Hallopalooza - Halloween Blog Scavenger Hunt Hosted by The Stiletto Gang

Welcome to Hallopalooza! You've arrived at Stop #3 in the contest being sponsored by The Stiletto Gang.

- quoting Evelyn David.

Do you have plans for Halloween? How about an on-line mystery Scavenger Hunt with free prizes?

On Oct. 30, 2009 at 8 AM, the 1st Annual Stiletto Gang Hallopalooza begins. Or at
least we hope it's going to be an annual event. Everything depends on you, our
readers!

What is Hallopalooza? It's an on-line mystery scavenger hunt. Twenty-three
of the best, most interesting, coolest blogs on the net have agreed to participate. There will be lots of great prizes! Lots of fun! Lots of clues!

Yes, clues. The Stiletto Gang has written a short story - did I mention it's a murder mystery - just for the event?

How do you play?

Let's start with when you play - the Scavenger Hunt starts at 8 AM Eastern on Friday, Oct. 30, 2009. It ends at 5 PM Eastern on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009. Winners will be announced at noon eastern on Monday, Nov. 2, 2009.

What are you hunting? A killer! Okay, really you'll be hunting clues to the killer's identity and motive. You will move from blog to blog reading the mystery and gathering clues. Each blog will give you a link to the next blog in the Scavenger Hunt line-up.

You will start at The Stiletto Gang, then move to the next blog. There are 23 blogs in the chain. The winner is not the one who finishes first, just the one who finishes by the deadline with the correct answer. So you can come and go as you please during the three days of the event. Go Trick or Treating! Toilet paper a house! Party with goblins and witches! Then come back and celebrate with us.

What are the prizes? The Stiletto Gang is offering a grand prize of a $50 U.S. gift certificate to the bookstore of your choice - on-line or bricks & mortar. If you're not in the U.S., we'll send you an Amazon gift certificate and let you figure out how to use it.

If more than one person qualifies for the Grand Prize, then all winners will be put into a drawing for the $50 gift certificate. Runners-up will win an autographed book from a Stiletto Gang author, including Evelyn David's new book, Murder Takes the Cake. We will award up to a maximum of ten books. If there are more winners than books, we'll have a drawing among the Runners-up for the books.

And, here's the special part - you can win prizes on the individual blogs during the hunt too! The participating blogs will have contests/drawings for great stuff! Autographed books, promo items, and other "I won! I won!" things to make all your friends envious.

There is no charge to play or win. You don't have to buy anything. You just have to participate, solve the mystery, and tell us about it using the comment feature on The Stiletto Gang blog site or by sending an email to the Stiletto Gang at stilettogang@gmail.com.

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Happy Halloween! Here's your clue, and the link to the next stop. Then, continue reading to discover my giveaways for this event. Have Fun and Good luck!




Meanderings & Muses – post #3 http://meanderingsandmuses.blogspot.com/



"And you are?" Milla was conducting her second interview in the well-appointed kitchen of Millionaire G. Winston Howard. The young twenty-something woman sitting across from her was athletic and over six foot tall. Her long blonde hair hung in a braid down to the middle of her back. She was dressed like an old fashioned zookeeper; beige pit helmet, khaki shorts and vest, black knee socks.



"Alana Carter. I take care of the mansion grounds and the conservatory."



Conservatory! That was the word Milla had been searching for earlier. Carla Jordan had been killed in the Howard conservatory, not a plain old greenhouse.



"You found the body at what time?" Milla had the details in her notes but she wanted to hear about the discovery directly from the gardener.



"Just after 2:00 a.m."



"You make a habit of going into the conservatory at that time of night?"



"No. My date and I had wandered out by the pool. We saw a light. The conservatory was off limits to the guests. Mr. Howard owns some very expensive, fragile specimens. He'd blame me if someone got in there and damaged anything."



"What did you see when you entered the conservatory?"



The gardener looked towards the kitchen door, then lowered her voice. "I saw

Mr. Howard. He was talking with someone."



According to Fletcher's notes, this was information the gardener hadn't disclosed in her first interview with the police. "You saw him with Miss Jordan? The victim?"



"No. I only found Carla, uh Miss Jordan, after they left. When I saw that it was

Mr. Howard in the conservatory, I stepped back outside and waited. When they left, I went in to turn off the lights and lock the doors. That's when I saw the body."



"Who was this other person? The one talking to Mr. Howard?"



The gardener shook her head. "I don't know. He or, I guess it could have been a tall woman…he was wearing a long black, hooded cape with a witch's mask."



Next Clue Location: http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/


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In celebration of Hallopalooza I'm giving away one book to one lucky winner. In Their Blood by Sharon Potts. Winning is simple. Leave a comment here WITH your email address. I'll email the winner the evening of Nov. 1. Have fun!!