Murdle Jr. Vol 1: Curious Crimes for Curious Minds by G.T. Karber

subtitled Solve Your Way Through 40 Puzzle Mysteries!

I’m about to admit something deeply embarrassing for a puzzle aficionado: I think regular Murdle is too hard. Perhaps that is not even the best way to describe my reservations regarding the online game. I just think that certain information is implied in a way that requires a leap of deduction far too great for any puzzle that purportedly relies on logic. For an example from a recent mini-Murdle, we’re told that the murder occurred in a historic building. Of the three possible locations, one is the history building with “so much history that you spend most of the history classes studying it” (so an obvious candidate) while another is The Old Main, which is described as “The first building on campus, the most important, and the least maintained.” That sounds like a very historic building to me but was not, apparently, a plausible answer according to the site. Perhaps I am being overly pedantic, but that’s the kind of thing that bugs me enough to make me decline to add Murdle to the list of quick brainteaser games I play on the daily.

Luckily, Murdle Jr. does not seem to have this problem, at least not in this first volume of the series geared towards Junior Detectives. In a book of 40 puzzles, there was only one that I thought relied on an assumption that was not necessarily founded in the text. Otherwise I had no quibble with the logic of it all. Perhaps more importantly, having all the puzzles tied together with an overarching story very much enhances the charm of the book, as we get to know our four budding sleuths and follow along as they solve dastardly crimes, both individually and together.

G T Karber’s humor and wit really shine when all the puzzles and their accompanying stories are packaged together like this. The diverse cast each has their own areas of expertise: Jake is the tough gumshoe, Julius is the esoteric thinker, Olivia is a tech whiz, and Buster McPaws is, well, a cat. Their background chapters are appropriately atmospheric, and the big adventure when they all come together super fun, with plenty of callbacks to characters and locations that will delight fans of the original website, too. The format of the book also feels more intuitive than the format of the online version, as you can see almost all the information by category at a glance, instead of needing to click on individual cards on the website.

I actually used to do loads of logic puzzle books when I was a young teen. I would have been so thrilled to have a book like this back then, and I’m super looking forward to handing this volume over to my kids next. I confess to having solved the puzzles by drawing quick grids in a thematic little notebook emblazoned with the words “Top Secret” instead of filling out the book itself, as I was already planning to leave it pristine for the next reader.

Finally, I want to say how much I appreciate the little extras at the end of the book. The Detective Exam tells me I’m mostly an Olivia, with equal parts Buster and Julius, and just a smidge of Jake. I genuinely can’t wait to see what the gang does next in the follow-up book of the series, Ready, Set, Solve! as well as in the accompanying novelization, Sleuths On The Loose. This is definitely a must-buy for any kid who loves solving mysteries and puzzles (and for some adults, too!)

Murdle Jr. Vol 1: Curious Crimes for Curious Minds by G.T. Karber was published November 26 2024 by Little, Brown Books For Young Readers and is available from all good booksellers, including