Stanley E. Smith (1) (1919–)

Charming illustrations abound in this mystery book. Many of the cases are really logic puzzles, and it’s a great way to introduce kids to this way of reasoning. With three or more suspects, readers have bits of information from all the suspects, and you must coordinate the facts to see where the truth lies. Some are pretty difficult; others just require some prior knowledge and careful reading. It’s a lot of fun for kids and adults, especially if you match wits with another person.

The puzzles were fun, if repetitive.

Most involved either finding an inconsistency with what some person in the story said, or was a case of several clues, and simply eliminating all possibilities leading to a logical conclusion (e.g. statements like "The driver is married to the thief's sister" ... "The accomplice has no siblings")

While I didn't dig into it too deeply, I felt some of the puzzles were either unsolvable, or allowed multiple solutions. Answers are provided for all the show more mysteries, but I think whoever wrote them found a solution, but did not check if a further statement nullifies it (or rather, if focusing on a different set of statements leads you to another conclusion). show less

I did read every one until I found out if it was a straight logic puzzle (I'm no good at those) or a liars v. truth-tellers puzzle (ditto). Of the others, some required obscure knowledge, others were ridiculously obvious... all in all, pretty much a waste of time for me. But since I didn't do the work, and since everyone's taste in, and talent for, puzzles is different, I won't speak of a recommendation.

March 2022

A variety of mystery problems are included in this little collection for readers to puzzle over. The mysteries are all different mini stories which makes them quite interesting. Some are fairly easy to solve, others are more complex. Some are logic puzzles, some just use a bit of common knowledge to find the answer. Match your wits with your family and friends and see who can solve the mystery first.