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CSI: The Interactive Mystery
Somewhere in Las Vegas, a killer walks free. Can you help the CSI investigators solve the murder?
Wealthy real estate developer Melvyn Bledsoe lives in a luxury mansion surrounded by high-tech surveillance cameras. When a masked intruder breaks into the mansion and leaves Bledsoe for dead, it's up to Gil Grissom, Jim Brass, and the CSI team to identify the killer - but they're going to need your help.
CSI: The Interactive Mystery features an original mystery plus eight removable clues - including a blood-stained booklet, crime scene photographs, a shredded document, burned papers recovered from a fire, an architectural blueprint of the Bledsoe mansion, and much more.
Read the mystery, study the evidence, and solve the crime!
Wealthy real estate developer Melvyn Bledsoe lives in a luxury mansion surrounded by high-tech surveillance cameras. When a masked intruder breaks into the mansion and leaves Bledsoe for dead, it's up to Gil Grissom, Jim Brass, and the CSI team to identify the killer - but they're going to need your help.
CSI: The Interactive Mystery features an original mystery plus eight removable clues - including a blood-stained booklet, crime scene photographs, a shredded document, burned papers recovered from a fire, an architectural blueprint of the Bledsoe mansion, and much more.
Read the mystery, study the evidence, and solve the crime!
72 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
1 person is currently reading
36 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 3, 2010
I'll start this review by saying that I finished reading this book in a little bit over three hours. That alone should warn you that this book is not worth the $19,95 which it promises to be.
The story is very short, there is little characterization, no character development. Some thoughts are stated, but they are not addressed. Apparently, these characters did not have emotions either. What I blame the author the most is that he called this a CSI mystery, based on the series. After reading this book, you'll figure out that it might as well have been Bones or NCIS. The absence of a couple of characters - Warrick Brown, Sara Sidle, Greg Sanders - are never mentioned. Neither is the relationship between the other crew members that are left.
This book is very 'he said she said', lacks description, lacks characterization and therefore the story is more like a timeline. It has an apparent 'and then, and then, and then' structure. It doesn't read nicely and fails to draw you into the story.
The 'interactive' part in the title suggests that participation is required from you, as the reader. It implies that you really have to take steps with the help of the book to solve the murder. But this book is not what it promises to be. You are to read a story and come across a few sheets of paper that are to serve as evidence. After about sixty pages, there are two pages that question you if you've figured out who the murderer is and why. The last ten pages is the solution and conclusion of the story. So basically, you don't have to put energy into this book at all. In fact, if you just read the story and can't make sense of the evidence, you'll probably figure it out anyway. The ending is very obvious.
The only reason I give this book two stars instead of one, is because the design is very beautiful. But...not nearly beautiful enough to satisfy an adult like myself. I recommend that you don't waste your time reading this and put your money somewhere useful instead. How about charity? How about my bank account?
The story is very short, there is little characterization, no character development. Some thoughts are stated, but they are not addressed. Apparently, these characters did not have emotions either. What I blame the author the most is that he called this a CSI mystery, based on the series. After reading this book, you'll figure out that it might as well have been Bones or NCIS. The absence of a couple of characters - Warrick Brown, Sara Sidle, Greg Sanders - are never mentioned. Neither is the relationship between the other crew members that are left.
This book is very 'he said she said', lacks description, lacks characterization and therefore the story is more like a timeline. It has an apparent 'and then, and then, and then' structure. It doesn't read nicely and fails to draw you into the story.
The 'interactive' part in the title suggests that participation is required from you, as the reader. It implies that you really have to take steps with the help of the book to solve the murder. But this book is not what it promises to be. You are to read a story and come across a few sheets of paper that are to serve as evidence. After about sixty pages, there are two pages that question you if you've figured out who the murderer is and why. The last ten pages is the solution and conclusion of the story. So basically, you don't have to put energy into this book at all. In fact, if you just read the story and can't make sense of the evidence, you'll probably figure it out anyway. The ending is very obvious.
The only reason I give this book two stars instead of one, is because the design is very beautiful. But...not nearly beautiful enough to satisfy an adult like myself. I recommend that you don't waste your time reading this and put your money somewhere useful instead. How about charity? How about my bank account?
July 26, 2015
CSI: The Interactive Mystery is a great short book for someone interested in crime/mystery books. All the crime scene details seemed to flow well, until the last "incriminating" detail. The story reads that the murder realized the left earring was missing, however, the pictures indicate the murder was wearing the left earring and missing the right earring. While it's only a small detail to be mentioned as incriminating, the "evidence" (security camera snapshots) should have been conclusive.
Read time: About 2 hours
Read time: About 2 hours
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 28, 2018
It's an interesting concept: the story plays out and each clue that's mentioned is physically included as a piece of evidence in the book, thus the "interactive" in the title.
The book definitely manages to be engaging, but the story is a run-of-the-mill plotline from the show. It reads as if it's something I've already hear before. I even figured out the culprit long before we got to the last piece of evidence.
In the end, this is a book for superfans who want a chance to investigate along with the cast, but there are long form novels set in the CSI world that give the readers a way better story to follow.
The book definitely manages to be engaging, but the story is a run-of-the-mill plotline from the show. It reads as if it's something I've already hear before. I even figured out the culprit long before we got to the last piece of evidence.
In the end, this is a book for superfans who want a chance to investigate along with the cast, but there are long form novels set in the CSI world that give the readers a way better story to follow.
November 8, 2025
I wish this was better because i LOVE the concept. I love the show… a ridiculous amount. I couldnt tell you how many times ive seen the whole thing. But one could say im obsessed lol.. and i dont feel like the writing captured the essence fully of the characters.
Its fun… bur sadly i wont read again.
Its fun… bur sadly i wont read again.
October 3, 2012
I don't really watch this show, aside from catching it a few times as a rerun on late-night tv. That said, I enjoy mysteries, and I saw this one and picked it up for a bargain. It presents two cases and evidence, such as letters, shredded messages, and crime scene photos that you can actually pull out of the book and examine. I thoroughly enjoyed reading many of the Griffin and Sabine books years ago with that same gimmick, so I thought I would give this one a try. It is relatively short, and as I have not watched the show enough to know much about the characters, I really cannot comment on how well it portrays them or their relationships to each other. I can say I did figure out the who and part of the why by the end of the book before I read the resolution of the cases and how the clues were to be used. It was fun, amusing, and I enjoyed the whole pull-out-and-investigate-the-evidence ascept. My only real quibble is that the evidence one member of the team used to figure out a case was not clearly visible in the photos when the evidence was presented in the book. That, to me, felt rather cheap. All evidence should have been clearly and easily visible for the reader, as well. Yet, despite that, I believe enough evidence is presented to solve the cases before reading the conclusion. So, my verdict: fun, different from the average mystery due to the removeable parts, very nicely laid out with color photos and evidence, and worth it if you can catch it for a real bargain like I did ($5 or less). Not a hard-hitting mystery by any means, but it amused me for a couple hours on a rainy evening.
April 9, 2011
Le concept : vraiment sympa. Au fur et à mesure de l'enquête, vous pouvez tenir en main et examiner des indices trouvés par la police scientifique.
L'écriture : humm, bon, l'ensemble reste très descriptif. Pour les fans de la série CSI (Las Vegas), on retrouve les traits de caractère de chacun des personnages récurrents (Grissom, Willows ou Brass). Cependant, il n'y a pas de "style" vraiment marquant. C'est exactement comme si on vous décrivait un épisode.
La traduction : aïe ! Outre des erreurs typographiques plutôt perturbantes, certains mots sont omis (traduction littérale ...), certains noms mal orthographiés (Nick Stokes devient l'espace d'un paragraphe Nick "StRokes"). Bref, pour un livre où il faut scruter le moindre détail, une conclusion assez rapide s'impose : qui a tué le personne sensée relire le texte avant impression définitive, mmmh ?!
Le scénario : plutôt pas mal, même si j'ai réussi à trouver le pourquoi du comment avant d'avoir la solution. Cela dit, l'enquête n'est pas non plus ultra sophistiquée, comme certains épisodes de la série peuvent l'être.
Conclusion : permet de passer un bon moment, seul ou à plusieurs. Mais le fait que l'histoire soit très courte ne donne pas envie de s'y replonger une fois la lecture finie !
L'écriture : humm, bon, l'ensemble reste très descriptif. Pour les fans de la série CSI (Las Vegas), on retrouve les traits de caractère de chacun des personnages récurrents (Grissom, Willows ou Brass). Cependant, il n'y a pas de "style" vraiment marquant. C'est exactement comme si on vous décrivait un épisode.
La traduction : aïe ! Outre des erreurs typographiques plutôt perturbantes, certains mots sont omis (traduction littérale ...), certains noms mal orthographiés (Nick Stokes devient l'espace d'un paragraphe Nick "StRokes"). Bref, pour un livre où il faut scruter le moindre détail, une conclusion assez rapide s'impose : qui a tué le personne sensée relire le texte avant impression définitive, mmmh ?!
Le scénario : plutôt pas mal, même si j'ai réussi à trouver le pourquoi du comment avant d'avoir la solution. Cela dit, l'enquête n'est pas non plus ultra sophistiquée, comme certains épisodes de la série peuvent l'être.
Conclusion : permet de passer un bon moment, seul ou à plusieurs. Mais le fait que l'histoire soit très courte ne donne pas envie de s'y replonger une fois la lecture finie !
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 23, 2015
I wanted to read something a little different and thought this would be interesting. I enjoyed how their were pieces of evidence to look through. It reminded me of a kids book I read when I was little about a mail man delivering letters. I figured out most clues but did get confused with the names and mixed some people up. Overall did enjoy the book.
April 3, 2015
The book isn't that good but it's fun for the csi fans out there
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews