January's Featured Detective Is...

The Featured Detective Program

Each mystery, dozens of detectives send in letters with questions, theories, new evidence, and solutions. After each mystery, we reward the detective who sends in the best solution with a special prize and recognition as our “Featured Detective”.

The competition to be the featured detective for our January mystery was our biggest yet. Dozens of detectives wrote in from around the world with their theories and questions. We received solutions by email, letter, postcard, and even Fedex.

One detective used 19th century labor disputes in a bid to put the mystery to rest. Another detective used military history, and Sgt. Griffith’s style of writing to call the sergeant'’s integrity into question.

Detective Naima, a nine-year-old, sent Holmes a pair of brilliant hand-written letters advising him on the case. She also asks him why in the world he wants a nine year old’s help. Lest you think Detective Naima was aided by an adult in her mystery-solving, we’re told that she kept her letters confidential, refusing to share them with anyone but their intended recipient.

Substance is most important to a great solution, but style matters too, and we appreciated the lengths some detectives went to to set their letters apart. Some designed custom letterhead for their detective’s agency. Ohters used fine and interesting stationery and showed off impressive penmanship. A few even submitted graphics or drawings to support their theory of the case.

With so many great letters to choose from, selecting a winner was difficult, but in the end, we had to pick one. A great detective solves mysteries swiftly, correctly, and with flair. This month’s featured detective, Michael S. (not me - I promise) of Maryland, did all of those things. He laid out his solution to the mystery in a timely, hand-written letter on nice paper, written in character.

Detective Michael will be receiving a special prize to his door soon to celebrate his skill. We’ll also be sending a prize to our favorite 9-year-old detective.

Thank you to everyone who submitted a letter this month. We (and Holmes) can’t wait to see what creative solutions you’ll come up with for next month’s mystery, and who will be the first to correctly solve the case.

Want to win next month’s Featured Detective competition? Submit your answer here. You can submit more than once if your theory of the case changes.

Keep solving.

- Michael Sitver & The Dear Holmes team

P.S. Don’t forget to renew your membership to keep the mysteries coming.