Put on your detective hat

 

There's something very satisfying about solving a (murder) mystery.

Does this appeal as much to you as it does to me?

Then read on to discover some original tips!

 

 

 

The last few weeks I've been on a mystery ride with several thrillers like:

• Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty (review)
• The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley (review)
• The Guest List by Lucy Foley (review)
• The Mother-in-Law by  Sally Hepworth (review to come)

 

Did you know that Ruth Ware also gives away a free short story on her website?

The title is 'We Will Be Watching' and you can receive it by subscribing to her newsletter here.

 

But today I especially want to spark your curiosity with my two latest mystery projects !

 

The first one is Whodunit Puzzles: Mysteries for the Super Sleuth to Solve by Tim Dedopulos.

 

Pit your wits against all manner of cunning criminals as you attempt to solve the fiendish mysteries within. As you put your skills of deduction and problem-solving to the test you'll be guided by three inimitable assistants, the insightful Inspector Parnacki, the curious Miss Mary Miller, and the persistent Joshua Cole.

 

Filled with gruesome murders these whodunits are not for the faint of heart. If you're a puzzle fan looking for a thrilling treat, or a mystery lover who fancies themselves a detective extraordinaire this is just the book for you.

 

 

So, if you consider yourself a perceptive armchair detective, put your thinking cap on and get ready to use all of your logic and wits as you enter the world of the whodunit!

 

The book is divided into two levels.

Level one comprises 39 stories of 3 pages each, while level two comprises 8 longer and apparently more difficult mysteries.

What's very nice in the e-book is that after each story there's a link on which you can click to go to the answer of only thát story. This way you can't accidentally read the answers to the other stories.

Personally I read one or two stories from time to time to savour this original kind of short story mysteries and I'm almost halfway now.

Found all the answers so far, although I've got to admit that it's not always that easy.

But fun is guaranteed for those who like to put on their detective hat!

 

 

And then there's a book that will totally blow your mind …

 

Have you ever heard of Cain's Jawbone by Torquemada?

Lots of people are under the spell of these original 100 pages.

 

Six murders. One hundred pages. Millions of possible combinations... but only one is correct. Can you solve Torquemada's murder mystery?

In 1934, the Observer's cryptic crossword compiler, Edward Powys Mathers (aka Torquemada), released a novel that was simultaneously a murder mystery and the most fiendishly difficult literary puzzle ever written.

The pages have been printed in an entirely haphazard order, but it is possible - through logic and intelligent reading - to sort the pages into the only correct order, revealing six murder victims and their respective murderers.

Only two puzzlers have ever solved the mystery of Cain's Jawbone: do you have what it takes to join their ranks?

Please note: this puzzle is extremely difficult and not for the faint-hearted.

 

Here's my review:

 

Have I read this book or not? That's a trick question.

Did I read every word written on the 100 pages? Yes.

Do I know how the story goes? No.

 

Not so long ago I was joking around with a friend who writes fiction, by telling him it would be original if he wrote a book with the pages in a random order, so that the reader has to put them in the right order and puzzle the story together.

You can imagine my surprise when a few days after our conversation I stumbled upon Cain's Jawbone in which author Torquemada already did this, back in 1934!

 

Torquemada is the pseudonym of Edward Powys Mathers (1892-1939).

This nom de plume was linked to the Spanish Inquisition, because Edward believed that puzzles should be mind-bendingly difficult but equally rewarding when the solution was found.

 

He introduced the cryptic crossword to England in 1924 through the pages of the Observer newspaper and in 1934 a selection of his puzzles was published by Gollancz under the title The Torquemada Puzzle Book.

This contained difficult crosswords, spooneristics, verbal games, telacrostics, triple cricket acrostics, anagrams and - in the final 100 pages - Cain's Jawbone (which refers to the first recorded murder weapon).

A prize of £15 was offered to the first reader who could re-order the pages and provide an account of the 6 persons murdered in Cain's Jawbone and the full names of their murderers.

In 1935 two people - Mr. S. Sydney-Turner and Mr. W.S. Kennedy - succeeded to find the solution to this puzzle with millions of possible combinations of pages, but with only one correct order.

 

In the subsequent years the answer to this mystery book was thought to have been lost.
That is until Shandy Hall, an independent literary museum in the UK operated by the Laurence Sterne Trust, received a donation of The Torquemada Puzzle Book.

It came from Geoffrey Day, who is a Trustee of the Laurence Sterne Trust and a Sterne scholar. He had had the book for years but had not been able to solve the puzzle.

Shandy Hall curator Patrick Wildgust gave it a shot, but finding the right answer proved difficult. So he put out a call in The Guardian, which brought him in contact with John Price. The latter had become obsessed with discovering the solution to Cain's Jawbone after coming across a second hand copy. In 1988, he appealed for information in the pages of the magazine run by the national Crossword Club. Amazingly, he received an answer that came 'from an elderly gentleman who lived in a nursing home in Nether Wallop,' who solved the problem in the 30s and even had a written congratulation from Torquemada. Finally, the only correct solution was found again!

 

Patrick Wildgust then collaborated with the crowdfunding publisher Unbound to re-issue the novel in the fall of 2019, with new artwork by Scottish cartoonist Tom Gauld.

This re-edition consisted of a box with 100 cards. The publisher offered a reward of £ 1.000 to anyone who could solve it.

Throughout the course of the next few months, twelve people submitted their responses.

Only the one of John Finnemore, a British comedy writer and crossword setter, held the correct answer. The funny thing is that he told The Guardian: “The first time I opened the box, I swiftly concluded that it was way out of my league, and the only way I’d even have a shot at it was if I were for some bizarre reason trapped in my own home for months on end, with nowhere to go and no one to see.”
And then there was COVID-19 and the pandemic quarantine. It took him four months to solve the puzzle.

 

In February 2021 a paperback edition was released.

Apparently a TikTokker named Scannell posted a video about this original book, the post went viral and lots of people wanted to try their luck.

To meet the startling surge in demand, Unbound printed 10.000 additional copies in November and announced an additional 70.000-copy print run early December.

There’s also a new competition: everyone who submits a correct answer before December 31, 2022, will receive a £250 /$350 credit to spend supporting other book projects at unbound.com.

 

Yours truly decided to put on her detective hat and is now totally hooked!

Having bought the paperback a few weeks ago, I discovered yesterday that there's also an e-book version available now (apparently since this month).

With both versions within easy reach, I'm now able to fully immerse myself in this original murder mystery.

There are lots of literary and historical references, each of which could either be an important clue or simply a red herring.

It's so much fun to find out what these words or sentences are refering to!

Already learned so much in just one day, that - even if I don't find the correct final answer - I'm sure the coming months will provide a very gratifying experience.

Or as they say: it's all about the journey, not the destination.

Although I wouldn't mind to solve this brain teaser 😄

 

Part of the background info about Torquemada and his work is already covered in this review.

But if you want to know even more and/or read about interesting references I can totally recommend following articles:

- https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/crossword-blog/2017/oct/30/crossword-blog-a-vintage-mystery-with-a-bizarre-twist

- https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/653534/cains-jawbone-book-puzzle

 

 

In 2017 this title was placed on the website of crowdfunding publisher Unbound by the people of Shandy Hall.

The first re-edition came out in the form of a box with each page printed on a separate card. Here's the short presentation of this idea:

 

As the crowdfunding was successful, the book has been republished a second time.

But now as a paperback with a dotted line on the left of each page. So that you can cut the pages out and puzzle them together in the right order. That's the one I bought not so long ago.

Yesterday I found out that since July there's also an e-book version available! So I bought that one too, as it's easier to look up certain things. Because I often remember having read specific words or phrases, but it's not always easy to find them back immediately in a paper book.

 

Several videos on Youtube, TikTok, … seem to prove that once you're bitten by the Torquemada mystery bug, you're hooked.

Be aware that some people claim to have found (a part of) the answer. But this doesn't seem to be very likely, as it would've been made public if their answer was totally correct.

Personally, I decided not to watch those videos, as I want to make up my own opinion.

 

Due to circumstances I haven't had a lot of time yet to take my magnifying glass and put on my detective hat.

But with the e-book version in my possession now, I'll try to spend at least 10 minutes every day to come closer to the answer.

My initial thoughts (looking at the end and beginning of the pages, looking up poems that are split across two pages, …) are probably the things most people think of.

But even though they already give some small hints, they're absolutely not enough to put these 100 pages in the right order and to discover who the 6 murder victims are and by whom they were murdered.

So I'll definitely have to dig a whole lot more to solve this fascinating mystery.

The clock is ticking and there are a bit more than 5 months left.

Because the deadline (what's in a name?) set by Unbound is the 31st of December 2022.

Are you enticed to pick up the gauntlet too?