S7E10 Hunting for Clues

Mysteries to Die For

Welcome to Mysteries to Die For.

I am TG Wolff and am here with Jack, my piano player and producer. This is a podcast where we combine storytelling with original music to put you in the heart of a mystery. All stories are structured to challenge you to beat the detective to the solution. These are arrangements, which means instead of word-for-word readings, you get a performance meant to be heard. Jack and I perform these live, front to back, no breaks, no fakes, no retakes.

This is Season 7, Games People Play. Games are about competition conducted according to rules with participants working toward a goal. Games are a part of every culture and are one of the oldest forms of social interaction and engagement. Games can be fun, challenging and exhilarating. They can also be intense, cutthroat, and lethal. This season, our authors have fashioned deadly games and unscrupulous villains to test your detection skills.

This is Episode 10, a scavenger hunt is the featured game. This is Hunting for Clues by Nick Andreychuk

PRE-ROLL

This is TG Wolff. Today we welcome author Nick Andreychuk to the podcast.

Nick has written award-winning short stories for magazines and anthologies. His stories, which range from classic whodunnits to hardboiled crime to suspense thrillers. Find his work by searching for his name (Andreychuk) at your favorite on-line book retailers.

DELIBERATION

Well, it doesn’t seem like Chris needs our help solving the murder of Sam Jenkins, but Becker and Launek do. Here are the suspects they are working with:

• Bob Wu, Seattle local who got drenched waiting for his cab

• Wayne Smith, Tacoma resident who drove in for the convention

• John Reddy, Seattle transplant from across the pond

Here’s what we know:

• On Reddy’s suggestion, the four newly acquainted men were working together on the scavenger hunt. Each had one last item to find. They left Sam’s room together, planning to meet back up in the lobby at noon.

• Jenkins was found by the other men after he did not show up at the meeting spot. He died in his hotel room, suffocated on the TV remote control.

• Two front desk clerks testified that two men were seen returning around eleven. They could not tell who. Despite being different ethnicities, the men were of similar stature and style.

• Jenkins had bought several expensive pieces of memorabilia as well as signed comic books and photos.

• Something Jenkins had bought was discovered on each of the suspects. Reddy had the Ironman gizmo. Smith had the Panther mask, which he claimed Jenkins loaned him. Wu had signed shoes, which he also said was loaned to him.

Time to use your Spidey sense. Who should Becker and Launek arrest?

PRINT & E-Books

The companion book for Season 4, 5 and 6 are available in e-book and trade paperback from online retailers. This season’s book is being released in two parts. Part one released in March 2024 and Part two in September. Buy one for you and one for a mystery lover you love. The dimes and quarters from books sales do support the podcast and keep Jack in tacos and headphones.

Season Anthologies on Amazon

ABOUT Scavenger Hunts

According to Britannica.com, America writer and hostess Elsa Maxwell is credited with creating scavenger hunts as a party game. Maxwell was renown for your parties both for the A-list guests and for the novelties she created to amuse them. Maxwell was an interesting, self-made woman. Born in 1883, she supported herself as a theatre pianist and accompanist while in her teens. She worked with a Shakesperean troupe, in vaudeville, and in music halls, all without ever having been taught music. She published some 80 songs over her lifetime. By the end of World War I, she was a professional hostess and event organizer across Europe. It is certainly believable that a woman as talented as Elsa Maxwell was – both artistically and in managing events – that she could create a game that is both simple and endlessly creative.

Wikipedia notes that scavenger hunts are held at American universities and that Escape Manor, Inc. in Ottawa currently holds the Guiness World Record for the largest hunt with over 2,700 participants.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Elsa-Maxwell#ref668963

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scavenger_hunt

ABOUT Nick Andreychuk

Nick Andreychuk is a Derringer Award-winning mystery writer. His stories, which range from classic whodunnits to hardboiled crime to suspense thrillers, have appeared in numerous publications, including Bullet, Hardboiled Crime Scene, Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, Plan B, Techno Noir, Who Died in Here? and Woman's World. Reviewers have described Andreychuk's work as "clever," "fast-paced," "action-packed," "quirky," and "bloody brilliant."

WRAP UP

That wraps this episode of Mysteries to Die For. Support our show by subscribing, telling a mystery lover about us, and giving us a five-star review. Check out our website TGWolff.com/Podcast for links to this season’s authors.

Mysteries to Die For is hosted by TG Wolff and Jack Wolff. Hunting for Clues was written by Nick Andreychuk. Music and production are by Jack Wolff. Episode art is by TG Wolff. Join us next week for a Toe Tag, which is the first chapter from a fresh release in the mystery, crime, or thriller genre. Then come back in two weeks for our next original story, Marco Mayhem by Karina Bartow where Marco Polo is the featured game