A Clue in a Poem

under the pier

Calling all secret agents! Skylar needs your help to solve her next case: The Mystery of the Missing Heiress. Three years ago, millionaire Xandra Collins disappeared “without a trace.” Detective Skylar knows that everyone leaves trace evidence, and sets out to solve the mysterious disappearance.

After deciphering a series of complicated clues, Skylar locates Xandra’s diary, which is filled with riddles and poems. Skylar realizes these poems contain clues and needs your help to decode them. What could this mean? Please post your guess in the comments using your Secret Agent code name.

Beneath the pier is dark and deep.

Water cold and still I weep.

Secrets locked inside a box.

Seven rocks by seven rocks.

Secret Agents: If you don’t get a quick reply…

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Agents: if you are not getting an Identikit email within a week, it is because you are emailing from an address that can not receive emails. I have had repeated requests from prospective agents and have replied to the address they emailed me from, and my return emails did not go through. Some schools, home computers, and libraries have blocks on their computers and can not receive incoming emails. This is for the students’ safety and I respect this!

Skylar responds to every Secret Agent request and fan letter. If you don’t get a response, it is because of your computer’s settings. Please ask your mom or dad to email me from an address I can reply to.

Happy sleuthing!

Love,
Skylar

HIDDEN GARDEN WORD SEARCH

HIDDEN GARDEN WORD SEARCH: All of the words hidden in this puzzle are items found in the abandoned garden in The Mystery of Shadow Hills.

Locate 1-4 words: You’re a junior sleuth’s assistant detective

Locate 5-8 words: On your way to becoming a junior sleuth

Locate 9-12 words: Now you’re a junior sleuth!

Locate 13-16 words: You’re Skylar’s next Assistant Detective!

Locate 17-20 words: Watch out Skylar, there’s a new Detective in town!

Decode the words found in this word search by using Skylar’s basic secret code:

A=1, B=2, C=3, D=4, E=5, F=6, G=7, H=8, I=9, J=10, K=11, L=12, M=13, N=14, O=15, P=16, Q=17, R=18, S=19, T=20, U=21, V=22, W=23, X=24, Y=25, Z=26

19-20-15-14-5

19-20-5-16-16-9-14-7

7-1-20-5

3-21-19-8-9-15-14

1-13-25-20-8-25-19-20

16-15-14-4

2-18-1-14-3-8

20-18-5-5

18-15-19-5

6-12-15-23-3-18

2-5-14-3-8

23-1-20-5-18

23-5-5-4

20-23-9-7

3-18-15-23

5-1-18-20-8

8-15-19-5

3-12-15-21-4

22-9-14-5

13-21-4

Then locate the words in this jumble:

S P O V I N E Z I A N C
A T R E E C M S A M B L
B U E X R U W A T E R O
R S C P D S V R N T A U
A C R I P H A C E H R D
N H O S E I H B R Y O T
C U W S T O N E L S S H
H E L A C N W G A T E O
I V F L O W E R M W Q S
R P O N D L E A S I D E
E A R T H O D X I G E L

How many did you find? Post your score on www.skylarrobbins.com by leaving a comment below the jumble. Sign it using your Secret Agent code name from your Identikit. Don’t have a code name or Identikit yet? Read SKYLAR ROBBINS: THE MYSTERY OF SHADOW HILLS and then fill out the Secret Agent Application Form (S.A.A.F.).

 

 

SKYLAR ROBBINS: THE MYSTERY OF THE HIDDEN JEWELS Available December 9, 2014!

MYSTERY OF THE HIDDEN JEWELS FRONT COVER

SKYLAR ROBBINS: THE MYSTERY OF THE HIDDEN JEWELS, Book 2 in the Skylar Robbins Mystery Series, will be out in paperback on December 9, 2014: Read Tuesday!

Be one of the first 20 people to preorder your personally autographed copy through my website, and receive a FREE copy of book 1: SKYLAR ROBBINS: THE MYSTERY OF SHADOW HILLS! Makes a great holiday gift for a boy or girl, ages nine and up.

To preorder, leave a reply (below), fill in the contact form on my website, or send me a personal message on Facebook. Stay tuned for a free sneak preview (Chapter One) coming soon!

THE SECRET OF THE BURIED KEY

In Skylar Robbins: The Mystery of Shadow Hills, Skylar spends the summer in Malibu at her bullying cousin’s estate. She meets an intriguing classmate named Kat who claims to be a witch. Practical Skylar didn’t believe in magic–until the spells they perform in an abandoned garden actually begin to work.

One day inside the garden walls, they unearth an ancient key:

ancient keyWhat could it unlock? What’s your guess? If you have not read the book, leave a reply with your idea.

If you have read the book, leave a reply using Skylar’s secret code and tell me what the key unlocked. If you are a Skylar Robbins Secret Agent, please reply using your code name.

The first 3 correct answers win a prize!

Skylar’s Secret Code: A=1, B=2, C=3, D=4, E=5, F=6, G=7, H=8, I=9, J=10, K=11, L=12, M=13, N=14, O=15, P=16, Q=17, R=18, S=19, T=20, U=21, V=22, W=23, X=24, Y=25, Z=26

The Mystery of Shadow Hills
The Mystery of Shadow Hills

Drawing Contest!

camobinoculars_400x400Your illustration could be published in the next Skylar Robbins mystery! While hunting for the hidden jewels in her new adventure, Skylar found a treasure map, torn in several pieces. Some of them were hidden in a bird’s nest, and were fragile and a little bit shredded. I would like to include a picture of it in The Mystery of the Hidden Jewels. Can you draw the map, based on the description below?

A free pair of kid’s binoculars goes to the artist with the best drawing of the treasure map, and their illustration will be included in the next book. Please upload your drawings to the website and sign your Secret Agent code name. If you don’t have a code name, please fill out the Secret Agent Application Form (S.A.A.F.) on this website under “About Skylar.”

“Reaching up, I pulled the bird’s nest down and set it gently on the table. Then I carefully lifted out three soft pieces of dirty paper. They were stained and a little bit shredded, but I could still make out numbered footsteps on all three of them. After replacing the bird’s nest on the rafter, I picked up the fragile pile and cradled it between my hands while I raced upstairs to my office.

Sitting down at my desk, I unlocked my clue box and took out the partial map from the hidden floor, smoothing it out in front of me. I set the first torn piece of bird’s nest paper next to it. “Wait a minute,” I said aloud, picking up another piece. The footprints on the bird’s nest paper had the missing numbers on them. There were also some curving shapes on the strips that looked like C’s, other marks that looked like L’s, and a hexagon on the far side. I rearranged the papers until C-shapes met each other and formed whole circles, the L’s combined to form squares, and all of the footprints flowed in numerical order. Then I carefully taped the map together. There was still a big chunk of it missing. Smack or Ignado must have found it, I thought. That explains why they were looking in the greenhouse! It must be part of this clue.

And if they figured out there was a clue in there with just one small piece of the map, they aren’t as dumb as I thought.

After the final footprint there was an X. The same curved X that was written on the back of Xandra’s picture.

X marks the spot.”

*  *  *

“That tree there is this circle,” I mumbled, “and the hexagon on the map must be the gazebo, so I have to go over there to start.” Even though the footsteps on the map seemed to lead toward the greenhouse, I figured I better follow them in order in case there were extra clues hidden along the way. I walked toward the side of the house opposite the canyon and backed up against the wall where the footsteps looked like they began.

Taking four steps, I curved to my left and took another three, then veered right for six. I hit the first tree marked on the map. I hunted around the base of the trunk and looked up carefully at every branch. No clues. I crossed behind the tree and went left five paces, then turned left for nine and walked to the right four steps. The gazebo was right in front of me. The hexagon. I’d already searched the gazebo and found the partial map. Besides that it was clean. From the gazebo, I headed sideways three steps, then forward six. I stopped at the doorway to the greenhouse, opened it, and walked inside.

FREE SKYLAR ROBBINS BINOCULARS!

camobinoculars_400x400

Start your own detective kit! Order a personally autographed copy of SKYLAR ROBBINS: THE MYSTERY OF SHADOW HILLS and receive a FREE pair of binoculars and a FREE interactive bookmark. Only $9.99 plus postage while supplies last. Leave a reply to get ordering information. Binoculars are in limited supply!

Skylar Robbins: The Mystery of Shadow HIllsBookmark

Random Clue from The Mystery of the Hidden Jewels

randomclueWhat could this mean?

Skylar Robbins will discover this clue in The Mystery of the Hidden Jewels. She needs her Secret Agents’ help to decipher the clues in this upcoming adventure. Please post your guesses in the comments using your secret code name and secret agent number.