11 murder mysteries where you play detective
If you loved Choose Your Own Adventure books as a child, you’ll remember the thrill of those interactive stories, where your choices shaped the plot. Thankfully, those books have made a comeback – this time, with a murder mystery twist.
Thanks to the huge success of interactive detective stories like The Appeal by Janice Hallett and crime-themed puzzle books like Murdle, there has been a flurry of meta-fictional and solve-it-yourself murder mystery books published in recent years. These stories transform readers from passive observers into active participants in a murder investigation, with fiendish puzzles to solve and clues to pick over.
If, like most crime fiction fans, you’re sure you would make a great detective, here’s your chance to prove it. Below, we have rounded up the best interactive choose-your-own-adventure mysteries, puzzle books, and cryptic crime novels that will make you think. Happy sleuthing!
Interactive ‘choose your own adventure’ mysteries
You’re the detective in these mysteries – so grab a pen and paper, and get ready to piece together the clues to solve the crime…
Murder At Christmas: You Solve the Crime by G. B. Rubin
There’s not one but two crimes in this twisty 1930s-set mystery where your choices take you on a different route each time. You play the part of Dr Kinn Tenor, a Scotland Yard pathologist who must decide whether to investigate a locked-room mystery in Yorkshire or stick with his original plan of investigating a poison pen letter case on a country estate. Whichever path you go down, this is a fun, twisty mystery that’s perfect for the festive season.
Murder mystery puzzle books
If you’re looking for a fun brainteaser, and you’ve already finished your Murdle book, we recommend the following mystery-themed puzzles.
Murder By Christmas by Joel Jessup
In the quiet English village of Candlestow, the locals are getting ready for Christmas when local resident, Mr. Holly, is found dead. On 1st December, a note arrives at the police station, revealing someone is taking revenge on the village and everyone is a potential target. Then on 2nd December, another clue arrives – and you have until 25th December to figure out the identity of the killer.
Detective books that make you think
These stories are full of cryptic clues, complex puzzles and meta-fictional plots; they’ll require your full attention if you want to solve the mystery before the detective.
The Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz
When a literary editor gets the latest manuscript from her best-selling crime writer, she’s delighted: she knows fans love his detective, Atticus Pünd, who solves crimes in the sleepy English villages of the 1950s. But all is not as it seems as the pages of the book contain clues to a real-life murder. This clever mystery-within-a-mystery hooks you in from the first page and is complex enough to hold you until the last.
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
In this fresh and inventive mystery, detective Aiden Bishop is trapped in an endlessly repeating day where he must work out who murdered socialite Evelyn Hardcastle to escape the loop. The day might be repeating itself, but the plot is far from boring: the reader is plunged straight into the action from page one, and Turton cleverly drops in clues throughout. But will you guess whodunnit before Bishop?