Long Held Lake Secrets (Family History Mystery Series Book 5)
by Elaine L. OrrPublish: Dec 04, 2023Series: Family History Mystery SeriesMystery
Book Overview
A dinner invitation for Digger and thus 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 the family's old farm house, which became part of Deep Creek Lake when it was filled in the mid-1920s?
Digger and Uncle Benjamin see no way to learn more, but night visits to the lake by an unscrupulous duo may mean someone else is looking for valuables to plunder. But how would they know it exists, and what would convince them to dive for it? And what will happen to Digger or her friend Marty if they get in the way of the treasure seekers?
BIOGRAPHY Elaine L. Orr writes four mystery series, the thirteen-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.
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.
