The Baffle Book

by Lassiter Wren, Randle McKay, G.T. Karber (Introduction)

The “brilliant” and baffling puzzle book that launched the “solve-it-yourself” mystery craze of the 1920s and ’30s (New York Times).

Calling all mystery puzzle fans! This is the book that launched the “solve-it-yourself” detective book craze of the 1920s and ’30s, spawning numerous imitators and a four book series of its own. These short crime problems incorporate all of the clues needed to find their solutions, including maps, charts, cryptograms, and additional illustrations—but it’s up to the reader to put all of this together and find out whodunit. (Correct answers included at the end of the book.) Challenging and entertaining, The Baffle Book promises hours of armchair sleuthing delights, either on your own or at a “Baffle Party” as the book’s opening recommends. The authors award credits for each of the questions posed, depending on their difficulty, with a chart onto which scores can be added and a grade given for how well the amateur sleuth performed.

Genres: Mystery

239 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2006

Reviews

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of mysteries the reader is supposed to solve themselves. Something like a more adult Encyclopedia Brown. Pretty good brain teasers, to keep the mind sharp.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a lover of both mysteries and puzzles, I was very excited when The Mysterious Bookshop released this book as part of their American Mystery Classics series. The introduction is written by G.T. Karber, the creator of the Murdle series, which is quite fitting indeed. i took my time with this book, doing no more than 2 or 3 puzzles in a day in order not to overwhelm my brain. Still, the majority of the puzzles were very challenging. The authors do not give you a ton to work with, and expect you to have a certain degree of knowledge outside of the clues given that presumably were somewhat commonly known during the time the book was originally published. I was also sometimes frustrated by the way the questions were phrased, being rather vague and not really explaining fully what answer they were looking for in order to give you credit. My score landed me smack in the middle between good and excellent, which I suppose I cannot be too mad about, although I would have loved to have done better. Perhaps next time!

[Michael Reilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an American Mystery Classic reprint of a 1928 collection of crime puzzle stories. G. T. Harbor, the creator of the very popular Murdle game, wrote the introduction to this edition. He credits this book as being "possibly the most influential mystery book ever written" because it was the first of the mystery puzzle books.

Each story is three of four pages long. A crime is described and the evidence is outlined. Maps, diagrams, fingerprints and exhibits are included for some stories. The story ends with questions like who committed the crime? or, where should the police look for evidence? or, how did the detective solve the case? You turn the book over, go to the back, and get the answers and explanations.

The puzzles are at every level of difficulty. Some answers are obvious by looking at the evidence. Some require thought but can be deducted. Some don't really make sense. In two stories we get people making up very clever codes which it is not possible anyone could understand. Some are based on inferences that seem awful strained.

It is a fun gimmick. There is a bunch of 1920s background with elegant trains, country homes and telegrams. There is a little casual racism. "Naturally subtle, the Oriental mind, when it turns to crime, manages sometimes to baffle the authorities neatly." (Oddly, that story is about a crime in India. Indians where not traditionally considered "Orientals")

I enjoyed guessing the answers. The stories are clever. This is fun.

[AC · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is really disappointing. See JJ’s case-by-case take down here: https://theinvisibleevent.com/2019/04...
And I’ll confirm that, as far as I got, his complaints are valid. I sort of liked the “Elevated Transit Mystery” and “The Mystery of the Murdered Physician”. But baffles that JJ sort of liked, like “The Sandy Peninsula Footprint Mystery”, are ok but pretty boring; and the diagrams are so poorly reproduced that it takes too much work just to read them. A missed opportunity here. There is another book by John Sladek, called *The Book of Clues* (1984) that I will try next.

[Barbara Brien · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't sure when I started this how old the book was. It was clear from the first story that it wasn't exactly current. However, when I finally checked the published date, the 1928 date clarified why some of the details just weren't within my realm of knowledge. I still think I could have done better at deducing some of the answers (for instance, I basically didn't try on the the last mystery) and I could have scored better than I did. I got a 70 out of 150.

[Jordan Holz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I used to think the "Da Vinci Code" took the cake for making the most absurd logical conclusions and explaining solutions that the reader could never deduce. "The Baffle Book" has now taken the lead in this category with its collection of nonsensical stories whose solutions often have nothing to do with the mystery. Maybe this qualified for entertainment in the 1920s, but it's a piece of trash 100 years later. This shall make for some excellent kindling come winter.

[Ron Kastner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining but not memorable. Time has worked its ills on many of the stories.