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Volume 10 • Issue 2
Wednesday, October 7, 2026
🍂 FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK
Happy Wednesday, everyone!
Things are definitely getting spooky in Sunset Cove...
Yesterday I told you the pumpkins were starting to appear and a few skeletons had found their way onto porches. Well, apparently that was only the beginning. More decorations have gone up around town, the shop windows are changing almost daily, and somebody has now put a rather convincing ghost in an upstairs window that has already made me look twice.
Add the October fog rolling in from the water in the mornings, and our charming little coastal town is beginning to look suspiciously like it belongs on the cover of a mystery novel.
Which makes today's featured book particularly appropriate.
We're heading to another coastal town, where a woman hoping for a fresh start discovers that losing her sight has given her the ability to perceive something everyone else has missed—a ghost who has been waiting seventy years for someone to solve his murder.
We also have more mysteries making headlines, new book promos to browse, an Elly-approved fall recipe, and a quick update on our Fall & Halloween Decorating Contest.
Coffee ready?
Let's investigate.
🐾 DETECTIVE PERRY’S CASE FILE
"I saw the ghost."
What ghost?
"Across the street."
That's a decoration.
"You seem very confident."
It's hanging from fishing line, Perry.
"Could be an elaborate cover."
For what?
"I haven't determined that yet."
And this is the cat judging your decorating contest, everyone.
"I take my responsibilities seriously."
You're wearing a detective hat.
"Exactly."
🔦 TODAY'S MYSTERY SPOTLIGHT
BLIND MEDIUM ARRIVES IN COASTAL TOWN—FINDS GHOST WAITING 70 YEARS FOR JUSTICE
The Spirit Investigator
The Thornfield Hollow Mysteries — Book 1
by Fiona Mapleton
A blind medium. A murdered ghost. A killer who's gotten away with it for seventy years.
When Mara Westfield inherits a cottage in the coastal town of Thornfield Hollow, she's looking for a fresh start after her divorce and the loss of her vision.
Instead, she walks straight into a seventy-year-old mystery.
Nathaniel Thorne was pushed from the lighthouse in 1952. His murder was covered up by someone powerful, and for decades his spirit has remained trapped—unseen by everyone around him.
Until Mara arrives.
Her blindness, it turns out, allows her to perceive a paranormal world others can't see.
And Nate needs her help.
Together, the unlikely pair begin investigating a murder committed seven decades earlier. But when a journalist looking into the same historical property fraud is killed at the very same lighthouse, Mara realizes the danger surrounding Nate's death didn't disappear with time.
The killer is still alive.
Still powerful.
And apparently still willing to kill to keep the past buried.
Now Mara has to navigate a small town where the villain is everyone's favorite citizen, prove a seventy-year-old murder using a ghost as her witness, and stay alive long enough to expose the truth.
All while something unexpected begins developing between Mara and the murdered man she's trying to help.
Because sometimes seeing the dead may be exactly what it takes to catch a killer.
📰 MORE MYSTERIES MAKING HEADLINES
THE OCTOBER CASE FILES KEEP GROWING
I don't know whether it's October or whether mystery authors have collectively decided none of us need sleep this month, but the books keep coming.
I've got more mysteries from fellow authors on today's news desk, so have a look through the case files and see what belongs on your October TBR.
And considering we just featured a murdered ghost who's been waiting seventy years for someone to solve his case, I think we're officially allowed to embrace the slightly spookier side of cozy mystery season.
📚 COMMUNITY BOOK EXCHANGE
MORE BOOKS. BECAUSE OF COURSE.
The book promos are open again today, which means there are even more mysteries waiting for you.
Browse around, investigate some new authors, and grab the free reads that catch your attention. This is exactly the time of year when I convince myself I need an unreasonable number of books because I'll obviously spend every cool October evening curled up reading.
Whether I actually have that much free time is irrelevant.
🍎 FROM ELLY’S KITCHEN
ELLY’S CARAMEL APPLE CIDER DUMP CAKE
If we're going to spend October investigating ghosts and decorating Sunset Cove, we're going to need something warm coming out of the oven.
This one is officially Elly approved because it's everything I want from a fall dessert: apples, cinnamon, caramel, and almost no effort.
What You'll Need
- 2 cans (20–21 oz each) apple pie filling
- ½ cup apple cider
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 box yellow or spice cake mix
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup chopped pecans, optional
- Caramel sauce for drizzling
- Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream for serving, optional—but highly encouraged
From the Kitchen
Preheat your oven to 350°F and lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking dish.
Spread the apple pie filling evenly across the bottom, then pour the apple cider over the apples and sprinkle with cinnamon. Gently stir just enough to combine everything.
Sprinkle the dry cake mix evenly over the apples. Don't stir this layer. Drizzle the melted butter across the top, trying to cover as much of the cake mix as possible. If you're using pecans, sprinkle them over the butter.
Bake for about 45–50 minutes, until the top is golden and the apple filling is bubbling around the edges.
Let it cool slightly, then drizzle warm caramel sauce over the top. Serve it just as it is or add a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Preferably while reading a mystery.
ELLY'S VERDICT:
Warm, messy, ridiculously easy, and your kitchen smells like October.
That's a win.
🍂🎃 THE DECORATING CONTEST
THE TOWN IS GETTING SPOOKIER…
I told you yesterday that the decorations were beginning to appear.
They're multiplying.
The pumpkins and mums are still everywhere, but now we're seeing more ghosts hanging from porches, witches appearing in shop windows, and skeletons occupying places where skeletons really have no business being.
One homeowner has a skeleton sitting peacefully on the porch as though he's been waiting all year for someone to bring him coffee.
Honestly, I respect the commitment.
At night, though, it's a completely different town. Porch lights glow against the decorations, jack-o'-lanterns flicker along the sidewalks, and the lighthouse cuts through the darkness beyond the harbor.
Throw in a little coastal fog and...
Well.
Sunset Cove cleans up nicely for spooky season.
And while Sunset Cove is transforming, I want to see what your home looks like!
Our Fall & Halloween Decorating Contest is officially underway. Your decorations do not have to be Halloween-themed. Cozy fall porches, pumpkins and mums, autumn mantels, Halloween displays, skeleton invasions—we want them all.
📸 Simply reply to this email with your photo or send it to:
helloelly@mycozymurdermysteries.com
We're accepting entries throughout October, and one winner will receive a special prize from Elly Grey.
Detective Perry is judging.
Apparently there is no longer any point in arguing about this.
📰 UNTIL TOMORROW...
That closes Volume 10 • Issue 2.
Today we reopened a seventy-year-old murder with a very unusual witness, added more mysteries to our October TBRs, browsed another round of book promos, made something warm and apple-filled for dessert, and checked in on Sunset Cove as the town gets progressively spookier.
And Detective Perry is apparently now investigating the Halloween decorations for actual paranormal activity.
Everything seems perfectly normal here.
Remember to send us your Fall & Halloween Decorating Contest photos throughout October. I can't wait to see your homes—and I'm particularly curious to see what Perry eventually chooses as his winner.
We'll be back tomorrow for the final edition of The Sunset Chronicles this week.
Until then, enjoy your Wednesday, make something delicious, find something mysterious to read, and remember:
If the ghost has been waiting seventy years to tell you something, you should probably listen.
Happy Reading!
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