nd Logland Mystery Marti and Nick have inherited The Bully Pulpit Diner in Logland, Illinois, and their first Christmas season has town grounch, Louella Belle Simpson, as a regular customer. She point out calorie content to other diners and lectures people on their weight. This doesn't encourage people to order pie. When Louella Belle turns up dead, there are plenty of people who were tired of listening to her, but murder seems like an extreme reaction. Police Chief Elizabeth Friedman has few clues and little help from the alarmed Logland residents. No one at Man-Up Tatoos saw ...

Jolie always has her hands full appraising houses, running the food pantry, and enjoying her family. Enter Buck Brock — an annoying landlord who likes to skimp on amenities and wants Jolie to lowball appraisals on properties he’s buying. He makes Lester Argrow -- usually Ocean Alley's most annoying realtor -- look like a polite uncle. She and Scoobie also decide to let a troubled Iraq War vet back into their lives, and Jolie finds him work cleaning units for Buck. Will Josh’s presence help or hurt her family — especially Scoobie? Jolie’s in the Java Jolt Coffee Shop when Buck’s ...

When Jolie Gentil goes to buy a cup of coffee the morning after a storm knocks out power at her house in Ocean Alley, she finds Java Jolt unlocked and minus its owner. A bigger surprise is seeing proprietor Joe Regan a few minutes later, badly injured. It seems a potential killer thinks Jolie has something Joe was hiding. The normal routine of appraising houses and volunteering at the Harvest for All food pantry is interrupted by an SUV that nearly smashes Jolie, a break-in at the home Jolie and Scoobie share, and a terrifying kidnapping.

It's fun to buy a house. Unless, there is something hidden behind the walls and someone wants it. Someone who is willing to kill for it. Jolie is pursued by a purse thief and a burglar, but the guy she's most worried about is the one who left an elderly auctioneer dead on her porch swing. In between appraising houses and planning a fund-raiser for the food pantry (can you say liquid string contest?), Jolie, Scoobie, and friends need to figure who left a cache of jewelry behind the walls in her house.