Introduction

If you’ve just discovered the hunt, be sure to start at Stop #1, and collect the clues through all the stops, in order, so you can enter to win one of our top 5 grand prizes!

• The hunt BEGINS on 3/19 at noon Mountain with Stop #1 at LisaBergren.com.
• Hunt through our loop using Chrome or Firefox as your browser (not Explorer).
• There is NO RUSH to complete the hunt—you have all weekend (until Sunday, 3/22 at midnight Mountain)! So take your time, reading the unique posts along the way; our hope is that you discover new authors/new books and learn new things about them.
• Submit your entry for the grand prizes by collecting the CLUE on each author’s scavenger hunt post and submitting your answer in the entry form at the final stop, back on Lisa’s site. Many authors are offering additional prizes along the way!

This past November, the Midwest memorialized the 50th anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, immortalized by Gordon Lightfoot’s haunting ballad. While the lyrics tell the tragic tale of one ship in Lake Superior, they speak for the thousands of vessels lost across the Great Lakes—with some estimates as high as 10,000 shipwrecks.

As the Great Lake with the most shipwrecks, what makes Lake Michigan so deadly?

It’s partly due to its narrowness, which can produce a Meteotsunami (a single, traveling wave triggered by a storm) or a Seiche (a standing wave that rocks back and forth across the entire basin). In fact, a meteotsunami often triggers a seiche as it reflects off the coast. Additionally, with over 300 miles of open water, the wind has ample room to ramp up, frequently fueling massive 20-foot waves.

In fact, my section of the coast is now part of the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary. This nearly 1,000-square-mile area contains 36 known shipwrecks and 60 more yet to be located. It has cost many a sailor their life, especially when those “Witch of November” gales blow.

Growing up near Chicago, I’ve always been fascinated by the Great Lakes, but moving to Eastern Wisconsin brought that fascination home. Living just a block away, I’ve come to appreciate Lake Michigan’s mercurial temperament. I can hear the roar of the waves from my writing office, and each morning my boys and I take note of the lake’s ever-changing emotions.

I’m offering a copy of my March release, Eyewitness Sketch, to three entrants.

Eyewitness Sketch takes readers to a fictional island at the tip of the Door Peninsula. The strait leading from Lake Michigan into Green Bay is known as Porte des Morts, or “Death’s Door,” aptly named for the sheer number of ships that sank while attempting to navigate its treacherous waters.

Because the passage was so harrowing, the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal was eventually dug to provide a safer connection between the lake and the bay. While Eyewitness Sketch takes place after the canal was completed, the passage remains just as deadly.

Finding love at Death’s Door might destroy them both.

Chicago, 1931—Gabriella Salatino never planned to return to her island home, nor did she plan to witness a murder. Now hiding under the protective care of Deputy Andri Jóhannsson, she must use her skills as a sketch artist to help him ferret out a smuggling ring before the killer finds her.

Protector Hero | Witness in Hiding | Small Town Mystery

Giveaway Details: Open internationally, but print for US addresses only. Winner announced on 3/23/2026.  Void where prohibited.