No object is mysterious. The mystery is your eye. ~Elizabeth Bowen
My new book, In the Shadow of the River, came out on May 9th. Some of you even got the book before that date as a few flew out to readers early. Always fun to have a new story out on the shelves to sell and in the hands of people to read. Plus, I promised a new mystery photo game when the book released.
I’ve been slow getting this game started. I was busy writing my next book. But I was looking at this and looking at that to see if I could come up with something that might be a little mysterious. I never know which of my mystery pictures will be harder to figure out than others. Sometimes the ones I think you won’t know, you know right away and the ones I think you’ll guess right away, most of you don’t. I’ve done this several times in the last few years and have had two or maybe three major stumpers that hardly anyone figured out. If I wasn’t the one who was making the mystery photo, I’d be stumped more times than any of you.
I started the mystery games when my first Hidden Springs mystery, Murder at the Courthouse, was published and kept it up through the other two Hidden Springs mysteries, Murder Comes by Mail and Murder Is No Accident. Those books still find readers whenever I do a book signing. Then I just kept going with the game.
Many readers love mysteries. I do too. That’s why I often include a mystery thread in my historical stories. I even had a bit of mystery in a couple of my Shaker books, expecially in The Innocent. You have to admit that’s a great title to suggest a bit of mystery.
I didn’t just include a bit of mystery in In the Shadow of the River. Plenty of mystery shows up in the shadows along the river of that story with some suspense thrown in as well. Will Jacci find the answers she needs before someone hides those answers forever?
But back to our mystery game here that isn’t a dangerous mystery at all. Only a fun one. If you haven’t tried to figure out these pictures in past games, here’s what you do. Before you read any other comments, you add your comment of what you think the picture might be. It’s more fun that way because you might be influenced by someone’s wrong guess or perhaps their right one. 🙂 After you do your comment, reading the other comments to see if you think they are right can be fun.
As always, playing the game gets your name in a giveaway chance to win your choice of one of my books. I’ll try to come up with five mystery photos, counting this one. That’s going to strain my brain! I’ll post a new one in the next four posts here on One Writer’s Journal. Each time you guess on a new mystery puzzle – or maybe it won’t be a guess, it’ll be a know – you get an entry in the giveaway. Deadline to enter is June 5, 2023 at midnight EST. I’ll pick three winners by random on June 6th and notify them via email and announce the winners (first names only) on my post on June 6th. You have to be at least 18 years old to enter, but feel free to let your kids help you figure out the mysteries. Other than the fun of making a guess, nothing is required to enter. The comments you make on the posts are your entries.
Winning isn’t really what this game is about. It’s more about using our imaginations and mystery solving skills and having fun.
So what do you think the picture up top is?
I’m crossing my fingers and hoping I’ll trick a few of you. LOL.
Comments 44
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I love all the guesses. Some of them are even right. Soon I’ll be posting that rest of the picture. The rest of you used your imagination which is great.
Angie, I love it when someone is very sure of what they see. Could be you saw what is there and could be you saw what you imagined was there. Tonight will tell.
Susan, you were with a couple of others about those biscuits, but you put butter on yours. That makes them even better.
Ann S. & Lee, you are like many of the others with that honeycomb guess. But Ann, you see some corn muffins or cupcakes too. I love corn muffins so I might have taken a picture of some. Maybe.
Ann L., I like your creativeness of the upside down egg carton. Maybe I did try that. I would have been going beyond the usual to try to trick you all if I did.
It’s probably not a honeycomb because that would be too obvious but I can’t think of anything else when I look at it so honeycomb will have to be my guess. I love your mystery photo games.
An upside down egg crate painted yellow, but I really doubt that is it!!
But it is fun to play and I will be looking to see the answer.
I really enjoy all of your newsletters, Ann, and your books. Looking forward to reading more of both.
It looks like a honeycomb. Or it could be a pan of corn muffins or unfrosted cupcakes.
Hmmmm, not sure at all. I’ll guess a pan of golden baked biscuits with butter on top.
My first two thoughts from just looking at the picture were honeycomb and corn on the cob. Then I saw some small things when I studied it a little bit that made me finally decide that it is the center of a daisy.
Author
Love all the guesses. Some of them might even be right, but it always makes me smile when there is a variety of imagined pictures. I’m working on mystery picture 2 but haven’t decided on something for sure yet.
Lisa and Una, you join with Mary on that corn on the cob guess. I think I’m going to have to go get some corn on the cob for dinner. Hmm, maybe I already did. 🙂
Cindy Sue, Connie Lee, Robin, and Connie S – You all are going with the popular guess of honeycomb. Could be all of you are right or maybe all of you could be wrong. That’s the fun of mystery photo games.
Ola and Amy, you two first saw a honeycomb and then something else. Amy, pollen is a great guess because the color is definitely right. And Ola, it could be a flower. Could be. Could not be. But you cornered the two most popular guesses.
Debbie, always fun when somebody comes up with something completely different from everyone else. What do you think? Are you going to be the only one right?
Lana, you’re right there with Debbie in guessing something different. A pan of golden brown biscuits with butter and blackberry jam does sound good. Maybe I baked that pan of biscuits and took a picture. Maybe.
Liz and Janice, you two seem pretty sure about your guesses of flowers. Chose different flowers but then a flower is a flower.
Lucy, I do enjoy snacking on Cheez-its. So maybe I saw when I took this first mystery photo. Or maybe I just ate them all and didn’t take a picture of them at all. Sunday will be the revealing moment. Did she eat them all or not?
A bee hive is my guess.
It looks like it might be honeycomb.
It looks like it could be a close up of a yellow center on a flower. There are some Dahlia’s that looks like that.
I am guessing a pan of baked golden biscuits.
Corn on the cob
I think it’s egg yolks!
Homeycomb or the center of a flower
Looks like a honeycomb.
Cheez it crackers. 😂
First thought is honeycomb, but it could maybe be a close up of pollen.
I think it’s a honeycomb
Have been looking forward to your guessing game. This is the center of a flower of a Fleabane plant. Fleabane is similar to an aster or field daisy.
Corn on the cob