Book excerpt: Someone is trying to pin the blame on the Dummy! Pelican Harbor is starting to look festive with Halloween displays, but Piper Avery has stumbled onto a gruesome discovery; a dead body that has nothing to do with holiday decorations. Piper and her diva dog, Daisy arrive for her meeting with Samuel Weston to discuss adding his wood carvings to the gallery when she finds the body in his office. Sitting in the chair by the body is Samuel's ventriloquist dummy; a gruel note pinned to it. But this isn't the only discovery Piper makes. Her youngest son is a guest at the Weston estate, and he is romantically involved with the granddaughter. Plus Joel is also there, hired by Samuel for investigative reasons. And it has nothing to do with art. Now Piper and Joel work must together to find the murderer before her son is blamed or worse, another murder happens. Will Piper find the killer? Or will this adventure become a misadventure?