About the Book A Riddle in the Lonesome October

Book: A Riddle in the Lonesome October (Rae Riley Mysteries Book Three)

Author: JPC Allen

Genre: YA Christian cozy mystery

Release Date: October 1, 2025

How do you survive a season of fear?

October is a hard month for Rae Riley’s family. Her dad, Sheriff Walter “Mal” Malinowski, lost his wife and father then. He also has to manage the trouble Halloween brings to rural Marlin County, Ohio. But this year, Rae’s uncle fights for his life after a riding accident, and a family feud over a lost inheritance erupts at a local Halloween attraction.

As Rae tries to support her family, she and her cousin Amber work to unravel the 70-year-old riddle that will reveal the location of the inheritance so their great aunt Lily and her kids can gain a fortune. And Rae must deal with the secretive behaviour of the deputy she’s fallen for.

When a bogus medium conducts a séance to contact Cyrus Morley, the man who devised the riddle, the results stun everyone, and the aftermath is even more shocking.

There’s only one way to survive a season of so much fear–and only one way to unmask a killer.

Click here to get your copy!

My Thoughts on A Riddle in the Lonesome October

A Riddle in the Lonesome October is a wonderful mystery book that you’re going to love. It’s also part of a series for bonus reads!  And yes, you should read the entire series in order.  Don’t just skip to this book, or you’ll miss out on things that you need to know!

This is a series for young people, youth.  But, if you’re older than the recommended age, you can still read this series!  It’s a great one, and you’re going to need to read the full series! 

I’ve loved this series.  It’s clean and works well for the age range.  However, I did see some things in this one that I’d prefer not to be there, like a seance and a fortune teller.  Having said that, faith is still a great message within the novel.  

There are a lot of characters in this novel.  But if you have trouble keeping them straight, there is a chart in the book that will help you figure out who is who.  But most importantly, you’re going to love following Rae as she figures out the riddle!

I have voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, which I received from Celebrate Lit. All views expressed are only my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC regulations.

About the Author of A Riddle in the Lonesome October

JPC Allen started her writing career in second grade with a homage to Scooby Doo, and she’s been tracking down mysteries ever since.

A Shadow on the Snow, the first novel in the Rae Riley Mysteries series, won first place for published YA fiction in the ACFW KidLit Contest. A Storm of Doubts, her second novel, came in second for YA fiction at the Selah Awards.

Online, she offers writing tips and prompts to ignite the creative spark in every kind of writer. She also leads writing workshops for adults and teens. Coming from a long line of Mountaineers, she’s a life-long Buckeye, a wife of one for twenty years, and a mother of two for sixteen.

More from JPC

Writing a Historical Mystery … Sort Of

I had a great time concocting the elaborate mystery for A Riddle in the Lonesome October.

What made this novel unusual for me was the importance of history in figuring out the riddle of the hidden inheritance. In my other mysteries, the suspects were living people my amateur sleuth, Rae Riley, knew. She could speak to them and evaluate who was telling the truth, who was lying, and who was hiding something.

But for this mystery, Rae has to dig into the past. She decides that in order to crack the riddle that was left to the heirs, she has to understand what kind of man Cyrus Morley was, the man who created the riddle. Since he died over seventy years ago, she has to use historical resources.

I had a lot of fun coming up with the documents Rae uncovers.

Since Cyrus Morley was wealthy and owned coal mines in Marlin County, Ohio, where Rae lives, he was a prominent citizen, often featured in stories in the local newspaper. But official sources like that only revealed part of Cyrus Morley’s complicated life.

As a former librarian, I knew that local libraries can have books or documents that you can’t find anywhere online. Those materials were printed decades or even centuries ago and only have local interest, so no one has bothered to put them online. So I created a memoir, written by a local pastor’s wife. It’s the kind of book a church and its members would have, but no one else.

I loved writing in a different style from Rae’s narration.

The pastor’s wife, Rebecca, had help to write her memoir in the 1980s. But I thought the style would be older since Rebecca was born in 1900. I grew up on Agatha Christie and Rex Stout, so I enjoyed writing excerpts from the memoir in a more old-fashioned style, so readers would feel like they were reading a genuine, historical document.

What was even better was figuring out a way for Rae’s eighty-one-year-old great-grandfather Walter, to provide clues. Coming up with a family history that intersects with Cyrus’s life was an absolute joy to create. I loved writing the chapter in which Walter tells Rae this unknown chapter in the Malinowski family’s history.

So if you like your mysteries with a touch of history, I’m sure you’ll love Rae’s investigation into a mystery seventy years in the making.

Blog Stops for A Riddle in the Lonesome October

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, October 1

Stories By Gina, October 2 (Author Interview)

Holly’s Book Corner, October 2

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, October 3

Simple Harvest Reads, October 4 (Author Interview)

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, October 5

Artistic Nobody, October 6 (Author Interview)

Texas Book-aholic, October 7

Guild Master, October 8 (Author Interview)

Fiction Book Lover, October 9 (Author Interview)

Hannahbandanarama, October 9

For the Love of Literature, October 10 (Author Interview)

For Him and My Family, October 11

Tell Tale Book Reviews, October 12 (Author Interview)

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, October 13

Blossoms and Blessings, October 14 (Author Interview)

Giveaway for A Riddle in the Lonesome October

To celebrate her tour, JPC is giving away a signed copy of A Riddle in the Lonesome October and Christmas fiction off the beaten path, a $25 Amazon gift card, a mug, tea, and chocolates!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway!

Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/3d265/a-riddle-in-the-lonesome-october-celebration-tour-giveaway