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Volume 9 • Issue 2
Wednesday, September 30, 2026
🍂 FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK
Happy Wednesday, everyone!
Well, we've officially reached the last day of September. I still don't know where the month went, but apparently the calendar isn't interested in my opinion because tomorrow is October 1st.
Yesterday I asked how many of you decorate for Halloween, and that got me thinking.
In a few weeks, Sunset Cove is going to be covered in pumpkins, ghosts, skeletons, cobwebs, and whatever else the residents manage to drag out of storage. If we're going to have all that fun here in our fictional little coastal town, I want to see what Halloween looks like where you live, too.
So we're starting our very first Sunset Chronicles Halloween Decorating Contest!
I'll give you all the details in today's edition. But first, we have a trip to another seaside town—and apparently Blue Heron Bay has almost as much trouble staying murder-free as Sunset Cove.
Almost.
Today's feature isn't just one mystery, either. We're talking four full-length mysteries in one collection, so I hope everybody made some room on the TBR overnight.
We also have more mysteries making headlines and, of course, plenty of free books waiting in today's promos.
Grab your coffee and settle in.
Let's open today's edition.
🐾 PERRY'S PAW PRINTS
"Requested?"
Yes.
"I believe the word you're looking for is appointed."
Nobody appointed you.
"Someone has to maintain standards."
What are your judging criteria?
"Originality. Atmosphere. Appropriate use of lighting."
That's surprisingly reasonable.
"And cats receive an automatic ten-point bonus."
There it is.
No bonus points for cats.
"Then I resign."
Accepted.
"I withdraw my resignation."
Also expected.
🔦 TODAY'S MYSTERY SPOTLIGHT
FOUR DEATHS. ONE SEASIDE TOWN. AND A SECRET THAT REFUSES TO STAY BURIED.
Murder on Cape Cod — Volume Two
Molly McBeal Cozy Mysteries, Books 5–8
by Maple Quinn
Former therapist Molly McBeal came to Blue Heron Bay to pour coffee, not bury neighbors.
But apparently seaside towns have other plans.
Molly has become the person people confide in—the one who hears what isn't being said and notices when something beneath the surface doesn't quite add up.
Fortunately, she isn't investigating alone.
Her partner in all of it is Star, a mini Aussiedoodle with an uncanny ability to read a room. When everything is fine, Star's eyes are azure. When something isn't right, they turn navy.
And when danger is close?
Gray.
Across four full-length mysteries, Molly follows that warning into cases involving a body nobody thought to look for, a harbor mysteriously poisoned while the dolphins abandon the bay, a man found dead at the end of a breakwater, and another death at dawn just as the dolphins finally return.
Each investigation reveals another layer beneath Blue Heron Bay's polished seaside welcome.
Read them together and the mysteries begin telling a larger story—about a bay that empties and fills again, old secrets that refuse to stay buried, and one woman who keeps choosing to notice.
📰 MORE MYSTERIES MAKING HEADLINES
BECAUSE FOUR BOOKS CLEARLY WEREN’T ENOUGH
You would think featuring an entire four-book collection would satisfy us for one Wednesday.
You would be wrong.
I've got more mysteries from fellow authors waiting on the news desk today, so take a look through the case files and see what catches your attention.
At this point, I'm not even going to pretend we're trying to control the TBR.
September broke us.
We'll try again in October.
Maybe.
📚 COMMUNITY BOOK EXCHANGE
AND YES, THERE ARE FREE BOOKS TOO.
We already handed you four mysteries in today's feature and then added more books from fellow authors.
Naturally, the next logical thing to do is give you even more books to browse for free.
The Community Book Exchange is open, and there are plenty of mysteries waiting to be discovered. Take a look, try someone new, and see whether you find your next favorite sleuth.
Tomorrow begins a new month.
Surely that means the TBR count resets to zero.
That's how this works, right?
🎃 AROUND SUNSET COVE
THE SUNSET CHRONICLES HALLOWEEN DECORATING CONTEST
Yesterday we talked about how Sunset Cove will start looking a little spooky over the next few weeks as the residents decorate their homes and businesses for Halloween.
Then I had an idea.
I WANT TO SEE YOURS!
Beginning October 1st, I'm inviting The Sunset Chronicles readers to send me photos of their Halloween decorations throughout the entire month of October.
Decorate the inside of your home.
Decorate the outside.
Show me your front porch, your yard, your mantel, your Halloween tree, your pumpkins, your skeletons, your ghosts—or the completely ridiculous display that has your neighbors wondering what happened over there.
I want to see it all.
You don't need a giant professional display, either. If your Halloween style is three pumpkins and a slightly judgmental-looking witch on the front porch, you're in.
Send me a photo anytime during October, and at the end of the month, I'll choose my favorite.
🎃 THE WINNER WILL RECEIVE A SPECIAL PRIZE FROM ELLY GREY!
We'll announce the winner right here in The Sunset Chronicles.
The contest officially begins tomorrow, October 1st, so start decorating and get those cameras ready.
I'll include the submission details once the contest opens.
And yes...
Perry has already requested a position on the judging committee.
🌊 FROM ELLY'S DESK
While we're waiting for your photos to start arriving, Sunset Cove will be getting ready for Halloween right alongside you.
Over the next few weeks, we'll check in on the town as the pumpkins appear, storefronts transform, porches get spookier, and certain residents inevitably become far too competitive about their decorations.
I have a feeling Halloween in Sunset Cove could become an event all its own.
And since this town can't seem to get through an ordinary week without somebody uncovering a secret...
Let's hope the skeletons stay decorative this year.
📰 UNTIL TOMORROW...
That closes Volume 9 • Issue 2 and, believe it or not, closes the book on September.
Today we traveled to Blue Heron Bay for four seaside mysteries, added even more books to our TBRs, raided the Community Book Exchange, and officially announced our first Sunset Chronicles Halloween Decorating Contest.
Tomorrow is October 1st.
The contest begins.
So get those pumpkins out. Wake up the skeletons. Untangle the lights. Drag whatever questionable purchase you made at the Halloween store out of the garage.
And then send me pictures.
I can't wait to see what you come up with.
We'll be back tomorrow for the final edition of the week—and our first October edition of The Sunset Chronicles.
Happy Reading!
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