Puzzle Mystery

It is the Year of the Wood Dragon, and the ingenious Mike Brink has been invited to Tokyo, Japan, to open the legendary Dragon Box. The box was constructed during one of Japan’s most tumultuous periods, when the samurai class was disbanded and the shogun lost power. In this moment of crisis, Emperor Meiji locked a priceless Imperial secret in the Dragon Box. Only two people knew how to open the box—Meiji and the box’s sadistic constructor—and both died without telling a soul what was inside or how to open it.

When a flamboyant local celebrity is framed for murder in her peaceful English village, Judith knows she should keep her head down. After all, a quiet retirement was the plan. But with a past as colourful as hers, she might be the only person who can unravel this deadly puzzle. There's just one problem: the charming DS Raymond Collins and the razor-sharp DC Sarah Eastly are getting a little too curious about the mysterious new retiree in their midst. And Judith's got more than a few secrets she'd rather keep buried... From garden parties to hidden bodies, this deliciously twisted cozy ...

I'm Tracy Belden, a single mom on my first solo case as a PI. Instead of creating crossword puzzles, I’m searching for my wealthy ex-husband’s second wife, missing for three days. I was hoping she ran off with his money. Then, I found her body. Now, the police are eyeing me as a suspect. To make matters worse, my precocious, 11-year-old son and my geriatric landlady are trying to solve the case without me, If my puzzle solving skills can't lead me to the killer, I'll be finishing my crossword puzzle in jail. If you like fast-paced, funny whodunits with smalltown adventures, you'll love ...

The Heritage Hall book fair was my chance to showcase my bookbinding techniques. Instead, I become the main suspect in a murder. Paper flowers and leather bindings filled my Heritage Hall book fair booth. This was my chance to showcase traditional bookbinding techniques. Instead, I found a dead authenticator in my space. Mark Henderson, known for exposing forgeries, lay sprawled among tools stolen from my exhibit. Making me the prime suspect. Book preservation is my passion - being a murder suspect, not so much. I teamed up with Fitzgerald, my Maine Coon cat and journalist Jennifer Walsh to...

Empathetic to a fault, librarian Alice Pepper always had a natural talent for figuring out people and puzzles in the small Oregon town of West Hazel. But as a mystery permeates the quiet Pacific Northwestern community, murder is a challenge she’s not prepared to solve....

On the muddy banks of the Calumet River, a body has been found posed next to a series of mysterious glyphs and bearing wounds from a ritualistic slaying. Chicago detective Addie Bisset knows only one man who can decipher the message left by the killer: her friend Dr. Evan Wilding. A brilliant forensic semiotician, Evan decodes the etchings as Viking Age runes. They suggest either human sacrifice or righteous punishment. But to what god? And for what sins? Only one thing is clear from the disturbing runic riddles: there are more victims to come.

Six strangers arrive at the home of preeminent puzzle master Alexei Vasiliev for the reading of his will. Among them are the deceased's widow, who'd already begun divorce proceedings, a virologist troubled by actions in his past, and a convicted murderer on day release. The potential beneficiaries will split Vasiliev's $150M fortune if they participate in his last great work. The choice is simple: leave the house with nothing or continue in the hope of solving the six interconnecting escape rooms within this house.

Sweet Delights bakery owner Maggie Thompson never imagined she'd be serving up murder alongside her famous butter cookies and chocolate cakes. But when her young apprentice turns up dead in the kitchen and Maggie is pegged as the prime suspect, she's thrown into a real-life mystery that's far darker than anything she's ever whipped up. To clear her name and catch the real killer, Maggie must dig into the secrets buried in her once-idyllic hometown of Sugarville. With the help of her clever cat Detective Whiskers, charming baking buddy Tony and a sprinkle of sugar-fueled magic, Maggie ...

Opening the newspaper can be dangerous. Helene, Marta, and Jimmy find out firsthand that newspapers and books can be tricky things. When mysterious robberies start popping up in the region, they realize they've landed right in the middle of a clever scheme and some bold burglars. Using maps and their code-solving skills, the three are determined to get to the bottom of what's going on. New friends can be hard to trust, and sometimes old friends can't be trusted at all.

Lily and Grace Garrison, and their trusty beagle Rocky, are ready for a relaxing getaway. When their friend Daniel Farnsworth invites them to Oakwood Pastures, a prestigious equestrian estate he’s heavily invested in. But their vacation takes a dark turn when a champion horse dies under suspicious circumstances, followed by a string of sabotage incidents, during a high-stakes equestrian championship. With the stable’s reputation—and owner Malcolm’s fortune—on the line, tensions run high. Is someone trying to ruin Oakwood Pastures from the inside, or is there a more sinister motive...

Death doesn't take a vacation, but neither does justice. Returning to her sleepy hometown in Pennsylvania was the last thing former athlete Julia "JJ" Kamaras thought she'd ever do. So was solving murders. Stuck in Florida with a dead-end gym job and non-existent love life, JJ's world is upended when disaster strikes. Her Greek-American father convinces her to return to the supposed safety of Jim Thorpe, PA, and their family restaurant, the Kamaras Grill. But security proves fleeting when murder shatters the town's tranquility. Teaming up with her quick-witted friends, Rebecca and Gwen Q, ...

Cedar Grove is abuzz with excitement as the Halloween Festival draws near, but for Lila Harrington, owner of the Harrington Inn, the holiday takes a chilling turn. Strange creaks echo from the empty upper floors, shadowy figures flit through the halls, and a mysterious history of tragic lovers haunts the property. When one of her guests is found dead under suspicious circumstances, Lila’s unease turns to determination. With her best friend Jane by her side and her clever beagle Barkley sniffing out clues, Lila dives into a mystery that blurs the lines between the supernatural and the all-...

Freya Lockwood is shocked when she learns that Arthur Crockleford, antiques dealer and her estranged mentor, has died under mysterious circumstances. She has spent the last twenty years avoiding her quaint English hometown, but when she receives a letter from Arthur asking her to investigate—sent just days before his death—Freya has no choice but to return to a life she had sworn to leave behind.

This first crime novel written by Alan Fisher is not a story of brutal murders and mutilated bodies. His gentle story is more of a puzzle where readers are asked to look at the evidence shared throughout the book and find the killer before their identity is revealed. June 2014. Oliver Cole graduates from Hendon Police College as a Detective Constable and heads off to his choice of posting to Northumbria Police in the North East of England. Cole is a shy but highly regarded new recruit with a talent for puzzle solving; from his first day he comes under the instructional wing of long-serving ...

In 1894 colonial India, Lady Diana's family has lost their fortune in a global financial slump, but even worse, her brother Adi is accused of murder. Desperate to save him from the gallows, Captain Jim and Lady Diana rush back to Bombay. However, the traditional Parsi community finds Jim and Diana's marriage taboo and shuns them. The dying words of Adi's business partner, a silversmith, are perplexing. As Captain Jim peels back the curtains on this man's life he finds a trail of unpaid bills, broken promises, lies, and secrets.

Owning a bookstore in a small town is a dream...until murder makes it a nightmare. The victim, the new lighthouse owner, left behind more enemies than friends. The suspect list is endless, and I'm on it. I team up with my best friend, Sam, and my rescue dog, Sherlock Paws, to uncover the truth. Clues are popping up all over, and just when I think we're getting somewhere, another body turns up. With Sherlock Paws' sharp instincts for sniffing out hidden clues and her talent for squeezing into tight spaces, we're making headway—but the clock is ticking. Each new discovery pushes us closer ...

Summertime—as the temperature rises, so does the potential for evil. From Cornwall to the French Riviera, whether against a background of Delphic temples or English country houses, Agatha Christie’s most famous characters solve complicated puzzles as the stakes heat up. Pull up a deckchair and enjoy plot twists and red herrings galore from the bestselling fiction writer of all time.

Murder Among Heirs When the wealthy and enigmatic Walter Farnsworth, a pharmaceutical tycoon, brings his family to Turtle Cove for a getaway at the Willowrose Inn, the picturesque coastal town braces for a storm—both literally and figuratively. Walter’s hidden motives come to light when his favored heir, daughter Alexandra, is found dead as a fierce tempest rages outside. Suspicion falls on the troubled Farnsworth clan, each with secrets worth killing for. Inn owners Grace and Lily Garrison find themselves entangled in the mystery as the family’s dark history surfaces. With tensions ...

As the title implies this book involves the completion of a jigsaw puzzle. The pieces are the suspects in a murder case and the reader has to decide who is the final piece in order to discover the identity of the culprit. But nothing is quite what it seems for, as the story unfolds, it soon becomes apparent that the reader is being given assistance to complete the puzzle by … the murderer. The new owner of the house has almost finished clearing out the loft space when he sees the insulation lagging is loose near the eves. As he attempts to replace it he finds a jigsaw puzzle box hidden ...

Sisters Sage and Summer Dixon have turned The Novel Brew into Riverbend, Montana’s go-to spot for books, coffee, and community. But when their beagle, Brody, finds a bloodied napkin under a table, their cozy world is upended. Moments later, a shaken Deputy Emily Harper arrives with shocking news—Lillian Barrett, a dear friend of the sisters, has been found dead. Determined to uncover the truth, Sage and Summer dive into the investigation, only to discover that beneath Riverbend’s charming exterior lies a tangled web of secrets, betrayals, and long-buried grudges. As the sisters piece ...