The Twain Does Meet: A Jolie and Scoobie Novella (Jolie Gentil Cozy Mystery Series Book 0)
by Elaine L OrrPublish: Dec 20, 2019Series: Jolie Gentil Cozy Mystery SeriesWomen's Fiction
Book Overview
"The Twain Does Meet" is a between-the-numbers book in the Jolie Gentil series, and while there are joys and problems to discover it's not a traditional cozy mystery. In book 10 (The Unexpected Resolution) Jolie solves a murder, she and Scoobie get married, and they gain a new family member--Scoobie's much-younger half-brother. Book 11 (Underground in Ocean Alley) takes place a few years later, and mystery solving is accompanied by their three-year old twins.
I promised readers they would have the story of the twins' birth an anything-but-calm event -- but it didn't seem right to mix it with a murder. So, we have a nearly 33,000 word novella that features laughs and angst with the Ocean Alley crew and more than a few surprises. A fun read with familiar characters.
Jolie and Scoobie have added 11-year-old Terry to the family mix. A pregnant Jolie is appraising houses preceded by what she calls her beach ball, and Scoobie's learned the hospital where he works may be cutting staff. Just as they are about to buy a bigger house.
But something's off at Ocean Alley Middle School. Terry's classmate, Eddie, accuses him of taking some cash from their shared locker, and Jolie tries to heed Scoobie's advice that Terry be allowed to handle some things himself. For Ms. "I need to solve that," it's a challenge. Plus, she's picking up signals that there might be problems in Eddie's home. Can she wak the difficult path between helping and meddling?
Jolie tries to balance running the Harvest for All Food Pantry, her work, helping Terry feel at home in Ocean Alley, worrying about Scoobie losing his job, and planning to be a mom. That's supposed to be a fun time, right? And lots of people have advice. Oh, joy.
Join Jolie, Scoobie, and their extended family and friends for a heartwarming time.
BIOGRAPHY Elaine L. Orr writes five mystery series, the fourteen-book Jolie Gentil cozy mystery series, the three-book River's Edge series, the three-book Logland series, and the four-book Family History Mystery series.
The Jolie Gentil series is set at the Jersey shore. Behind the Walls was a finalist for the 2014 Chanticleer Mystery and Mayhem Awards.
Her newest series, Shore Shenanigans, is also set at the Jersey Shore.
The first book in Elaine's River's Edge cozy mystery series, From Newsprint to Footprints, debuted in late fall 2015, followed by Demise of a Devious Neighbor. The latter was a Chanticleer finalist in 2017. The fictional South County sits along the Des Moines River in Southeast Iowa.
In 2016, Elaine issued Tip a Hat to Murder, first in the Logland mystery series. Set in small-town Illinois, its protagonist is a police chief rather than an amateur sleuth. The third book, Final Cycle, was published in June 2019.
Finally, a series set in her native Maryland! The Family History series in the Western Maryland mountains examines crimes of the past with a sleuth in the present. Add a ghost only Digger can see, and you get a great mix of humor and insight of the region.
Nonfiction includes Writing When Time is Scares -- and Getting the Work Published, and many family history books. In 2019, she published Fitting in After Fifty -- to Your New Town. The guide to breaking into a community at a 'mature' age is practical and adds a touch of humor.
Elaine also writes plays and novellas, including Falling Into Place and In the Shadow of Light. Biding Time was one of five finalists in the National Press Club's first fiction contest, in 1993, and her play, Permission to Hope, was part of the Bethesda, MD Plays in Progress series in 1989. The one-act, Common Ground, is a story of three couples planning big moves -- with a twist.
Elaine conducts presentations on electronic publishing and other writing-related topics. Nonfiction includes Words to Write By: Getting Your Thoughts on Paper and Writing in Retirement: Putting New Year’s Resolutions to Work. She also conducts online courses on writing and publishing on the TabletWise and Teachable platforms.
Thought her degrees are in government, Elaine studied writing at the University of Maryland, Georgetown University School of Continuing Education, the Writer's Center of Bethesda, Maryland, and the University of Iowa's Summer Writing Festival. A member of Sisters in Crime and the Indiana Writers’ Center, Elaine grew up in Maryland and moved to the Midwest in 1994.