The Case of the Dumpleton Diamond

Cluedle #1

by Hartigan Browne

Can you figure out Cluedunnit? Use your noodle! Grab a pencil and join P.I. Hartigan Browne to unravel riddles, crack codes, and catch the thief in this fun, interactive Choose Your Own Adventure story.  With the charm of Robin Stevens, the humor of Pink Panther, CLUEDLE is sure to delight and entertain legions of budding detectives.   Dave the dog has been pup-napped, and in a village like Dumpleton, everyone’s a suspect! Do you have what it takes to sniff out clues? Or will you end up barking up the wrong tree?  The reader is being trained by world-famous private investigator Hartigan Browne to crack codes and find clues in 50 fun brain-busting puzzles, and no two puzzles are alike. Each chapter has a mystery to solve that leads the reader toward the answers to the following   Who pup-napped Dave the dog? What is so important about The Flying Goat? How did the Dumpleton Diamond go missing? Why can a missing key unlock this case?   Packed full of codes to crack, evidence to evaluate, clues to unravel and maps to navigate, Cluedle is puzzling fun for the whole family.

Genres: Mystery

224 pages, Paperback

First published March 28, 2024

Reviews

[Kerry Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Puzzle book that I thought I’d count! Yes, it was for 9-12 year olds. Yes, I’m 36. Yes, I did not notice this until I’d bought it…But it was fun! Great concept, funny storyline and something different to do to wind down. 3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Giovanna Jansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5 ⭐️
Leuk en grappig speurneuzenboek, waarbij de lezer als speurneus in spe een aantal zaken op moet zien te lossen.

[Joana Gonçalves · Rating 5 out of 5]

O livro perfeito de atividade para os mais novos! Foi uma leitura bastante prazerosa e que me viciou porque queria continuar a fazer as atividades

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

You are now a member of the Hartigan Browne Detective Agency, Browne being arguably Britain’s greatest detective. His success in previous cases has led to him being overworked and in need of some assistance – this is where you come in. Dave the dog has been pup-napped and it is up to you to find out why and who the culprit is. This is the first of many puzzles that will, hopefully, lead you to the discovery of the Dumpleton Diamond.

Although this has been published by Macmillan Children’s Books, it is most definitely not just for children. The puzzles are challenging enough for adults to get enjoyment from with clues to help younger children if they get a bit stuck. There is a good range of puzzles, from codes to logic problems, picture puzzles to anagrams so that there is something here for everyone.

The story that runs through the book is a good one and kept me engaged throughout – this is one of those books where you keep telling yourself, ‘one more page…’ until you have finished it in a couple of sittings!

If you are looking for a slightly different read, one that will get the old grey matter working, then this is the book for you. Great fun for all the family, I am pleased to see that there is already a second book in the pipeline!

[Theediscerning · Rating 3 out of 5]

A puzzle book designed to put the young reader into the world of cosy crime. In the first instance (once a couple of easy enough tasks, and one of those chains-of-cogs things I never ever get right) you're to work out who nicked a puppy from a village fete. Oddly, this is pretty awkward stuff, as first it narrows down the suspects for you to four then three, and then starts yacking on about each and every initial suspect (many of which you have eliminated) and what blades they were using on the day. Surely the target reader could do without such confusion – and the early instance of them knowing the book is doing daft things; it's hand-holding to the right conclusion for the newbie, perhaps, but in waffling about the innocent can't be said to share a great detective's brain and insight.

And the problem with this kind of book is you really need to be on the right wavelength, both to enjoy it, and to comply with it. Let me paraphrase a part of the third part, where you're indulging in a bit of breaking and entering – "You see a keypad and a squiggle. You work out that, if only you could see the squiggle better, you'd know it contains geometric shapes to tally and put in the keypad. But which of these three enlargements are the real squiggle (answers on p178)? (Turns page to p50) You're right, it was C! So go on, count things up..."

Very rare are the instances where these books can force you to generate the right answer before you can progress with the problem. I mean, I know it's cosy crime and all that, but how cosy is it to not actually need to work out which key is missing, what numbers the accursedly obligatory sudoku are providing, and so on. It then is a book that has to believe it's succeeded – it has to take it on trust that you've done each and every task, worked through each and every code and maze and whatnot as and when demanded. Having done that diligently enough you'll find that all told the story is an engaging one – richly involving you in a world of unlikely artworks, ferrets, and trapdoors in churches. But a book like this needs to minimise the chances of you not playing along, and this one with its weird attitude to suspect lists at the start did not play ball enough for all of us to do so too. Add in the one-use-only nature of such a volume, if you do indeed join in properly, and three stars is a maximum mark.

[Chesli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cozy crime perfect for kids and adults. The book's storyline is pretty streamlined and you need to finish one puzzle to progress to the next. As long as you're paying attention, solving each problem and finding each clue shouldn't be a problem at all. The only puzzle I had an issue with was the sliding case puzzle (p. 152-153) due to the crease of the book's binding which made it rather difficult to line up the wires correctly... I did enjoy the variety of logic and word puzzles though. It showed just how much can be put into an interactive puzzlebook.

[Mrs Lena · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a most unusual book which the whole family can enjoy. The puzzles and codes kept me and my granddaughter amused for many hours.. The challenge to solve the kidnap of Dave the Dog is filled with humour with challenges in every chapter. We thoroughly enjoyed this book and hope there will be more in the series for our family to enjoy.

[Elena L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

[4.5/5 stars]

Fun and interactive, this book challenges young readers to solve a mystery and follow a story. Bursting with puzzles, codes and riddles, it is a very enjoyable book for all type of reader. I thought it was creative.

[ I received a complimentary copy from the publisher - Workman publishing . All thoughts are my own ]

[Joshua Gregory · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was quite fun! Most puzzles were different and some quite difficult. I preferred the plot based book as to a book like murdle. As a teen I would have much preferred there to be a real murder or something a bit more mature which is why I go for things like murdle. Overall engaging and fun 7/10

[Kate Davies · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun interactive book jam packed with puzzles to exercise the “little grey cells”. This would be perfect for ages 7 - 12 with many different types of puzzles to solve and a story to follow along there’s something for everyone.

[Nicinha || Nicinha_book’s]

Se gostas de mistério e de resolver charadas e passatempos este livro é excelente.
Temos 50 exercícios que nos leva a resolver o mistério

Este tipo de livros é dos que tenho espalhados pela casa, sala, escritório e até no carro, ajuda sempre a passar o tempo e a “matar” o aborrecimento

[Emily Crowther · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it !

[Emily Mcleod · Rating 4 out of 5]

A hoot. $12 from Kmart to prove once and for all that I am terrible at detailed investigation. Thank goodness for the answer sheet! I had fun :) will do the next!

[Lusanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Je voelt je net een detective!

[Pe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed it, good for use with the family. Well put together puzzles.

[Janka Maes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ik kwam er pas tijdens het oplossen van de puzzels achter dat dit boek bedoeld is voor kinderen van 9 tot 12 jaar… Ik kan dus met trots mededelen dat ik maar op 2 puzzels ben vastgelopen!

[Kitchen Sink Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

How clever are you? I don’t need you to do an IQ test or even be a genius, in fact it really doesn’t matter how clever you are despite the assumption to the opposite. Did you (a) stop and think about that question or (b) are you still reading? I hope it’s (b) because as I say this is actually not about intelligence so well done if you are a (b), this book is going to be for you. Cluedle: The Case of the Dumpleton Diamond by Hartigan Brown is a book packed with fiendishly fun mystery puzzles but before you assume again, this is not in fact anything like traditional puzzle books. It is a case book and the puzzles have to be passed for you to progress to the cases (well you could cheat but there is no fun in that). Don’t worry, you aren’t alone in this, Hartigan Brown wants you to succeed and there are no rules against involving friends and family ~ after all this is a book and they are for sharing…

If you are ready we will make our way to the village of Dumpleton where case number one needing to be solved is the pup-napping of Dave the dog, companion of Ivanna Craft who owns The Little Dumpleton Art Gallery. Progress with world famous private detective Hartigan Brown through the clues, remembering to make notes as you go along, and see if you can solve this first case. Its answer may help with learning what is so important about The Flying Goat, how the Dumpleton Diamond went missing and where the missing key that will solve these cases might be. Be prepared for codes to crack, evidence that needs to be evaluated (there is space in the book for this, for all the work you might need to do), clues to unravel, maps to be studied and navigated and that is just the beginning. The puzzles present an educational angle encouraging verbal reasoning and comprehension, spatial reasoning, logic, number and spotting making it ideal for using in a school as well as a home environment and guaranteeing hours of fun for budding young super sleuths!

I write reviews for Armadillo Children's Books and this one appeared in my weekly newsletter, Postbag Picks, in March 2024.