cover image The Unexpected Resolution: Book 10 of the Jolie Gentil Cozy Mystery Series

The Unexpected Resolution: Book 10 of the Jolie Gentil Cozy Mystery Series

Elaine L. Orr. Lifelong Dreams, $8.99 trade paper (264p) ISBN 978-0-9863380-6-9

Orr’s family-focused 10th Jolie Gentil mystery (after Holidays in Ocean Alley) finds sometime sleuth Jolie and her fiancé, Scoobie, preparing for their intimate New Year’s Eve wedding in Ocean Alley, N.J. Then Scoobie’s long-absent father shows up in the local hospital following a car accident. After the father succumbs to his injuries, Scoobie meets the younger brother he didn’t know he had, Terry. As Scoobie and Jolie come to terms with becoming Terry’s guardian, Orr touches on such issues from the past as Scoobie’s abusive childhood and Jolie’s disastrous first marriage. Suspicions that Scoobie’s father’s death was a homicide arise only in the latter part of the novel, along with a suspect, but these developments don’t create much narrative tension. Though Orr doesn’t explore her characters’ psychological states in any depth, she successfully delivers a quiet story about unexpected life events and the honest love that binds no matter what. [em](BookLife) [/em]