"Now For a Little Personal Detective Work"

Harry Stephen Keeler's 1934 Dutton Clue Mystery, THE RIDDLE OF THE TRAVELING SKULL, "begins when a poem and a mysterious handbag lead a man to the grave of Legga, the Human Spider — and things just get stranger from there."

Based on that description, I would understand if you left the blog right now to grab a copy. Keeler's one of those "so bad he's good" authors. Here's a snippet from NPR: "Among the classic Keeler plots: A man is found strangled to death in the middle of a lawn, yet there are no footprints other than his own. Police suspect the 'Flying Strangler-Baby,' a killer midget who disguises himself as a baby and stalks victims by helicopter."

If you're still here -- bonus points if you happen to be a teacher or librarian looking for fun activities for students -- I'd like to show you a wonderful quirk of Dutton Clue Mysteries circa 1930.

Partway through each book in the series, a tear-away coupon invited the reader to "enter the story" and predict the ending by mailing their deductions and the reasoning behind them to the publisher. When three such correctly solved cards were received, the reader won a free Dutton Clue Mystery.

A friend sent me a postcard of the tear-away from THE RIDDLE OF THE TRAVELING SKULL, below (image reissued in 2005 by the Collins Library, an imprint of McSweeney's Books).

Next time your book club, summer reading challenge club, or literature class chooses a mystery, why not insert a similar card for extra credit or prizes? Readers will get the fun of analyzing clues, discussing possible answers, and laying out the method behind their theories.

You can follow this format:

Sarah Skilton lives in California with her magician husband and their young son. Her debut young adult novel, BRUISED, about a 16-year-old black belt in Tae Kwon Do who freezes up at an armed robbery, received a starred review from Publishers Weekly and is available now!

Mystery Monday #35: Opposite World

It's Mystery Monday -- time to stretch your creative muscles with a writing exercise! 

Today's prompt involves something a bit counter-intuitive. It's like the scene from Cars where Doc Hudson tells Lightning "turn right to go left". If you're familiar with the film, then you know Lightning was a little (a lot) skeptical, and you may be, too. That's fine, so long as you enjoy the ride.


Step 1: Think of an object you consider beautiful. I'm talking a building, a piece of furniture, some old jewelry, or--ahem--a car.


Step 2: Make a back story for the object. Tell us where it came from, who owned it, how it got to the point where you appreciate it. BUT (you knew it was coming) the back story has to be ugly. It was built in a factory on the verge of closing, or it was thrown out by a mean woman whose husband could never please her.


Step 3: Reverse the exercise. Make beautiful ugly, and ugly beautiful.


Some tips: 

• Don't over think this. It's just for you, write fast and see what you get.
• Try other opposites, Lucky and Unlucky, Rich and Poor, Shy and Outgoing.
• Keep it under a page (unless, of course, you're really into it and you feel you've got something special).

Have fun in Opposite World, gang. Until next time. 

Mystery Monday #33: Prompt: Think Like A Bad Guy

It's Mystery Monday! For you regulars here, you know that's when we'll give you a writing prompt. Just in case you needed a little creative kick in the ol' behind.

Today, I want to talk about bad guys. I love a good bad guy--why else does your hero need to save the day, right? But writing a bad guy can be quite the challenge, so here's a prompt for this week:

Write your story from the perspective of your bad guy. Okay, so maybe you don't have to actually write the whole thing, but just imagine the story from his or her perspective for this prompt.

1. What's his motivation? What does he want? Make it so in his eyes, your bad guy (or girl) is totally justified.

2. What would be his happy ending? Think how your bad guy could get what (s)he wants. This happy ending can be a plot point in your story-in-progress: by making things very hard for your hero, you can up the stakes and conflict.

3. What's your bad guy's Achilles Heel? Is he afraid of cockroaches (that would be me...), or of losing his kid? This is ammunition for your hero--try to think of a moment where this weak spot can become a tool.

For more ideas, look at your favorite bad guys. Me, I've been watching Justified lately, and Boyd Crowder makes such great multifaceted bad guy. You can almost see his point of view as a completely valid one. Almost.

How 'bout you? Any favorite bad guys? We'll allow TV, movies or books, since it's Monday.

Mystery Monday #31

Welcome to our regular Monday feature, where you'll find different kinds of writing prompts and exercises. Each week, we'll give you something to help exercise your mystery-writing muscles.


This month we're talking about crime, and the questions that crime-writing raises for authors. One of the big challenges writing mystery is how to make the story airtight while keeping the reader guessing. This exercise forces you to examine the crime from all angles and make sure you've got alibis where you need 'em and clever clues where you don't!


Cross-Examination
Describe all that your main character knows about the crime at hand through dialogue, as if s/he were being cross-examined in court. What are the basic facts from their point of view? What doesn't the MC know? What might s/he be overlooking and for what reason?


Next, put your other suspects on the stand and submit them to questioning. What are their excuses? How do they defend themselves? What makes them suspicious? 


Look at the crime itself. How was it executed? Was it premeditated? What was the motivation? What about a getaway? Any accomplices? How did the real criminal get away with it?


Is there a detective on the scene? Any experts you can call in that could weave evidence together? What are the clues that lead the sleuth to figuring out the truth?


Now, give your closing remarks to your "jury" (think picky editors and agents!). How does the story hang together? What logical leaps are you expecting from the reader? What needs more explanation? 

Mystery Monday #25

Welcome to our regular Monday feature, where you'll find different kinds of writing prompts and exercises. Each week, we'll give you something to help exercise your mystery-writing muscles.

Our Tuesday theme this month is settings in mysteries for young readers. So today's prompt is designed to help you zoom closer into a setting--and maybe even discover a mystery hidden in there.

To start, choose a setting. We're going to be digging for the details that make a setting come alive in a reader's mind, so make sure it's a time and place you know well. Maybe it's your bedroom. Or a classroom. Maybe it's the inside of minivan. Or your birthday party last summer.

Next, can you find any photos of it? I use them in my writing to help me notice the details. If you really want to immerse yourself, there's nothing better than taking a field trip and taking some photos and notes.

This is one of the photos of the old school I used for setting inspiration when writing the upcoming MALCOLM AT MIDNIGHT.

Now, write a description of the setting. Include the little details--the chipped countertop, the engine light that is on in the car. But don't stop there. Close your eyes. How would you describe it using your other senses? What's the smell of a girls' locker room? What does a campfire sound like? How does the tile floor feel on bare feet?

Now, take a step back. What kind of mood do you want to set? Go back and look at your description again. Are there any words that you could change to help evoke that mood more? Sometimes just a more specific verb--sat vs. hunched--or a word change--yellow or acid green?--can slant the whole tone of a piece.

Now, finally, pick one detail from your description. It may be the most interesting. Or maybe it's something that everyone would overlook. Why is it there? How did it come to be?

This is where your story starts . . .

This is what I would call a prewriting activity. You might want to use this description, or you might not. Sometimes writers just need to have a strong sense of setting in their heads; the actual details never find their way to the story.

But most likely, there are some gems in that description. If you do use them, be careful. You probably don't want to plunk your description in as a whole paragraph. Long descriptions tend slow down the action and pace of a story--something that is crucial when writing both mysteries and for kids. Instead, sprinkle in those details--the more specifc, the better--throughout your whole scene.

Happy writing!

Mystery Monday #23: PRETTY CROOKED Mystery Box Giveaway

We are pretty excited here at Sleuths, Spies, and Alibis this month. Pretty Crooked  by Elisa Ludwig, one of our own detectives, releases March 13th!


For our Mystery Monday writing prompt this month we are sponsoring a Pretty Crooked Mystery Box giveaway!


Intrigued? Want to win one of these boxes?Just answer the question posed in the Pretty Crooked book trailer below and you could be one of three winners! Winners will be announced on Monday March 19th, 2012.

Mystery Monday #16

Welcome to our regular Monday feature, where you'll find different kinds of writing prompts and exercises. Each week, we'll give you something to help exercise your mystery-writing muscles.


As MG mystery author Dan Poblocki pointed out in his interview in The Interrogation Room earlier this year, the local crime blotter can be a rich source of material for potential mystery plots. I subscribe to a local neighborhood watch crime e-mail list and frequently scour the crime blotter for ideas. While I've yet to base a story on the scenarios I find there, they do kick-start my imagination and put me in the right mystery-writing mood.


For today's Mystery Monday prompt, you're going to play detective. Below is a sampling of strange scenarios I've come across in local crime blotters and neighborhood watch e-mails from a (overzealous!) volunteer. Choose one that appeals to you, then try to imagine both what events might have led up to the crime -- and how it might be solved. 


1) "House burglarized in 500 Block of XXX Avenue. Shotgun shells and four strands of pearls were the only items reported missing. Shotgun left standing in hallway. Burglars brought in newspaper from the driveway and left it on porch. Police suspect the burglars were wearing gloves, as no fingerprints were found."

2) "100 Block of XXXXX Road. Two plants were dug up and stolen from the front yard, one a rare orchid, the other a Sego Palm. A delivered FedEx package containing documents was also taken from the front porch."


3) "Police report that a band of minors are burglarizing houses under the direction of an adult. Kids are instructed to solicit door-to-door to raise money for non-existent school projects and, when no one answers, break-in to look for gold jewelry. At 2:00 p.m. on November 10, a home was broken into on XXXX Avenue and several gold necklaces and bracelets were taken. On November 12 on the same street, a homeowner encountered a pre-teen boy in her backyard who claimed he had just moved to the neighborhood and was lost. When she asked his street name, he did not answer and turned to leave. A moment later, he turned back and asked if he could use her bathroom. The homeowner immediately called the police. Please be aware of all teens who are not neighbors."  


Some questions you might consider:

• Who might have committed the crime and why? (Or has a crime even been committed? Scenario #3 sparks as many questions about neighborhood paranoia as it does about actual crime.)
• What might the police be leaving out of their report? 
• Who discovered the crime scene? What relationship might they have to the criminal? Where had they just been?
• Were there any witnesses? To what extent are they reliable?

Brainstorm as many other questions as you like, and jot down any notes that come to mind. Then, when you're ready, pick a potential character's point-of-view (the police, a teen sleuth, the criminal, the victim, the person who discovered the crime), set a timer, and free-write for 10 - 15 minutes. Hopefully some new ideas -- and maybe even a full story -- will begin to develop.


None of these interest you? Take a look in your local paper or head to police crime blotters online, and try the same exercise. The stories you'll find there are often stranger than anything you could make up on your own...

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Kristen Kittscher’s debut middle grade mystery THE WIG IN THE WINDOW (Harper Children’s) will be released in 2013. It follows the comic misadventures of two tween sleuths who suspect their school counselor is a dangerous fugitive — and just might be right! A former middle school English teacher, Kristen lives in Pasadena, California with her husband, Kai. When she’s not writing, you’ll find her running her after-school tutoring business or taking orders from her hopelessly spoiled pets.

Mystery Monday #13

It's Mystery Monday!

Welcome to our regular Monday feature, where you'll find different kinds of writing prompts and exercises. Each week, we'll give you something to help exercise your mystery-writing muscles.

Dialogue is crucial to all stories, and in mysteries what characters say (or choose not to say) can be revealing. For writers, dialogue can sometimes surprise us as we write it—my character said that?—and, in so doing, take a story in a whole new direction. Great dialogue can also liven up the writing and add humor or intrigue to the proceedings. There's no better example of this than in the Film Noir genre of movies, the mystery films that almost always have a droll, fast-paced exchange of words between characters.

Since this is the (un)lucky thirteenth edition of Mystery Monday, I thought I would give you thirteen different prompts, each of which are lines from Film Noir movies (see key below). Choose one (or more) of theses lines, and imagine the speaker and the situation they're in. At what point in the story would this line occur? Who are they speaking to? How might another character respond? Write a few paragraphs to set up the story around the dialogue.

1) "It was his story against mine, but of course I told my story better."

2) "I suspect no one and I suspect everyone."

3) "If I knew you were coming, I'd have set fire to the place."

4) "The best goodbyes are short. Adieu."

5) "I have the perfect weapon right here. These two hands."

6) "I want you to do something. I want you to get yourself out of bed and get over to the window and scream as loud as you can. Otherwise you only have three minutes to live."

7) "Money. You know what that is. The stuff you never have enough of. Little green things with George Washington's picture that men slave for, commit crimes for, die for. It's the stuff that's caused more trouble in the world than anything else invented, simply because there's too little of it."

8) "You're like a leaf that the wind blows from one gutter to another."

9) "You couldn't plant enough flowers to hide the smell."

10) "Carlotta was the kind of town where they spell trouble T-R-U-B-I-L and if you try to correct them, they kill you.

11) "I don't think you understand, Bigelow. You've been murdered."

12) "You're dumber than you think I think you are."

13) "Next time we'll have a foolproof coffin."

Key: 1) In a Lonely Place 2) Laura 3) The Killers 4) The Maltese Falcon 5) Strangers on a Train 6) Sorry Wrong Number 7) Detour 8) Out of the Past 9) The Big Heat 10) Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid 11) The Big Sleep 12) Chinatown 13) The Third Man

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Elisa Ludwig's debut young adult novel PRETTY CROOKED (Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins), will be released in March 2012. Her all-time favorite film noir flick is The Big Sleep. Elisa lives in Philadelphia with her husband Jesse and cat Beau a.k.a. Bread. When she's not writing for teens, she's cooking and/or writing about food for The Philadelphia Inquirer and other publications. Elisa is a proud member of The Apocalypsies.

Mystery Monday #15

Welcome to our regular Monday feature, where you'll find different kinds of writing prompts and exercises. Each week, we'll give you something to help exercise your mystery-writing muscles.

This week’s prompt is designed to inspire new plot ideas. I’ve adapted it from Sean Murphy and Tania Casselle, two authors and writing teachers based in New Mexico.

• Choose one of the photos below. Spend some time imagining the sights, sounds, smells, and textures of the place. What is happening outside the photo’s frame? What has happened before? What will happen next? Who has been here? Who will be here and why? Why do things look like this?

• First, set a timer and free-write about this setting for ten minutes starting with the phrase “I remember…” (or, if you wish, frame it in your protagonist’s POV). Do you remember the tire swing in front of the house where Phoebe broke her arm? Do you remember when flower boxes lined the apartment balconies? Or when you went to Dash’s tenth birthday at the amusement park?

• After ten minutes are up, re-set the time. Now free-write about the same setting starting with the phrase “I don’t remember…”

If this exercise was useful for you, I highly recommend you visit author Sean Murphy’s website to find out more about his and Tania’s “Writeto the Finish” workshop. At the start of it I had a vague notion that I'd like to write a novel. By the end I had a first draft of the manuscript that eventually turned into my middle-grade novel, Young & Yang. It’s hard to imagine a more encouraging environment and wiser teachers.

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THREE MORE DAYS until our giveaway ends! We are giving away one signed copy of Edgar award-winning The Interrogation of Gabriel James by Charlie Price. Click on the Read More link to enter!
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 Read more »
 

Mystery Monday #12

It's Mystery Monday!
Welcome to our regular Monday feature, where you'll find different kinds of writing prompts and exercises. Each week, we'll give you something to help exercise your mystery-writing muscles.

So far, most of our Mystery Monday prompts have been about getting those creative vibes going to begin a story, but what if you are halfway through a story and are stuck? How do you work your way through a stumbling block in your plot and keep going?

I know many authors who, when this happens, simply write: "Something exciting happens here!" and then keep writing - which is exactly what you should do. You have to keep moving or the quicksand of doubt will surely pull you under. But eventually you will have to come back to that spot and, well, insert something exciting. What do you do then? While I can't help you out of that particular spot because every plot is different, I can tell you the answer is always the same: Look to your characters.

In an earlier post of Writing DNA, I talked about getting to know your characters. This is exactly where this helps because you can't get yourself out of this rut - your characters have to do it for you. If you find yourself in this situation, examine your characters. Their quirks, their fears, their habits - see what you can use to write yourself through the quicksand. Here's an exercise to get you started:

Your main character is snooping around in the villain's house and the villain has come home. Your hero is now trapped inside the villain's third floor office! How does your hero get out? Before you begin writing, think about the villain -- what would he/she have in his office that could help your hero? What would your hero have in his/her pockets that could help? What are the villain's habits, routines that you HAVE ALREADY ESTABLISHED in your story (i.e. you can't suddenly decide your villain always comes home and takes long baths; but if you already knew this and established it in a previous scene, you can use it). Any tactic - dialogue, diversion, etc. - is fair game as long as it fits into what you already have written about your characters.

Okay, write your hero out!
Good luck and have fun :)
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What if a classmate went missing right after you fought with her at a party and she was later found dead? What if you couldn't remember anything after that fight? Not even how you got home? Would you tell the police the truth? Or would you lie about what you remember until you could find out what really happened that night?

16-year-old Roswell Hart finds herself in this very predicament in Laura Ellen's YA thriller, BLIND SPOT (Fall 2012, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Mystery Monday #10

Welcome to our regular Monday feature, where you'll find different kinds of writing prompts and exercises. Each week, we'll give you something to help exercise your mystery-writing muscles.

This week's prompt is designed to sharpen your observation skills. Good detectives are notoriously observant, alert to small details which might turn into clues. Writers and detectives have this trait in common. Writers should always be alert to details that might grow into story ideas, characters, or plot twists.

Grab your notebook and try one or all of these mini-exercises. 

1.  Crowd scan. Go to a busy area, such as a street intersection, a shopping mall, a grocery store at peak time, or a place at your school or workplace where people tend to congregate. Look closely at the people. Who looks suspicious? What do you think they are plotting to do? If people are shopping, what are they buying? (Sure, those cans of pumpkin pie filling might be for Thanksgiving . . . . but might there be some other evil purpose lurking in the shopper's mind?) What expressions are people wearing? Who moves quickly or slowly? Why? After five or ten minutes of close observation and imaginative speculation, go to a safe spot and take notes on what you noticed. (Note: Standing in the midst of a crowd scribbling in a notebook or typing on a laptop may make YOU the person of interest, so do be discrete!) 

2. Shoe shopping. Love to shoe shop, but strapped for cash? Here's a fun writerly substitute. Go somewhere and only look at people's shoes. (This is especially fun on a subway or in a long line somewhere). Note details: type of shoe, age, general condition, distinctive features. Try not to look up at the shoe wearer before guessing what kind of person would wear these shoes. Once in a "safe" (private) location, take notes on the most interesting shoes you saw. Could any of them lead to a character? An entire mystery? (Note: Try the same activity with a different type of clothing to zoom in on: handbags, jackets, hats, pants).

3. Mug shots. Pick a venue where you can observe people at some length without attracting too much attention, such as a cafe, a restaurant, or a form of public transportation. Find one distinctive feature on every person's face. (An unusual shade of hair? Acne scars? Two different colored eyes?) Again, in a safe location, take notes on what you observed. Did any face in the crowd stand out because of some distinctive feature? 


If you try any of these exercises out, we'd love to hear your results in the comments! Or if you have other exercises you like to do to heighten your powers of observation, please share tips! 

Mystery Monday #9

Welcome to our regular Monday feature, where you'll find different kinds of writing prompts and exercises. Each week, we'll give you something to help exercise your mystery-writing muscles.

Last Tuesday on this blog, Diana Renn wrote about a time when her house was vandalized, and the emotions that ran through her. (You can read the post here). 

Your writing task today is to describe a vandalism event or a break-in. It can be drawn from reality or completely made up.

First, pick a location. It can be a room in your house, your school, your workplace, or somewhere you visit frequently and know well. Observe the place and list all the details you can. Visit the place in person if possible, or take notes from memory.


Next, look for details that might suggest evidence of a break-in, any clues that indicate a crime scene. You may find details in your list of observations, or you may need to go back and observe more, paying attention to small things gone awry.


Now start a new list, brainstorming details you could add that suggest a break-in or vandalism in a more obvious way.

Use these brainstorming lists to write a description of this location, from the point of view of someone who has just discovered this scene or a detective -- somewhat detached from the scene -- who is looking for clues. Decide if you want it to be immediately obvious that something is wrong, or if you want the discovery to happen right away. The details can accumulate slowly or rapidly. There may even be obvious signs of invasion combined with more subtle clues.


EXTRA STEP: Revise the description and add the emotional reactions of the narrator/observer. What is this person's emotional state? Does it change the description of the room?


Have you ever personally experienced a break-in, robbery, or act of vandalism? Can you describe it vividly? Can you describe it as if it happened to someone unlike yourself? Can you describe it from a cool, emotionally detached perspective? Can you describe it again from the perspective of someone who is deeply shaken by the event? How does the description change?

Mystery Monday #8

Happy Halloween, everyone! You're probably already in a spooky mood—or is that just your blood sugar crashing after eating too many Three Musketeers bars?(You just couldn't wait, could you?)

Well, now, let's put that inner Vincent Price voice to work on a writing exercise, shall we? Write a paragraph starting from one of the following premises:

a) There's an escaped convict amongst us, and he's trick-or-treating (you pick the costume!)...

b) At a Halloween party, one guest goes missing...

c) In her trick-or-treat bag a girl finds an unusual package she doesn't remember picking up...

d) Two boys are out combing the neighborhood for candy and they stumble on a small group of people at the cemetery, performing a strange ritual...

Good luck and best wishes for a scary and delicious Halloween.

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Elisa Ludwig's debut young adult novel PRETTY CROOKED (Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins), will be released in March 2012. Her favorite Halloween costume of all time was the girl from the Hello video (replete with paper mache bust of Lionel Richie). But this year she will probably just be going as a writer. Elisa lives in Philadelphia with her husband Jesse and cat Beau a.k.a. Bread. When she's not writing for teens, she's cooking and/or writing about food for The Philadelphia Inquirer and other publications. Elisa is a proud member of The Apocalypsies.

Mystery Monday #6

Welcome to our regular Monday feature, where you'll find different kinds of writing prompts and exercises. Each week, we'll give you something to help exercise your mystery-writing muscles.

Today’s idea comes from my library and my teaching. One of the books I love to share with students this time of year is Chris Van Allsburg’s THE MYSTERIES OF HARRIS BURDICK. If you aren’t familiar with this book, it’s a mystery wrapped in an enigma with a lot of riddle sprinkled on top. (Or however that saying goes. :-) ) Anyway, it’s irresistible. 

Van Allsburg’s story goes that there once was a book editor who was visited by a man named Harris Burdick. Mr. Burdick shared one illustration from 14 different stories he wrote. He left them with the editor to consider and promised to return the next day. But Harris Burdick was never heard from again. All we have left are his intriguing pictures, each accompanied by a caption and the title of the story.

From caterpillars who can spell, to a house that blasts off, each picture is spooky, fascinating, and slightly bizarre. I’ve never met a student who wasn’t drawn into these illustrations and didn’t immediately start buzzing about what the story could be behind them. And of course, the next step is to challenge students (or yourself!) to write that story.
 
Over the years, I’ve gotten many wonderful stories out of these pictures. Some sad, some funny, some downright terrifying, they never cease to amaze me how each individual can bring his own thoughts and experiences and creativity to create something completely new.

And once you are done writing and sharing your students’ work, treat yourself and your students to this newly released book: THE CHRONICLES OF HARRIS BURDICK. 14 stellar children’s authors try their hands at explaining the Harris Burdick pictures. Again—some sad, some funny, some terrifying—but also a perfect link to show your students that professional writers use the same strategies and processes that they do.

Happy writing!

W.H. Beck
 

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CONTEST UPDATE: We have a winner! MELODIE WRIGHT has won a signed copy of COLD CASE by Julia Platt Leonard. Congratulations, Melodie! And thanks to everyone who entered last week's contest. 

Check back this Wednesday, 10/19, for details about our next book giveaway . . . and meet our third Interrogation Room suspect! (Clue: Her middle grade mystery concerns an unusual musical instrument!)

Mystery Monday #5

It's Mystery Monday!
Welcome to our regular Monday feature, where you'll find different kinds of writing prompts and exercises. Each week, we'll give you something to help exercise your mystery-writing muscles.

It's October and that means creepy, scary, spooky stories may be on your mind. Here are a few photos and some questions to get your imagination cranking!

Pick a picture below that you like  (or do this exercise with several of the pictures) and then ask yourself the following:

1. Imagine you are in that photo. Where is this place? What does it smell like? What sounds do you hear? Look around you. What do the items around you feel like? Is it damp? Dark? Foggy?

2. Now imagine who might be in that place (it can still be you, if you want, or it can be the main character of your story). Is that person alone or with someone else? Is there someone or something there too lurking out of sight? Do your characters know he/she/it is there? Can they sense it? Why are your characters there? How did they get there?

3. Got an idea of what is going on in your story? Good! Now ask yourself what will happen next?And then, get writing!

Photo by JR Goleno

Photo by Gavin Mills

Photo by Simona Dumitru

Photo by Terri Heisele

Photo: http://www.sxc.hu/profile/OGGHOO

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We are giving away a copy of COLD CASE autographed by Julia Platt Leonard! To enter the contest, simply comment on any of the Sleuths Spies and Alibis posts between Tuesday October 4 and Friday October 14. Contest closes October 14 at midnight, EST. The winner will be announced on Monday, October 17. One comment = one entry in our drawing; limit one per day.