MENTOR: Jen Malone
ALTERNATE: Chris Bailey
TITLE: THE MYSTERY AT SPINDRIFT
CATEGORY/GENRE: Middle Grade Mystery
WORD COUNT: 32,000
PITCH: When Ellie McCoy’s dog snuffles up a severed human finger among the palmettos, the twelve-year-old is scared breathless—until she realizes that solving a real mystery will turn a same-old summer on quaint Maydock Island into an adventure worthy of Nancy Drew.
EXCERPT:
Madog strains against his leash. He’s snuffling after something hidden beneath low palmetto fronds near the center of the garden.
“Leave it,” I command, snapping his leash just like the trainer showed me. But Madog isn’t listening. He pulls me off balance.
“Bad dog!” I grab for his collar. Whatever he’s found is tucked inside his mouth. It could be something that would kill him. Part of a chocolate bar, or a half-chewed piece of sugar-free gum, or a splintery rib bone. I put my hand over his muzzle and squeeze his lips against his teeth until he opens wide. The thing drops out. I catch a glimpse as it falls into a clump of irises. Definitely something icky, white and pink and meaty, about the size of a chicken wing.
“Leave it,” I command again, tugging backward. I’m undersized for twelve, and when he goes into four-leg drive, I can’t control him. He plunges his nose into the iris leaves. A couple of searching sniffs and one chomp later, the thing is gone. All that’s left is a shiny red bit hanging on his black lip. I try to pick it off, but he smacks that part up, too, just as I realize what it is. What it was.
A polished pinky fingernail.
For about three blinks, I’m scared breathless. Then I turn and race toward home as fast as I can.
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