10 of the Best Puzzle Mysteries

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CJ Connor is simply a cozy enigma and romance writer whose main extremity successful beingness is to marque their canine proud. They are a Pitch Wars alumnus and an Author Mentor Match R9 mentor. Their debut enigma caller BOARD TO DEATH is forthcoming from Kensington Books. Twitter: @cjconnorwrites | cjconnorwrites.com

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In the temper for a existent head-scratcher of a mystery? There is, of course, ever Cain’s Jawbone — the infamously analyzable caller that, astir a period aft its publication, lone a fistful of radical person solved. Of each the things that tin beryllium said about Cain’s Jawbone, you can’t telephone its intricate crippled oregon the painstaking process of investigating it for yourself boring.

But if you’re a newcomer to puzzle mysteries, starting with Cain’s Jawbone tin beryllium asking for disappointment. It’s not for deficiency of trying, aft all, that truthful fewer person cracked it. You’ll privation to enactment yourself up to it by speechmaking plentifulness of satisfying, yet puzzling mysteries and gathering your deductive reasoning skills.

These 10 mysteries are centered astir peculiarly clever and puzzling plots. Some are self-aware of their trouble and the genre itself, offering a metafictional communicative oregon themed premise that tin beryllium entertaining for much seasoned enigma fans. New enigma genre readers, too, volition bask honing their armchair sleuthing skills with each book.

Murdle, Volume 1 by G.T. Karber

Wish Wordle was a small more…violent? You’ll privation to cheque retired Murdle. In these mystery-themed connection puzzles organized by difficulty, readers articulation Deductive Logico to find who committed a crime, what limb they used, and wherever they did it utilizing lone the clues provided.

The Woman successful the Library by Sulari Gentill

This puzzle-within-a-puzzle begins astatine the Boston Public Library. Four patrons go suspects arsenic the witnesses to a murder, each with their ain secrets to hide. But their communicative rapidly bleeds into a larger 1 exploring the sinister broadside of the publishing manufacture and the enactment betwixt admiration and obsession.

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The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections by Eva Jurczyk

University librarian Liesl Weiss values the quietness of her occupation — and is profoundly disturbed erstwhile her brag suffers a abrupt stroke. Worse, she discovers successful the aftermath that a priceless manuscript has been stolen.

Liesl is reluctant to analyse by herself, contempt her hunch that the incidents are connected. But erstwhile a workfellow goes missing soon aft and the constabulary garbage to dainty the lawsuit seriously, she’s drawn into a unsafe crippled that reaches acold beyond field grounds.

A Botanist’s Guide to Flowers & Fatality (Saffron Everleigh #2) by Kate Khavari

Botanist Saffron Everleigh is stumped by a bid of murders successful 1920s London…until she learns that each of the victims received flowers earlier their demise. Now, she indispensable usage her cognition of Victorian angiosperm symbolism to uncover the motives for each execution and drawback the culprit earlier they onslaught again.

Unnatural Ends by Christopher Huang

After the gruesome decease of their adopted begetter Sir Linus Linwood, 3 siblings — Alan, Roger, and Caroline — are successful for a daze seemingly beyond the sedate astatine the speechmaking of his will. The sole inheritor of Sir Linus Linwood’s property volition beryllium the idiosyncratic who solves his murder.

The Puzzle Master by Danielle Trussoni

If you’re successful the temper for much of a mystery-thriller, you’ll privation to cheque retired this aggravated and intricately plotted caller starring puzzle maestro Mike Brink. An brushwood with a genuinely compelling cipher — and the pistillate who wrote it — leads Mike to analyse a overmuch greater puzzle with roots successful 13th period mysticism.

The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji

A Kyoto University Mystery Club gathering turns deadly — possibly expected erstwhile gathering astatine a distant land where, 1 twelvemonth ago, a quadruple execution occurred. The students indispensable usage their genre cognition to find the slayer picking them disconnected 1 by 1 successful this homage to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None.

Everyone successful my Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

Family reunions are analyzable successful the champion of circumstances. And Ernie Cunningham can’t adjacent assertion that. A slayer is connected the escaped astatine a skis resort, and immoderate of the Cunninghams could beryllium a fishy due to the fact that each of them person killed before. For Ernie, it’s a question of figuring retired who has killed again — and why.

Ernie’s assemblage arsenic a how-to enigma writer makes for immoderate peculiarly clever “meta” moments.

Puzzling Ink (Crossword Puzzle #1) by Becky Clark

Quinn Carr is simply a pistillate with obsessive-compulsive upset who finds a originative outlet successful penning crosswords for her section newspaper. But erstwhile a lawsuit astatine her time occupation arsenic a waitress is murdered, Quinn indispensable enactment her puzzle-creation skills to the trial by solving a peculiarly unusual one.

Under Lock & Skeleton Key (Secret Staircase #1) by Gigi Pandian

This cozy work is the archetypal successful a locked country enigma series, with seemingly intolerable crimes solved by magician Tempest Raj. After a signifier mishap that astir killed her, Tempest moves location to assistance with the household operation business.

While knocking down a partition successful their client’s home, Tempest and her household observe a assemblage — and not conscionable immoderate body. It’s Tempest’s aged stunt double. But how, erstwhile the partition has been sealed for astatine slightest a century, tin that be?

To larn much astir enigma genre conventions, work Book Riot contributor Elisa Shoenberger’s effort “What Mystery Novels Get Wrong About the Courtroom.” There, you’ll observe however the tropes (like astonishment testimonies oregon speedy sentencing) comparison to existent tribunal proceedings — arsenic good arsenic immoderate differences betwixt American and British courtrooms.

For much mysteries centered astir a theme, cheque retired 8 of the champion culinary mysteries cleanable for bookish foodies.

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