Elaine L. Orr has authored 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 thirteen-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. New Lease on Death was published in 2023. "Reading any Jolie Gentil book is like spending time with cherished friends. That feeling grows as the series continues."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 2017The Western Maryland mountains, near Deep Creek Lake, host the four-book Family History Mystery Series. The Unscheduled Murder Trip received a B.R.A.G. Medallion in 2021. Gilded Path to Nowhere was published in 2022, and book five, Long Held Lake Secrets, will be out in late 2023. Small-town Illinois is the setting for the Logland Series, which features Police Chief Elizabeth Friedman -- a police procedural with a cozy feel. Amid the mystery and laughs, Final Cycle, set during a Christmas season, shows why it's important to assist those who are difficult to help.Elaine also writes plays and novellas, including the one-act, Common Ground. Her novella, Biding Time, was one of five finalists in the National Press Club's first fiction contest, in 1993. Falling into Place is a novella about family strength as a World War II veteran rises to the toughest occasion. (It's also Elaine's favorite book.) In the Shadow of Light is the fictional story of Corozón and her family, who are separated at the U.S./Mexico border.A member of Sisters in Crime, Elaine grew up in Maryland and moved to the Midwest in 1994.
