This is not a post about puzzle mysteries, but rather a roundup of puzzles for mystery readers. I believe I speak for many of us when I say that in the pandemic I’ve developed a taste for jigsaw puzzles. Yes, just like a newfound love of baking or house plants, jigsaw puzzles are the perfect hobby for home. But I haven’t been doing just any jigsaw puzzles – I’ve been doing themed puzzles! Here are a few very cool recent puzzles that appeal to horror, mystery, and crime fiction lovers. Some are based on specific books to the point of being able to follow along with the plot through solving the puzzle. Some are odes to the beloved figures behind the genre, or to the places where we fall in love with books. Some have pictures to guide in their solving, while others are mysteries as to what to the puzzle even contains. Some even include elaborate mysteries to solve alongside the puzzles, where you have to finish the jigsaw puzzle to discover the final clues.

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When it comes to puzzles, I take the same rule in finishing as I do with books: just enjoy the ride, don’t worry about getting to the destination. You can always give up and watch a timelapse video of someone else doing the puzzle.

The World of Agatha Christie, Illustrated by Ilya Milstein
(Laurence King)

Edgar Allan Poe Macabre Mansion
(Holly Carden)

The World of Dracula, by Adam Simpson
(Laurence King)

In the Bookstore
(Princeton Architectural Press)

Sherlock
(Cobble Hill)

Alfred Hitchcock: A Mystery Jigsaw Puzzle
(Bepuzzled)

Vintage Nancy Drew
(Cobble Hill)

Clue: A Mystery Jigsaw Puzzle
(Bepuzzled)

 

Whodonut? A Murder Mystery Jigsaw Puzzle Game
(Hunt a Killer)

Library Cat
(Cobble Hill)

The Orient Express: A Mystery Jigsaw Puzzle
(Bepuzzled)

Count Dracula’s Bran Castle
(Holly Carden)

 

Molly Odintz

Molly Odintz

Molly Odintz is the managing editor for CrimeReads and the editor of Austin Noir, now available from Akashic Books. She grew up in Austin and worked as a bookseller before becoming a Very Professional Internet Person. She lives in central Texas with her cat, Fritz Lang.

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