Puzzles are at the heart of mystery novels! Every mystery story is a puzzle by itself. Little by little, the author provides pieces of the puzzle, and mystery fans enjoy trying to race the fictional detective to the answer.
However, some mystery novels provide extra puzzles for readers to solve along with the detectives. There are special puzzle-themed mystery novels and series of all kinds, from the crossword puzzle-themed Puzzle Lady mysteries by Parnell Hall to the Sudoku Mystery series by Kaye Morgan. There are even puzzle-themed mystery books for children, including The Eleventh Hour and Enigma by Graeme Base and the treasure hunt-themed Liza, Bill, and Jed mysteries by Peggy Parish that include puzzles for the children to solve along the way.
However, I'd like to discuss an adult mystery novel that includes a variety of puzzles, including one at the end of the book that reveals the name of the murderer's accomplice. Some readers have been frustrated with this book because, although the answers to all of the other puzzles in the book are provided, there is no provided answer to the final puzzle. Personally, I enjoyed the book and didn't find the final puzzle difficult, but I admit that the ending seemed a little abrupt. I'm going to talk about the solution to the final puzzle here.
The Christmas Crimes at Puzzel Manor by Simon Brett
When the story begins, Jack Tarrant, a Scotland Yard detective, is recovering from a bullet wound sustained while he was chasing a serial killer known as the Executive Exterminator. This killer targets beautiful and successful business women and leaves messages taunting the police. Jack's injuries have left him confined to a wheelchair with further operations and therapy ahead of him. Naturally, he isn't in much of a mood to celebrate Christmas this year, but his girlfriend, Maria Lethbury, convinces him to accept an offer from a society for helping injured policemen for an all-expenses-paid stay at a quaint manor house turned into a hotel called Puzzel Manor (the spelling is correct) with a special holiday program. She hopes that the holiday will lift his spirits, but soon after their arrival, it becomes obvious that someone is using the festivities for their own purposes. Jack's enemy is also staying at the hotel, leaving a trail of bodies and puzzles, taunting Jack to discover his identity. Snowed in and with no way of getting outside help, Jack and Maria struggle to solve the puzzles left by the killer and stop his reign of terror once and for all.
Although murder seems like a dark theme for Christmas, the story contains enough humor to keep it from being too dark, and the focus is mostly on the puzzles. Part of the story is based on an old English tradition of telling ghost stories at Christmas. (Ever wonder about that one line from the song "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" that talks about ghost stories? That's why.) Each chapter ends with a new puzzle for the readers (as well as the characters) to solve as part of the villain's message. The solutions to the puzzles are given at the end of the following chapter, giving readers time to think it over and solve it themselves. (I admit, I had to give up on a couple of them and check the solution.)
The very last puzzle doesn't come with a solution, which was an annoying thing to do. It's not a difficult puzzle to solve, but since the solution is the name of the main villain's accomplice, it would be nice to have confirmation on the solution and maybe some follow-up on what happened after this person was caught (although there are indications in the book about what's likely to happen). Puzzle fans would enjoy this mystery, and I don't want to spoil it too much here with the name of the accomplice, but I can give some confirmation on what to do to get the final answer.
The Final Puzzle
HINT: You have to put the words in Jack's final note in the proper order in the grid provided. (Not the crossword puzzle grid that I showed above, a different grid.) Count the number of letters in each word to figure out where they fit. I found it easiest to start with the longest words first. Then, you read the unbroken line of letters that runs down the middle of the grid, and it spells out the name of the accomplice.
The partial solution below gives you the order of the words in the grid, but without the grid at the end of the book, the accomplice's name won't be clear, so the ending won't be spoiled. If you have a copy of the book, just grab a pencil and fill in the following words to finish the story:
PARTIAL SOLUTION:
The words are in the following order:
crimes
of
Puzzel (Yes, the spelling is right. See title of book.)
hope
one
contrive
solve
the
you
manor
them
every
Christmas
could
to
at
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