The Christmas Crimes at Puzzel Manor
Author: Simon Brett
Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton
Publication Date: October 15, 1992
I read this ages ago (probably 10 years or more) and I can't remember if I ever wrote a review, even in the form of notes to myself about the book. Nonetheless, I do remember that it is one of my favourite mystery books of all time ever. Full stop. It contains puzzles throughout the book, usually at the end or beginning of each chapter and, although you can just keep reading to see how the protagonists solve the puzzles, the plot of the whodunnit advances better if you solve the mysteries yourself as you go. And unlike the Puzzle Lady series by Parnell Hall, it's not just crosswords or Sudoku. It's clever logic problems and other brain teasers that are left by the killer for the sleuths--and the reader--to find and solve. I LOVE LOVE LOVED it so much that I sincerely wished it was not only one in a series but one in a genre of mystery novels.
I've been chasing the satisfaction I felt in reading this book for years, first by checking out other Simon Brett novels (none were like this though) and then by seeking out other mysteries with puzzles in them. I didn't care for the Parnell Hall books, but I did find a book by Antoine Bello called The Missing Piece
that was quite good (though the "puzzle" in that one was rather elaborate and I wasn't very good at solving it).Since it's been a sufficiently long time since I've read this book, I suppose I might just go back and re-read it. It'll have to do until I can find others like it. So if anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!
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