Puzzle Books

A bestseller in Japan, Uketsu's Strange Pictures revolves around a series of creepy drawings, in which the reader is the detective.

A series of drawings made by a young woman before her death.

A child's disturbing picture of his home.

A desperate sketch made by a murder victim in his final moments.

Each contains a chilling warning.

Each reveals a terrible secret, hidden in plain sight.

A body is found stabbed to death in a locked room. The police find no weapon, no motive and no suspects.

However, the murderer has in their possession a box of one hundred cryptic picture postcards which – if properly understood – would explain not just this murder, but nine others. These are those cards.

Solvers must rearrange the pages of text to unravel the story and identify the murderer, victim and location for each of the ten murders. They must also consider the separate puzzles presented by the curious images on the other sides.

Can you explain The Researcher’s First Murder?

Indeed, if you are the first to solve the puzzle correctly before midnight GMT on Friday 28th February 2025, you are eligible to win a £1000 cash prize.

Devised by John Finnemore, who solved Cain’s Jawbone as a lockdown project in 2020. He sincerely hopes it will not take a worldwide pandemic to solve this one.

This is also available as part of a Cain's Jawbone Bundle with free shipping.

CrimeBits is a unique, interactive puzzle book including 100 first pages of thrillers, the best selected by the world-famous crime author Lee Child. Each page is linked to a puzzle, ranging from crosswords to wordsearches to mystery logic puzzles created by a L.A. Times puzzle setter Robin Stears. Read an exclusive introduction by Lee Child himself on crime writing and the importance of a novel's opening. This grab-bag of a book also includes writing challenges, crime trivia, and editor's notes.