Elaine Orr, author of Phoning in a Murder, a Jolie Gentil cozy mystery, is visiting Ascroft, eh? today to share an excerpt from her book.

Welcome, Elaine. I’ll turn the floor over to you –

From Chapter 2 of Phoning in a Murder:

With married parents Jolie and Scoobie (parents of Lance and Leia) and Sgt. Morehouse of the Ocean Alley Police. Waiting in the high school parking lot after a contentious meeting between band teacher, O’Halloran, and parents.

The three of us looked toward the corner of the high school, where lights still burned in the band room. Someone, I assumed O’Halloran passed in front of a window.

“I’d like to thank him, when he comes out,” I said.

The light went out in the band room. “Won’t be much longer,” Scoobie said.

“I gotta get…” Morehouse frowned and I followed his gaze. The band room light came on, went off, and came on again. It went off a few seconds later and stayed dark. “What the hell’s he doin’?”

“Give him a minute,” Scoobie said.

We did. O’Halloran didn’t appear.

“There’s a door directly from the band room to the back side of the school. Just around that corner,” I said.

“He’s a big boy,” Morehouse said, but he didn’t sound very definite.

“Let’s walk over,” Scoobie said. “We can look in and say thanks, then head out.”

I zipped up my jacket. Crisp is good when the sun is shining, but the night air was cool.

We walked toward the band room, Scoobie recounting Lance and Leia’s efforts to get our black cat, Jazz, to wear a paper crown they made. “She put up with it for about ten seconds, shook it off, and shredded it.”

“Cat after my own heart,” Morehouse said.

“She was there first,” I said. We had reached the door and Scoobie pulled it open, nodding for me to precede them.

I walked into the large room, patting the wall for the multiple light switches. I found them and flipped up a couple of them.

I took a few more steps into the large room before I saw him. Henry O’Halloran lay on his back on the floor next to the upright piano. Whatever protruded from his neck was the source of all the blood that pooled around his head.

Thank you for sharing this with us, Elaine, and good luck with Phoning in a Murder, the latest book in the Jolie Gentil mystery series.

Readers can learn more about Elaine Orr by visiting the author’s website and her Threads, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest and Bookbub pages.

The book is available online at the following retailers: 

Amazon – Apple – Kobo – B&N – Google 

About Elaine Orr: Elaine L. Orr has authored more than 30 works of fiction, including four mystery series. What makes her fiction different from other traditional mysteries? Some might say the dry humor (only a few say lame), but she thinks it is the empathy her characters show to others. Fiction doesn’t always have to be profound. But it can contain people whose paths we cross every day — whether we know it or not.

Her books include the fourteen-book Jolie Gentil cozy mystery series, which is set at the Jersey shore. Behind the Walls was short-listed for the 2014 Chanticleer Mystery and Mayhem Awards. “Reading any Jolie Gentil book is like spending time with cherished friends. That feeling grows as the series continues.” Phoning in a Murder came out in late June 2024.

The River’s Edge series takes place among the cornfields of Southeastern Iowa, along the Des Moines River. A fired news reporter switches to landscaping, but still digs up trouble. Demise of a Devious Neighbor was a Chanticleer shortlister in 2017