Daphne Drew’s after-college plans at the True-Crime Podcast network didn’t quite pan out, so she is thankful when her great-aunt Hannah offers her a job as an investigative reporter for her new publishing venture, Understated Elegance. Her first assignment is traveling with handsome photojournalist Clark Henry and two dogs to a Pacific Northwest resort known for its Bigfoot sightings to cover a society wedding. Daphne’s love of mysteries and cryptozoology makes this the perfect assignment in YOU HAD ME AT BIGFOOT by Nancy Campbell Allen.
When Daphne and Clark arrive at the resort, they learn a maid is missing, but the hotel's senior staff don’t seem too concerned. With a shortage of rooms, Daphne and Clark are assigned the Sasquatch Suite, a room that hasn’t been renovated in years. As the wedding guests arrive, tensions are present in the families surrounding the aging millionaire groom and his much younger fiancée. There is an inheritance at stake, and Daphne soon learns someone wants something in the Sasquatch Suite. As Daphne and Clark start investigating, they learn the missing maid may have been onto something related to the old mystery surrounding D.B. Cooper and missing money. Can Daphne and Clark unravel the clues, dodge Bigfoot impostors, and keep the wedding party safe?
YOU HAD ME AT BIGFOOT is a fun, adventure- filled mystery with a cryptid connection. There is nostalgia with the Scooby-Doo and Nancy Drew references, and plenty of quirky suspects to keep the momentum going as Daphne and Clark partake in a treasure hunt related to the infamous D.B. Cooper case. Daphne and Clark, along with their canine sidekicks, are likable characters with spirited chemistry who fall a little in love along the way. The mystery is filled with atmospheric elements: dark woods, Bigfoot sightings, rock throwings, hidden doors, treasure maps, poisoned ginger ale, and a canine hero. The pacing is good, although it meanders in some places, but the ending ramps up the action and wraps up the mystery nicely with a high- stakes scene. For a light-hearted, adventurous, suspenseful mystery that keeps you looking out for large hairy creatures in the dark woods, YOU HAD ME AT BIGFOOT will be your ticket to fun.
Rookie journalist Daphne and war photographer Clark investigate a missing maid and rumors of Bigfoot sightings—uncovering danger, buried lies, and unexpected romance deep in the Pacific Northwest wilderness.
Rookie investigative journalist Daphne Drew is finally on assignment—though it’s not exactly the hard-hitting story she imagined. Sent to cover a high-society wedding at an opulent Pacific Northwest lodge, Daphne expects floral arrangements and champagne flutes, not whispered rumors of a missing maid . . . or reports of Bigfoot sightings.
She’s not alone. Tagging along is Clark Finklestine-Henry, a decorated war photographer with a haunted past—and a camera sharp enough to catch more than just candid reception shots. Together with their loyal dogs, Daphne and Clark begin to suspect something much darker is lurking in the forested shadows of the hotel grounds.
As wedding guests arrive and tension simmers beneath the surface, Daphne and Clark uncover a tangled web of lies, legends, and lost fortune—one that ties the vanished maid, some returning friends, and the infamous DB Cooper together in a mystery that’s anything but folklore.
No excerpt available.