What do you think?
Rate this book
The Idyllwild Mystery Series #2
Loveda Brown Comes Home
Loveda Brown inherits more than a tiny hotel in Idyllwild, she inherits the guests that come with it and the killer walking among them.Loveda Brown has inherited more than a tiny hotel in Idyllwild, California, as yet the Wild West of 1912, she’s inherited trouble. A pretentious lawyer, a Boy Scout troop invasion, insufferable suffragettes, and a pair of pompous honeymooners are about to interrupt her best laid plans. Between murder and a kidnapping, the pressure is on for Loveda to clean up the town she longs to call home.
308 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 23, 2021
46 people are currently reading
169 people want to read
About the author
Jolie Tunnell
18 books55 followersAward-winning author Jolie Tunnell brings the past to life in suspenseful historical mysteries. Bringing the flavor of the turn-of-the-century Wild West to the isolated mountain town of Idyllwild and the writhing underbelly of Old San Francisco, her books gallop to the last page.
A Southern California native, she loves on her sprawling family, forces her freeloading tomcat to cuddle, and can drink her weight in Yorkshire Gold tea.
Sign up for her extraordinary newsletter, get a free book, and settle in for a visit at JolieTunnell.com.
A Southern California native, she loves on her sprawling family, forces her freeloading tomcat to cuddle, and can drink her weight in Yorkshire Gold tea.
Sign up for her extraordinary newsletter, get a free book, and settle in for a visit at JolieTunnell.com.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 3, 2024
History and Mystery.
There really is an Idyllwild and some of the characters are fictionalized versions of real people But most of the story is pure imagination. Tunnel weaves historic events into her fun cozies. I am loving this series. I grabbed the first two books in a book club kindle promotion but I will definitely be reading the rest. The kindles have a link at the end for a free prequel exclusive from the author's website.
There really is an Idyllwild and some of the characters are fictionalized versions of real people But most of the story is pure imagination. Tunnel weaves historic events into her fun cozies. I am loving this series. I grabbed the first two books in a book club kindle promotion but I will definitely be reading the rest. The kindles have a link at the end for a free prequel exclusive from the author's website.
April 27, 2024
Great read!
Wonderful story! I really enjoy how easy it is to slip into the setting and enjoy the telling of this tail. It has so many twists, many times I asked if I truly was seeing the foreshadowing. I also want to say great job on grammar and spelling. Out of two books I've only seen one misspelled word. Fantastic!
Wonderful story! I really enjoy how easy it is to slip into the setting and enjoy the telling of this tail. It has so many twists, many times I asked if I truly was seeing the foreshadowing. I also want to say great job on grammar and spelling. Out of two books I've only seen one misspelled word. Fantastic!
December 21, 2021
Loveda Brown has inherited a tiny hotel in 1912 Idyllwild, California... well, sort of, as the owner lives in the woods and Loveda is a ‘squatter’ who takes care of the place for the mysterious lady. As a cosy, fun, historical Western reminiscent of reading the dime-store novels of the early 1950s set in the Wild West, you know you are off to a rollicking ride when the book starts off with the main character dangling from a rooftop with her knickers showing as the stagecoach shows up with guests. As to why Loveda is dangling from the rooftop and what ensues after her lawyer comes to the hotel, well, let’s just say there is a lot of page-turning excitement filled with a whole gaggle of Boy Scouts (whose mischievous encounters and spying eyes actually help Loveda in the end – from rooftop to rooftop), a pair of pompous newlyweds (a husband with a secret, and a wife with an even bigger secret), intolerable suffragettes, and a love interest – all colliding together in this little hotel. Sounds harmless, right? Not so fast... there is a murder and a kidnapping, and Loveda is determined to get to the bottom of this mystery and find the culprits, along with the secrets behind the crimes. And to think, all she wanted to do was to run a small hotel in this town she calls home.
Loveda is a spunky, corset-wearing, gun-toting main character, very likeable, whose gritty wit, courage, and detecting skills grab you right from the start and keeps you intrigued right to the end; and this story is such a refreshing and delightful diversion from the meaty historical fiction which is more common in the genre – a quick, fun mystery that you can zip through in an evening. For anyone who likes the old B-Western shows and movies of the 1950s such as Gunsmoke and The Lone Ranger (except with a woman lead), this is could easily fit right into that category, and if there was ever a comeback of those type of shows, this book and the others in the Loveda Brown series might make a very enjoyable and entertaining TV show.
Here are some of my favorite excerpts to give you a taste of this snug Western:
Legend asserted that Chief Tahquitz resided beneath the peak with a rattlesnake and a condor for company and shook things up once in a while when he got bored. Thankfully, I had never experienced a California earthquake, but the Cahuilla tribes in this area had long known that, after Tahquitz killed his sweetheart, he succumbed to an evil spirit that locked him deep in the mountaintop as penance. The Cahuilla left years ago, but the fire spirit lived on.
Resorts rarely had murder on the activity list. - (this made me laugh out loud - ‘rarely’?)
And in a serious moment, a moment when Loveda is reprimanding the naughty Boy Scouts for thinking life is like a penny novel - “Real life isn’t glamorous. It’s dangerous. You should be ashamed of yourselves for taking it so lightly.”
The fall should have hurt so much more than it did. Between my terror and the fact that I couldn’t breathe in properly for a good scream went a long way toward my becoming a hero of epic proportions in the eyes of the Boy Scouts.
Electricity had its place in the world, but it was no substitute for a moonlit night.
And last - “I don’t know what it is, but I am destined never to wear a clean, pretty frock.”
“Loveda Brown Comes Home” by Jolie Tunnell earns four stars from The Historical Fiction Company
Loveda is a spunky, corset-wearing, gun-toting main character, very likeable, whose gritty wit, courage, and detecting skills grab you right from the start and keeps you intrigued right to the end; and this story is such a refreshing and delightful diversion from the meaty historical fiction which is more common in the genre – a quick, fun mystery that you can zip through in an evening. For anyone who likes the old B-Western shows and movies of the 1950s such as Gunsmoke and The Lone Ranger (except with a woman lead), this is could easily fit right into that category, and if there was ever a comeback of those type of shows, this book and the others in the Loveda Brown series might make a very enjoyable and entertaining TV show.
Here are some of my favorite excerpts to give you a taste of this snug Western:
Legend asserted that Chief Tahquitz resided beneath the peak with a rattlesnake and a condor for company and shook things up once in a while when he got bored. Thankfully, I had never experienced a California earthquake, but the Cahuilla tribes in this area had long known that, after Tahquitz killed his sweetheart, he succumbed to an evil spirit that locked him deep in the mountaintop as penance. The Cahuilla left years ago, but the fire spirit lived on.
Resorts rarely had murder on the activity list. - (this made me laugh out loud - ‘rarely’?)
And in a serious moment, a moment when Loveda is reprimanding the naughty Boy Scouts for thinking life is like a penny novel - “Real life isn’t glamorous. It’s dangerous. You should be ashamed of yourselves for taking it so lightly.”
The fall should have hurt so much more than it did. Between my terror and the fact that I couldn’t breathe in properly for a good scream went a long way toward my becoming a hero of epic proportions in the eyes of the Boy Scouts.
Electricity had its place in the world, but it was no substitute for a moonlit night.
And last - “I don’t know what it is, but I am destined never to wear a clean, pretty frock.”
“Loveda Brown Comes Home” by Jolie Tunnell earns four stars from The Historical Fiction Company
June 3, 2021
This is a fun read with a mystery, a plucky heroine, numerous potential suitors, a troop of boy scouts, and a struggling hotel in 1912 California. Loveda just wants to find somewhere to settle down, and she thinks she has discovered just the place. Soon pandemonium ensues, however, and she has to rely on her wits, her courage, and her luck to make it through. The story kept me turning the pages, wondering what new challenge Loveda would have to overcome next. A highly enjoyable novel!
January 29, 2021
Smashing great story! Hits a home run! Loveda Brown is a woman for all seasons, all mysteries, and all sorts of shenanigans! I gotta meet this woman! (Though I can't imagine courting her without a six-shooter.)
The best mystery to come along since the Banning to Hemet Stage went out of business!
The best mystery to come along since the Banning to Hemet Stage went out of business!
February 22, 2021
Witty and intriguing story with lots of twists and turns. Keeps you hooked until the end. Interesting and entertaining characters. Good read.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
September 11, 2022
Interesting and Thrilling
Great and thrilling read that keeps the picture rolling through your minds eyes!!
Take the travel for yourself.
I laughed on and off with each page.
Enjoy your day!!
Great and thrilling read that keeps the picture rolling through your minds eyes!!
Take the travel for yourself.
I laughed on and off with each page.
Enjoy your day!!
November 29, 2024
1912 at the hotel owned by Walt Lindley a murder occurs but who would want to kill him. Idyllwild has also been invaded a scout group and a couple of newly weds. Will the mystery such as it is be solved.
Enjoyable story
Enjoyable story
May 4, 2025
the west
A look of the early west. A murder in the past and a creative way being solved. Boy Scouts in the past and how interesting how they join up in the solving the murder. Read and enjoy.
A look of the early west. A murder in the past and a creative way being solved. Boy Scouts in the past and how interesting how they join up in the solving the murder. Read and enjoy.
March 1, 2021
Each Loveda Brown mystery gets better as Loveda develops as a character and as we get to know the quirky characters that people Idyllwild. What a wonder! Read on!
August 1, 2021
Funny
I can only tell you its funny mystery because anything else would
Spoil the story. Loved reading this book. Anyone who likes a good western cozy mystery
Must read this.
I can only tell you its funny mystery because anything else would
Spoil the story. Loved reading this book. Anyone who likes a good western cozy mystery
Must read this.
February 19, 2023
Boy Scouts and Badges
It exciting. It Laugh out loud funny. It's A bit of the old wild,wild west. Loveda is amazing while one crises after another comes her way.
It exciting. It Laugh out loud funny. It's A bit of the old wild,wild west. Loveda is amazing while one crises after another comes her way.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews