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Volume 10 • Issue 1
Tuesday, October 6, 2026
🍂 FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK
Happy Tuesday, everyone, and welcome to another week in Sunset Cove!
October has officially settled in, and I'm happy to report that Sunset Cove is beginning to look the part. Pumpkins are appearing on porches, mums are popping up beside front doors, and a few of the shops have started changing their windows for the season. We're still in that lovely mix of cozy fall with just a hint of spooky, although I have a feeling the spooky side is going to win as we get closer to Halloween.
Our Fall & Halloween Decorating Contest is underway too, so while the residents of Sunset Cove decorate their homes, I want to see what you're doing with yours. I'll give you the details again below—and yes, Detective Perry remains firmly convinced that he is in charge of judging.
Today's featured mystery feels particularly appropriate for October. We have a mysterious antique locket, a drowning from thirty years ago that may not have been an accident, a psychic sleuth, and a talking cat with opinions about everything.
Perry stopped listening after “talking cat.”
We also have more mysteries making headlines and new book promos waiting for you, so make a little room on that TBR.
Let's open Volume 10.
🐾 DETECTIVE PERRY’S CASE FILE
"I've already begun patrols."
Patrols of what?
"The neighborhood."
You're an indoor cat.
"Surveillance can be conducted through windows."
And what exactly are you looking for?
"Composition. Originality. Seasonal atmosphere. Suspicious skeleton placement."
Okay, those aren't terrible criteria.
"And adequate representation of cats."
There are no bonus points for cats.
"I didn't say bonus points."
Good.
"I said adequate representation."
That's the same thing.
"The investigation is ongoing."
Send the pictures to me. Do not send them directly to Perry.
🔎 TODAY’S MYSTERY SPOTLIGHT
ANTIQUE LOCKET TRIGGERS PSYCHIC VISION OF 30-YEAR-OLD DROWNING
A Locket to Die For
A Fiona Mathis Paranormal Cozy Mystery — Book 2
by Nora Kest
A mysterious locket. A drowning that was never an accident. And a cat with opinions about everything.
Fiona Mathis thought sorting antiques would be the easy part of starting her new life in Moonfall Valley.
Then she touches a silver locket hidden inside a hope chest.
Fiona's psychic gift suddenly pulls her into the drowning of Eleanor Voss, a woman who died thirty years earlier.
And Fiona is left with the unmistakable feeling that Eleanor's death was no accident.
She begins digging into the decades-old mystery and discovers there was no shortage of people with reasons to resent Eleanor. Her sister-in-law had problems with her involvement in the family business. A foreman lost his job and reputation because of her. And the name of a former deputy keeps surfacing as Fiona investigates.
Fortunately, Fiona isn't entirely on her own. Jasper, her sharp-tongued talking cat, considers himself a particularly spectacular investigator.
Then Fiona starts getting too close.
A break-in at the antique shop and cut brake lines prove that someone doesn't want the past disturbed, while Sheriff Ethan Cross becomes increasingly worried that Fiona's investigation is putting her directly in danger.
Someone has kept the truth buried for thirty years.
Unless Fiona can uncover who really killed Eleanor, she may be the next person silenced for good.
📰 MORE MYSTERIES MAKING HEADLINES
MORE CASES HAVE ARRIVED AT THE NEWS DESK
Apparently a psychic vision and a thirty-year-old suspicious death aren't enough to keep us occupied this Tuesday.
I've got more mysteries from fellow authors waiting for you today, so take a look through the case files and see what catches your attention. October is prime mystery-reading weather as far as I'm concerned, which means I refuse to accept responsibility for whatever happens to your TBR this month.
Actually, I've stopped accepting responsibility for the TBR altogether.
📚 COMMUNITY BOOK EXCHANGE
A NEW BOOK PROMO HAS ARRIVED
The Community Book Exchange has been restocked, which means there are more books waiting to be discovered.
Take a look through today's promos, investigate some new-to-you authors, and grab the free reads that catch your attention. This is one of my favorite ways to discover a series I might otherwise have missed.
Of course, one free book has an alarming tendency to become six purchased books once I realize it's part of a series.
But we'll call that a problem for Future Us.
🍂 AROUND SUNSET COVE
THE PUMPKINS ARE STARTING TO APPEAR…
Sunset Cove looked a little different when I walked through town this week.
A few of the houses near the water have pumpkins lining their front steps now. One porch has been completely taken over by mums, gourds, and hay bales, while another homeowner has gone in the opposite direction and already has a skeleton sitting comfortably in a rocking chair.
I passed one shop downtown that has little ghosts hanging in the window beside its usual fall display, and another has stayed completely autumnal with warm leaves, pumpkins, and lanterns.
And that is exactly what I love about this time of year.
Fall doesn't have to mean Halloween.
Some people want ghosts, witches, skeletons, and cobwebs. Others want pumpkins, fall leaves, warm lights, mums, and everything cozy.
Both count in our contest.
🎃🍂 THE SUNSET CHRONICLES FALL & HALLOWEEN DECORATING CONTEST IS OPEN!
Throughout October, send me a photo of your Fall OR Halloween decorations. It can be inside or outside, simple or elaborate. Show me your porch, yard, mantel, Halloween tree, fall centerpiece—or the entire house if you've really committed.
You can reply directly to this email with your photo or send it to:
helloelly@mycozymurdermysteries.com
At the end of October, we'll choose a winner who will receive a special prize from Elly Grey.
And apparently I need to make this official:
🔎 DETECTIVE PERRY WILL BE OUR JUDGE.
I have concerns.
📰 UNTIL TOMORROW...
That closes Volume 10 • Issue 1.
Today we followed a mysterious locket into a thirty-year-old death investigation, met a talking cat who may be giving Perry ideas, added more mysteries to our TBRs, and browsed a fresh round of book promos.
Back home, the first pumpkins have arrived on Sunset Cove's porches, the skeletons are beginning to make appearances, and Detective Perry is officially on the case for our Fall & Halloween Decorating Contest.
Now we need evidence.
📸 Send those decorating photos! Reply to this email or send them to
helloelly@mycozymurdermysteries.com anytime during October.
We'll be back tomorrow with another edition of The Sunset Chronicles.
Until then, enjoy your Tuesday, find something good to read, and if you happen to pick up an antique locket that suddenly shows you a thirty-year-old murder...
Maybe put it back down.
Happy Reading!
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