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It's autumn in Connecticut and there's a chill in the air, the fall leaves are a riot of color, and pumpkin spice is the flavor of the season. Melanie Travis is perennially busy, of course -- but when the owner of a local pet supply shop is found murdered, sleuthing tops her to-do list...The headmaster at Howard Academy, the school where Melanie works and where her young son attends kindergarten, has come up with an idea for a school fundraiser. All students will participate in a town-wide treasure hunt, with grades competing against each other. Tokens shaped like pumpkin spice muffins have been hidden in downtown stores. Students scramble to collect as many as they can in exchange for prizes. Until the pet supply shop owner lodges a complaint. When Melanie stops by to smooth things over, she instead finds the man dead, a knife in his back, and his loyal, ever-vigilant Chow Chow locked in the storeroom. It doesn't take her long to gather a list of suspects, from neighbors balking about the number of rescue Chows the man was fostering in his home, to the landlord who'd filed an eviction notice against him, to the bitter ex-wife who is happy he's gone. With the fundraiser soon drawing to a close and celebrations imminent, Melanie will have to follow every clue -- before the biggest prize is staying alive.
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