Local mystery author Jolie Tunnel inspired by Idyllwild history
Jolie Tunnel is among the many creative people who draw inspiration from our community and natural surroundings, and who find the pace of cabin life conductive to their process. Her Idyllwild Mystery Series promises “history, mystery and poppycock” as readers follow the adventures of protagonist Loveda Brown in turn-of-the-century Idyllwild. She describes herself as an “award winning and Amazon bestselling author, freelance writer, blogger end professional mom of five.”
Tunnell’s engagement with the craft of writing and the wider community of readers and writers finds expression in blogs, podcasts, book fairs and other events. Her website includes author Q and As, prompts for book club discussions, and generous lists of her own recent reading favorites.
We asked about how history became important to her. “I’ve always been the keeper of my family trees. I love old photos and cake recipes written out in elegant handwriting, the lilting names of my ancestors and the grit they used to carve futures out of unknown worlds. I keep my great-grandmother’s sewing machine, her black velvet coat, and the stories she passed on to the next generations. But I always have more questions than answers. I always want to know ‘why?’ Research is one of the best parts of my job! Truth is always stranger than fiction, and when you combine them just right, telling the tale is one amazing journey into the past…. And it brings me joy to give voices to characters inspired by the strong women in my family tree.’
Tunnell explains the attraction of the period as a setting for the kind of story she wants to tell in her website’s Q and A section, noting that the second decade of the 20th century was when “technology caught up” with Idyllwild “in the form of automobiles and travelers.” Beyond the opening of the highway from Banning she notes other watershed events of the period: World War I, and women’s suffrage in California. The time was one of expanding horizons and encroaching development, and the older residents, both the indigenous people and the ‘49ers, struggled to cope.
Tunnell also sees the time as one of new possibilities. “In the 1910s world, where the frontier was no longer two-dimensional and measured with a line on a map but expanded underground into subways and overhead with airplanes, the sky really was the limit to imagination. Loveda Brown carries the spirit of the New Age into the Wild West. In a world full of pioneers, trailblazers, inventors, and travelers, all she really wants is a place to put down roots.” Much like today, people sought places to put down roots in an unstable world.
As to how she entered our story, she wrote: “My family has been coming up the Hill forever and it holds some of our best memories. Idyllwild holds a special place in our hearts. Digging into its history was instinctive and rewarding and I never ran out of ideas for plots, characters, or settings.” Readers will live through the fire that destroyed Walter Lindley’s Idyllwild Sanitorium, and meet familiar names like the Hannahs and the Keens. There are of course many fictional characters, but the feeling for this place is real. “The Idyllwild Mystery Series is a love letter to Idyllwild and readers will fall in love with the mountain as Loveda Brown makes it her forever home.” Jolie adds that her daughter comes to church camp here each summer, and the family has been here for floods and fires, and gazed up at the star filled skies, just like Loveda Brown.
Follow Jolie on Facebook or Instagram at JolieTunnell.com, or visit and shop at the website by the same name. Books from the Idyllwild Mystery Series are also available for sale at the Idyllwild Historical Society Museum.
