Congratulations to Ellen Jacobson on the release of her debut novel, Murder at the Marina!
First I welcome Ellen for a guest post, followed by my FIVE-STAR review. Take it away, Ellen:
Thanks for hosting me on your site today to celebrate the release of my cozy mystery, Murder at the Marina. This is the first book in the lighthearted and humorous Mollie McGhie Sailing Mystery series, featuring a reluctant sailor turned amateur sleuth.
My own sailing adventures and misadventures inspired me to write this series. My husband and I bought our first sailboat in New Zealand in 2012. After a couple of years cruising in those beautiful waters, we returned to the States and bought a bigger boat which we moved onto in 2015. We’ve since cruised in Florida and the Bahamas, labored over endless boat projects, and worked to keep our cruising kitty (savings) topped up.
I wanted to reflect my experiences learning to sail, cruising and living aboard a boat, and being part of the boating community in my cozy mysteries. You could say that there’s a little bit of me in my main character, Mollie.
I thought I’d share one of the boating tidbits which I wrote about in Murder at the Marina—namely, fear of alligators and other sea monsters. When Mollie first visits Palm Tree Marina and walks down the dock, she worries about falling into the water and what dangers might lurk there. I can completely relate to this as we have alligators who make their home at our marina, swimming right next to my boat. Typically, alligators aren’t interested in attacking humans, but, unfortunately, there’s always someone who decides to feed them. Not a great idea. The gators start to associate humans with food and, more often than not, they have to be removed and destroyed.
Now that I’ve become more accustomed to alligators, I don’t freak out as much as I used to. In fact, we have a couple of babies swimming around at the marina right now and I caught myself thinking that they were adorable. Then I remembered the teeth. It will be interesting to see if Mollie does encounter alligators, crocodiles, or other creatures over the course of the series and how she reacts.
If you’d like to learn more about Mollie and her sailing adventures, you can find details about Murder at the Marinabelow.
Murder at the Marina by Ellen Jacobson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Little Sweet Potato Sleuth
What a charming debut novel!
Mollie McGhie is an intrepid journalist who has just moved to a Florida coastal town with her husband, Scooter. Scooter has some endearing nicknames for his wife, like, My Little Sweet Potato, but his 10th wedding anniversary gift is not so endearing: a ramshackle sailboat. Neither Mollie nor Scooter possesses the skills to rehabilitate the boat, much less sail the open sea.
Mollie’s disdain for the sailboat multiplies when she finds a dead body on deck. Who murdered the victim? Suspects abound in the town’s colorful cast of characters.
After Mollie overhears one suspicious conversation, her clueless question cracked me up:
“Wait until those new marks of yours find out what you sold them.”
He shook Penny by the shoulders. “You better not say anything, you hear me?”
I was left with one question—who were these new marks she was referring to?
Chocolate is Mollie’s fuel for sleuthing. Not only is she trying to identify the murderer, but also she believes one woman in town suffers from alien abduction. Good thing her “journalist” job is for the Federation of Alien Research, Outreach, and UFO Tracking. She’s determined to beat out another woman for promotion.
Mollie’s investigative efforts do not impress the police chief.
”Mrs. McGhie, what a surprise to find you here. You seem to specialize in finding bodies.” Chief Dalton raised both of his eyebrows. “That makes two bodies in just four days, doesn’t it?”
His math was correct. I guess the ability to be able to do simple arithmetic was an important skill for police officers. That’s probably why I never joined the force. I struggle with math. I’m also scared of guns.
I found the female version of Inspector Clouseau to be fun and entertaining despite the danger swirling around her. A great read!
View all my reviews
Blurb
A dilapidated sailboat for your anniversary—not very romantic. A dead body on board—even worse.
Mollie McGhie is hoping for diamonds for her tenth wedding anniversary. Instead, her husband presents her with a dilapidated sailboat. Just one problem—she doesn’t know anything about boats, nor does she want to.
When Mollie discovers someone murdered on board, she hopes it will convince her husband that owning a boat is a bad idea. Unfortunately, he’s more determined than ever to fix the boat up and set out to sea.
Mollie finds herself drawn into the tight-knit community living at Palm Tree Marina in Coconut Cove, a small town on the Florida coast. She uncovers a crime ring dealing in stolen marine equipment, investigates an alien abduction, eats way too many chocolate bars, adopts a cat, and learns far more about sailing than she ever wanted to.
Can Mollie discover who the murderer is before her nosiness gets her killed?
Buy Links
Murder at the Marina—A Mollie McGhie Sailing Mystery #1
Print ISBN 978-1-7321602-1-7
eBook ISBN 978-1-7321602-0-0
Mystery
Author Bio
Ellen Jacobson writes mystery and scifi/fantasy stories. She is the author of the “Mollie McGhie Sailing Mystery” series. She lives on a sailboat with her husband, exploring the world from the water. When she isn’t working on boat projects or seeking out deserted islands, she blogs about their adventures at The Cynical Sailor.
You can connect with Ellen on:
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Jennifer Lane Books 
Big congratulations to Ellen!Not a good idea to feed alligators. They might decide you would taste better.
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Thanks so much for hosting me and the wonderful review of Murder at the Marina 🙂
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Good thinking, Alex!My pleasure, Ellen. 🙂
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Congrats Ellen!!!
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Alex & Tyrean – thanks so much!
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