Happy April Fool’s Day: It’s Tricky Puzzle Book Time!
Happy April Fool’s Day!
Quite honestly, I am not much of a prankster, although I do love seeing what people pull off as long as it isn’t directed at me. The community I live in has a tradition of high production pranks (think UFO on the local lake) that I have helped with in the past, and I do enjoy those!
In honor of the “holiday”, I wanted to explore a fun, odd book niche with you all. Today, I am sharing a few puzzle books that set out to trick readers or need to be “solved” in some way. “Puzzle” mysteries and books told in non-traditional ways are fairly popular, so this is not an exhaustive list by any means, but I hope you enjoy this exploration.
To begin with, I am sharing two books that are told almost entirely in pictures.
Here by Richard McGuire
This is probably the most accessible of the books I am talking about today in that it is not actually a puzzle. Rather, this is a book of illustrations depicting the same view (usually a living room) throughout time. The illustrations are not chronological, so if you want to piece together more of a narrative, it is a bit of a treasure hunt!
Maze: A Riddle In Words and Pictures by Christopher Manson
This book contains a puzzle that can be solved using the mazes you find in the book across 45 pages, using clues hidden in the black and white drawings on every page. Supposedly, you can get from page 1 to the end and back again in 16 steps. Someone actually solved it and already claimed the 10,000 prize, but there is a rumor that there are still more puzzles hidden here!
If actual novels are more your thing, the next two books are puzzles within a book, where the experience of reading unfolds the puzzle.
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
If you have read one book on this list, it is probably this one. The Westing Game seems to make the rounds in schools every once in a while and is one I remember vividly from my childhood and my time teaching literacy in elementary. This is a classic puzzle where 16 people are told they could potentially inherit money from a mysterious stranger, and you have to figure out the solution. This is also the only book in this list where the answer is actually given within the book, so it won’t leave you hanging!
S. by Doug Dorst and J.J. Abrams
This “book” is more of a setting, as the real story here is the marginalia and extra pieces, including a cypher wheel. The book itself is a novel called Ship of Theseus by a fictional author known as V.M. Straka. The mystery becomes the dialogue between two readers writing in the margins, with all sorts of fun little pieces that you can explore, including napkins with scribbled notes and letters tucked in the pages.
This is one of the two books on this list I have actually read. It was a very weird reading experience, I am unsure I fully understood it, but it was certainly memorable!
Finally, for those who want some real world context and interaction with their mystery books, I have two books where solving the book means you could actually get a real world prize!
Cain’s Jawbone by Edward Powys Mathers
This book actually inspired this post, as this was a bit of a TikTok sensation earlier this year. This is a 100 page book, and the book is typically sold so that each page is unbound and can be rearranged. The “puzzle” is to arrange the 100 pages in the correct order and reveal the answer to 6 different mysteries. Only 4 people have solved the puzzle, and while the prize has been claimed, you could be the fifth!
The Secret by Byron Preiss
Are you looking for a book that might lead you to a real precious gem? This might be the book for you! The Secret is a series of 12 verses and 12 images that lead to 12 real live treasure chests, each of which can be exchanged for a precious gemstone. Only three have been found, which means there are still 9 possible treasure chests out there!
