Jolie Gentil Cozy Mystery Series

Aunt Madge is horrified that her Jersey shore town will give big tax breaks to a huge resort. Ocean Alley will be swallowed up in a condo canyon. She runs for mayor to promote sensible progress over massive growth. A lot of people agree with her. Maybe not whoever tried to burn down her garage. Neither she nor her opponent will stoop to low blows, so people are actually talking about the issue. How odd. With the regular Ocean Alley characters, a bunch of laughs, and murder on the side, visit Ocean Alley to find out how it will chart its future. 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 the campaign is the focus. If that sounds boring, be assured there is plenty going on, with much of the usual dry humor. I wanted readers to have the story of Aunt Madge’s campaign. It’s told from her point of view rather than Jolie’s, without spoiling the mystery in "Underground in Ocean Alley," should you choose to read it. This is a 17,000 word "long short story."

Though she never liked the idea of sitting on the plank above the dunk tank for the food pantry's fundraiser at the carnival, Jolie 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 grudgingly 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. The police wish she'd butt out and Aunt Madge is furious that Jolie insists on talking to a couple shady characters on her own. Soon even the guests at Aunt Madge's Cozy Corner B&B are in the way. Can Jolie keep her friends safe, and will Scoobie recover enough to say what happened to him and plan another silly fundraiser?

There’s something hidden behind the walls of the hurricane damaged house Jolie bought in her New Jersey beach town. Something someone seems willing to kill for. After Jolie and Scoobie find a small sack of jewelry as they do a mold attack on her bungalow, 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 fundraiser for the food pantry (can you say liquid string contest?), Jolie tries to figure out if there is more stolen bounty around town. Is the feared killer the same person who burned some vacant houses, or the as-yet unmasked Peeping Tom? And are they willing to kill again to get to the hidden riches? Her friends and local police warn her to butt out, but that’s just encouragement for a woman who likes to get to the bottom of things. Jolie wrestles with fear as she tries to get her cat, Jazz, to feel at home in the new house. Maybe an unexpected visitor can be a substitute for Aunt Madge’s golden retrievers. And then there’s her love life. Jolie also needs to decide if she really wants to get back with her former boyfriend, Ocean Alley Press reporter George Winters. Or are feelings for someone else trying to get her attention?

From Hurricane Sandy to Cozy Corner B&B repairs to Aunt Madge's wedding in three weeks. If Jolie can handle that surely she can deal with a sobbing woman who shows up at midnight playing a scary message on a cell phone. Pooki is frantic about her husband's whereabouts and more than a little 'ditzy,' according to Jolie's best friend, Scoobie. After taking Pooki to the police station the next morning, Jolie figures she is problem-free. Not really. A shady deal for storm repairs at the Ocean Alley Senior Complex seems to be at the root of Steve Oliver's hit-and-run death and missing business partner (Pooki's husband, Eric). When Eric ends up dead at the B&B, Jolie is digging for clues in between burning muffins and appraising houses. But when she doesn't share all that she learns with her sometimes-boyfriend, reporter George Winters, he's grouchy. Jolie is convinced she needs to find the murderer (or is it murderers?) and expose fraudulent repair bids. Not everyone shares her views--not the police, her friend Scoobie, and certainly not the murderer.

Jolie Gentil is appraising the vacant Tillotson-Fisher house and finds the skeleton of Richard Tillotson hidden in an ancient 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 present day murder of Richard's former girlfriend, Mary Doris, tells them they're on the right track. Did the secret she kept all these years finally kill her? Between running the food pantry at Christmas time and escaping a burning building, they hope to figure out who the modern killer is before someone else gets hurt.

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 from her embezzling ex-husband, just a smart change. She had no idea her life was about to get even more complicated. Jolie finds work as a real estate appraiser, but a low-life named Joe Pedone demands that she repay some of her husband's gambling debts and she runs into Michael Riordan, her high school crush. She's not sure which one is more trouble. Jolie appraises Michael's mother's house and finds his mother dead in bed. Soon the mundane work of appraising real estate and dodging suggestions that she go to the ten-year high school reunion are mixed with calls from reporters, scary suggestions from Pedone, and requests that she help the local busybody with First Presbyterian's social services work. Jolie balances her fear of Pedone, conviction that Michael is innocent, and sometimes uneasy friendship with long-ago friend Scoobie. Jolie plots ways to prove both friends innocent, but someone would rather see her dead.

Opening your apartment door to see a woman sliding down it is distressing. Especially when that woman has a knife in her chest. How could a murderer be roaming the halls in the middle of the night? After all the times she has encouraged Jolie to mind her own business, Aunt Madge has had a change of heart. It's Jolie's boyfriend Scoobie Madge turns to to help her figure out who the murderer is. Not that being temporarily in an assisted living apartment prevents Aunt Madge from investigating herself. No, a fall from a stool that results in a broken wrist and ankle can't hold down the owner of the Cozy Corner B&B. Could the murderer be a resident with a grudge, or a philandering neighbor who didn't want to get caught in someone else's bed? Aunt Madge's scooter rides take her to the laundry room where she thinks she spots a body in a bin, and into the cold to check exit doors to be sure they can't be entries for murder. All she gets is a reputation for being nosy. It's hard not to be when a dead woman's blood is on your carpet. Murder's not all Madge and friends juggle. What will happen to the Alzheimer's patient whose husband wants to keep her in their apartment? Will Scoobie find information about Melvin, his ornery former professor, that will explain his odd behavior? And how will Madge and her good friend Lance avoid the acid-tongued Elmira Washington, who has decided she wants an apartment in their building? Elmira has been a thorn in Jolie's side for years. Would she be willing to kill to eliminate a roadblock to her move? For a change, it's Madge whose persistence annoys Sergeant Morehouse of the Ocean Alley Police. He tells her she is moving up on his pain-in-the-ass list. Certainly the director of the Silver Times senior complex wants Aunt Madge to get well enough to leave. And she does miss her exuberant retrievers and husband Harry. He's busy burning muffins at the B&B instead of helping Jolie with the appraisal business. Good humor at the Jersey shore. Except for the poor dead woman. Add the Christmas and Hanukkah season and there's good fun mixed with the murder.

Bad enough that Jolie ends up in the emergency room because she tried to avoid hitting a deer. Worse to find a dead woman in the hospital restroom after Jolie gets patched up. As the chief budget cutter at the hospital, Tanya Weiss was unpopular, especially in the Radiology Department, where Scoobie works. In between appraising houses and feeding her pet skunk, Jolie’s on the lookout for a runaway teenager and whoever planted the dead woman in her path. Thanks to Scoobie, she’s also planning another crazy fundraiser for the food pantry—this one a Corn Hole Contest. It’s sort of a bean bag game for grown-ups, and the polite term is Corn Toss Contest. So of course, Scoobie prepares to name winners in the Harvest for All Corn Hole Contest.

Someone is breaking into the houses Jolie appraises in Ocean Alley. When she realizes a new face in town is leading high school kids into trouble in those houses, Jolie's mad and lets him know it. Hayden offers to help her mind her own business, and a lot of people at the Talk Like a Pirate Day fundraiser for the food pantry hear her give him what for. A hurricane's on the way to disrupt Talk Like a Pirate Day. When a corpse turns up under the pirate ship the next day, Jolie's looking like a suspect. Soon she has less work. Who wants a possible murder suspect appraising their house? Scoobie's pirate limericks can't solve a crime, so Jolie and her sometimes buddy local reporter George Winters look for the murderer and try to figure out who's trying to frame Jolie. They need to stay ahead of whoever's mad at her and off the radar of the local police who tell Jolie -- for the hundredth time -- to butt out. All this and Jolie has to deal with Aunt Madge's blossoming love life. And what about her own? For a cozy mystery with a dose of humor and a touch of romance, join Jolie and friends in Ocean Alley.

This set has the first four books in the Jolie Gentil Cozy Mystery Series, set in the fictional Ocean Alley, NJ. Fiction you can share with your mom. The Jolie Gentil mystery series debuted in October 2011 with Appraisal for Murder. It was followed by Rekindling Motives, When the Carny Comes to Town, and Any Port in a Storm. Jolie is a real estate appraiser in a New Jersey Beach town and her flexible schedule seems to allow plenty of time for trouble. With a name that translates to "pretty nice" (thanks to her French Canadian dad), she's used to teasing, and her embezzler ex-husband taught her more about trouble than she ever expected. But stumbling across dead bodies in the middle of the work day? That's a new one. As she reconnects with old friend and walks Aunt Madge's prune-eating dogs, Jolie tries to stay one step ahead of murder.

In the eighth book of the Jolie Gentil series, she goes to buy a cup of coffee the morning after a storm knocks out power at her house in Ocean Alley. Instead of freshly brewed coffee, she finds Java Jolt unlocked and minus its owner. A bigger surprise is seeing proprietor Joe Regan a few minutes later, badly injured. 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. Jolie needs to learn who's telling the truth and how far the thugs will go to find what they want. Only solving the puzzle will keep Jolie safe, protect a vulnerable Iraqi vet, and make sure everyone stays alive. But if Jolie keeps searching, her budding romance with Scoobie may grind to a halt.

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 look like a mild-mannered 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 weekend tenant (a friend of Jolie’s sister) collapses. No one expects her to die so quickly. It’s hard to identify suspects, but Josh pops up on the police radar. Or could some evil person have put poison in a Java Jolt product just to cause trouble? Jolie, Scoobie, and friends are pondering this when an annoyed Buck asks Jolie to meet him at a house she just appraised. She’s peeved, but he’s a steady client. What she finds in the foyer does not encourage tourist traffic in Ocean Alley. As a mom of four-year-old twins, Jolie doesn’t jump into crime solving casually. But figuring out two murders may be a leap she has to take. Join the Ocean Alley crew at they blend friendship and murder.

When Jolie Gentil’s parents leave her with Aunt Madge for her junior year so they can ‘work things out’ in their marriage, she’s angry. She knows no one at Ocean Alley High School. Some kids snub her, but she makes friends with the irreverent Scoobie. He’s quirky and fun, but he’s skipped school and smoked pot in the past, so people avoid him. Jolie learns how to shoot a squirt gun from under the boardwalk and tries not to flunk geometry. She also learns that the family she babysits for has a secret, one that puts Jolie in danger. You’ve met Jolie and Scoobie as crime-solving adults. Check out their high school friendship. Same humor, different challenges. Plus a couple of hints about why Jolie wants to get to the bottom of murders when she’s all grown up.

Jolie Gentil cozy mystery box set. After rekindling friendships, Jolie has gotten readjusted to life in Ocean Alley and manages to balance appraising real estate with chairing the Harvest for All Food Pantry. What she can't quite do is mind her own business. This boxed set puts together books five through seven of the Jolie Gentil Cozy Mystery Series.They are Trouble on the Doorstep, Behind the Walls (finalist for 2014 Chanticleer Mystery and Mayhem Awards), and Vague Images. Join Jolie and friends as they figure out if the two deaths relate to contracts for Hurricane Sandy repairs, determine who is willing to kill for a stash of jewels behind the walls of the house Jolie just bought, and find out who killed the hospital budget cutter. And the food pantry? The fundraisers have a worthy purpose, but it's the laughs you'll remember. Can you say liquid string contest? What are readers saying? Trouble on the Doorstep: There's something for everyone in these stories- plenty of mystery and intrigue, loyal friendships and a spark of romance--and it's fun to reacquaint with the old friends from volumes 1-4. I'd love to see more stories from this series! Vb Behind the Walls: “I like the way the stories are tied together from the first book to the most recent. This author is spending a lot of time carrying the continuity forward.” Vague Images: This is the most exciting in this wonderful series...I look forward to every addition. Not sure how Jolie always end up in the middle of all these murders, but it's fun to see how she muddles her way through.

Enjoy four books in the Jolie Gentil Cozy Mystery Series. Two are "numbered" books, and two are special books to the series. The Unexpected Resolution (Book 10) The Twain Does Meet (Novella) Underground in Ocean Alley (Book 11) Aunt Madge and the Civil Election (an Aunt Madge Long Short Story) “The Unexpected Resolution” is part of another box set of Jolie Gentil cozy mysteries. However, the four books in this grouping are part of an integral story line. If you’ve already read “The Unexpected Resolution,” I hope you enjoyed it. If you haven’t, you’ll appreciate having these books together.

A midnight wedding, Army veterans who face repercussions of two wars, and a startling wedding guest. Wedding days are special, but they don't usually pack as big a surprise as Jolie and Scoobie's New Year's Eve nuptials. Scoobie never knew much about his family -- and after the way he grew up, who could blame him for liking it that way? A 9-1-1 call during the wedding changes everything. Suddenly Jolie has to help Scoobie figure out what he wants to know, and determine who seems to want someone in his family dead. Knowing more about Scoobie's past could change their future together. But a special wedding arrival may cause even more complications. Book 10 in the Jolie Gentil cozy mystery series brings together the close-knit group of friends and zany Ocean Alley townspeople for a very special event. You don't want to miss Book 10 in the Jolie Gentil cozy mystery series.!

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 Scoobie’s young brother Terry adjust to life in Ocean Alley. Plus, she has a feeling that Kevin saw something he wasn’t supposed to see at the hospital, when he had his appendix removed. She has to make the time to follow her hunch. Kind of hard to balance family, the B&B, and the upcoming Cinco de Mayo-themed food pantry fundraiser. And what about the murder of the hospital's head nurse? Could it be connected to Kevin's disappearance? Adding to the mix is Aunt Madge decision to enlighten the Jersey shore by running for mayor of Ocean Alley. She's convinced a proposed resort will change the character of Ocean Alley. With her husband Harry as campaign manager, she intends to convince voters progress doesn't have to mean lots more concrete. Jolie has faith in her hunches. Scoobie isn't so sure and Aunt Madge believes Jolie needs a remedial course in minding her own business. But Kevin’s life may depend on Jolie’s certainty and her efforts to find him before a killer does. Follow the crime -- and fun -- in the eleventh Jolie Gentil cozy mystery.

"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 wlak 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.

Jolie Gentil continues to solve mysteries and become more involved in the Ocean Alley community. And she's starting to realize her feelings for an old friend are growing beyond friendship. Enjoy three books in this box set. Ground to a Halt. 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. Jolie needs to figure out who's telling the truth and how far the thugs will go to to find what they want. Only solving the puzzle will keep Jolie safe, protect a vulnerable Iraqi vet, and make sure everyone stays alive. But if Jolie keeps searching, her budding romance with Scoobie may grind to a halt. Holidays in Ocean Alley. Aunt Madge is spending a few weeks in the Silver Times Senior Living after standing on a stool to hang garland. Her niece Jolie's good friend Scoobie teams up with her to figure out whose body fell into Madge's apartment in the wee hours one morning. Does the killer think Aunt Madge knows something she shouldn't? Can Madge find a way to solve the crime and provide some cheer to injured children? She's determined to do just that. But she needs to be really careful. The Unexpected Resolution. Wedding days are special, but they don't usually pack as big a surprise as Jolie and Scoobie's New Year's Eve nuptials. Scoobie never knew much about his family -- and after the way he grew up, who could blame him for liking it that way? A 9-1-1 call during the wedding changes everything. Suddenly Jolie has to help Scoobie figure out what he wants to know, and determine who may want someone in his family dead. Publisher's Weekly called The Unexpected Resolution, "A...story about unexpected life events and the honest love that binds no matter what."

Sticky-Fingered Books 12th Jolie Gentil Cozy Mystery Special Price Until November 15th It isn't every day that you find a body at your kids' school. Unless you're Jolie Gentil. Then it's more of an option.Someone broke into Sand and Sea Daycare, leaving a broken window and plenty of rain in the director's office. When Jolie hears an angry man say the intruder must have been looking for some books, she remembers the center hadn't deposited money raised at its annual rummage and bake sale. But that's not her business. Her job at the co-op center is to place orders for the food the kids gobble. Scoobie's contribution, as a poet, is to lead a rhyming session with the kids. It's bedlam and they love it. But when Jolie goes into the center for an evening board meeting, she finds a body at the desk of the Sand and Sea director. With help from Mayor Madge, Jolie learns that the daycare center building has been caught up in plans for a boutque hotel and could have to close. Some liked the idea of a sale and others strongly objected. Neither Jolie or Scoobie think it's a good idea for the twins to head back to school until they know what really happened. And when four-year olds clamor to be with friends, it's a good idea to figure it out. Who kills for an old building? Someone does, and they don't like the idea of Jolie learning who they are.