🐾 Wander & Wonder Wednesday
Traveling from one mystery to the next... with Margo and Dot.
Dot's Wednesday Dispatch 🚨
Some days start with a quiet cup of tea and a polite review of our travel schedule.
Today is decidedly not one of those days.
Maple syrup is still dripping from the old-growth trees across the town square.
Crisp Vermont air is sweeping through the leaves, carrying the caramelized scent of festival booths that we left behind.
If you thought Margo and I packed our bags, closed the chapter on Sticky Sweet Murder, and moved on to greener pastures...
My Papillon mouth has a few choice words for you.
We are not done here yet!
Pine Hollow doesn't let you walk away that easily; it leaves sticky clues on your boots and whispers in the autumn wind. My nose still remembers every inch of the trail, and I refuse to leave a mystery half-solved.
I've laid out an entire interactive evidence trail straight back to the crime scene, and you are following every single step of it with me today.
Hold onto your coffee mugs. We have suspects to trip up, codes to crack, and a trail to walk.
🔎 Stop 1: The Suspect Alibi Match
Keep walking the trail with me.
Our first stop brings us right back to the bustling festival grounds.
Before we question anyone, we need to look at what the locals claimed they were doing when the chaos hit.
Small towns love a good story.
Everyone has an excuse ready.
I’ve set up a visual trace-the-path puzzle for you below.
Trace the winding lines from each character on the left over to their matching alibi on the right.
Four of these accounts are completely true to what happened during festival prep.
One suspect is spinning a total lie.
Can your detective eyes trace the paths?
Can you catch who claims they were locked away in a quiet cellar miles outside of town?
Can you expose the false alibi?
Once you've got it solved, keep following the trail down to our next stop.
🧳 Stop 2: Pack Margo's Suitcase
The trail moves forward, but our travel packs are a complete disaster.
Small-town Vermont requires elite survival gear, and Margo always packs the strangest things.
Look at the five items below:
- [ ] 🧥 Item 1: A thick plaid wool flannel for crisp autumn stakeouts.
- [ ] 📖 Item 2: A worn leather-bound travel journal for logging suspect lies.
- [ ] 🦴 Item 3: An emergency stash of peanut butter treats for the Chief Detective.
- [ ] 🔦 Item 4: A heavy-duty tactical flashlight for dark B&B hallways.
- [ ]🔍 Item 5: A giant magnifying glass for inspecting crumbs.
Drop your evidence in our inbox: Tell us which single item doesn't belong in Margo's suitcase while investigating Pine Hollow!
🔐 Stop 3: The B&B Corridor Emoji Decryptor
Keep walking the trail with me.
We’ve just stepped off the festival grounds and slipped inside the creaky hallway of the Pine Hollow Bed & Breakfast.
This is where things get truly mysterious, and I need my best operatives to help me decode what's lurking in the shadows.
Here are your rules, detectives: combine the emoji clues and words below to form a sentence and crack the hidden B&B message!
The Code Key:
- 🚪 + Locked = [ Word 1 ]
- 🕵️♀️ + Journal = [ Word 2 ]
- 🥞 + Festival = [ Word 3 ]
- 🐾 + Clue = [ Word 4 ]
The Hidden Sentence:
"When the [ Word 1 ] is secure, the [ Word 2 ] proves that every maple [ Word 3 ] leaves a telling [ Word 4 ] behind."
Cable back your findings: Hit reply with your decoded sentence before we reach the end of the trail!
📚 Sweet Sticky Murder & Chief Detective Confession
Our trail is leading us right to the final chapter, but before we look at the book, you need to know how my elite investigative dignity was put to the test.
Remember the time I suddenly darted behind the festival baking tent and emerged with a half-eaten waffle cone dangling triumphantly from my jaws?
Margo shot me a look of profound disapproval.
Some humans call that a lack of discipline.
I call it field-testing municipal confectionery assets.
It's a thankless job, but somebody has to make sure the crust is up to detective standards.
There are plenty more moments where my investigative brilliance shines.
You just have to grab the book to see them all.
🎁 Share the Free Book & Get Written Into the Next Novel!
Book 1 (Sticky Sweet Murder) is completely FREE.
We want to invite as many cozy mystery lovers into our trail as possible.
When you forward this email or share our free book link with your reading friends, just tell them Dot sent you!
The Ultimate Reward:
Whenever someone new joins our community from your corner and lets us know, you enter our drawing for the ultimate cozy perk.
You just might have the chance to have your name featured directly inside an upcoming D.A. Sweeten novel as a side character!
☕ Coffee with D.A.
Hello lovelies!
D.A. here.
I see Dot took you on quite the wild chase down our trail today.
Watching her lead the charge through Pine Hollow always brings the biggest smile to my face.
Writing Sticky Sweet Murder was such a joyful experience.
It established everything we love about this world.
Margo’s eye for detail.
Dot’s endless charm.
And the cozy comfort of stepping into a town that feels like home.
Dot is already tugging me for her walk, gotta run!
Until next time, keep your drink warm and your books close!
P.S. from Dot: I didn't lead you all the way back through Pine Hollow just for you to ghost me at the finish line. Go forward this trail to your reading friends, pull them into our messy little community, and tell them Chief Detective Dot sent you. I'm counting on you!
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