This is a clever, unusual and nostalgia fueled little collection of curiously charming vignettes that seem to ultimately reveal deeper reflections on life.

There is a focus on a handful of characters from Gran's previous work, and though I am unfamiliar with them, I was delighted to get to know them in these brief encounters. I went in anticipating a mix of puzzle-like mysteries and whodunnits, but instead was met with a series of simple but smart stories exploring the meaning and mysteries behind life, all wrapped up with a charming bow of solving crime with observant and intelligent characters not unlike Poirot and Marple.

A fun little romp that I would especially recommend to those who enjoyed Gran’s previous novels of the same nature.

Little Mysteries is a collection of mystery stories of various lengths. While there are two central detectives, Claire DeWitt and Cynthia Silverton, the stories don’t follow any typical mystery conventions. The last major story, The Mystery at Killington Manor or The Feeling of Seeing Clear Blue Sky After Being Lost in the Woods, is by far the most engaging and satisfying mystery of the bunch.

The other mysteries were a lot darker than I anticipated - more drug use, alcoholism, and homelessness. But they were easy reads, and the last story really made this worth reading.

Thank you to NetGalley, Dreamland Books, and Sara Gran for the advanced reader copy!

Little Mysteries delivers a collection of miniature detective stories that veer far from Gran's usual dark territory. Featuring her recurring character Claire DeWitt, a teen detective named Cynthia Silverton, and a 1949 manor house mystery, these tales focus more on existential questions and character studies than traditional whodunits. While I admired the craft and ambition, as someone who loved the gritty darkness of Gran's other work (particularly Come Closer and The Book of the Most Precious Substance), this cozy, philosophical take wasn't quite what I was hoping for.

Little Mysteries has the subtitle "nine miniature puzzles to confuse, enthrall and delight." With the exception of "confuse," every word in this title is a lie. There are twelve items listed in the table of contents. One is a "psychospiritual divination tool", which is unusable even if one is willing to cut a page out of the book, an option unavailable to anyone reading in Adobe or any other digital format. The rest are not mysteries and few of them are either enthralling or delightful.
The Claire DeWitt stories are irritating as they consist of the mental ramblings of the self proclaimed ;world's greatest detective. The Cynthia Silverton ("teen detective") episodes are, if possible, even worse. There is little detection going on anywhere in these stories and I hated both main characters. If the author's dedication to Donald Sobel (Encyclopedia Brown series) R.A. Montgomery (Choose Your Own Adventure series) and "Carolyn Keene" (Nancy Drew series) had appeared at the beginning of this book instead of the end, I might have understood what she was doing and saved myself some time.
I didn't mind reading The Case of the Blood on the Snow because it is a story told to Claire, rather than one in which she participates, about a nun and a homeless prostitute. I also liked The Mystery at Killington Manor because it told an interesting, if improbable, story from the perspective of a bright sixteen-year-old named Poppy Killington-Wade. It was hardly a mystery and the ending would be unlikely in the real world, but I might read a book about this character if it existed. My two star rating was earned by these two stories.
Almost nineteen years ago, I read a terrifying horror novel called Closer. I was so impressed by it that I went on to read three other books by the author, Sara Gran. All three (Dope, The Book of the Most Precious Substance, and Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead) disappointed me in different ways. I took a chance on Little Mysteries because it was free so I had nothing to lose but a few hours. I am very glad I didn't spend actual money or make a trip to the library to borrow this book. I would recommend Come Closer, which is, in its own way, as good as The Haunting of Hill House or Carrie, but I doubt I will ever bother reading another book by Sara Gran.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Dreamland Books for the free advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I have truly never read anything like this. Part literary mysterty, part choose your own adventure - everything about this memorable and special.

I had high hopes for this, but there was just too much going on. The pages with split time line were annoying to read. The choose different paths also was too much going on. I get where she was going with it but not just for me. I get the whole teen detective thing but it seemed a bit elaborate.

I love Sara Gran's novels, but this was my first experience with "difficult" detective Claire DeWitt, and her long-suffering assistant Claude. I loved this collection of weird little puzzles, as well as the longer, more heartfelt stories.

A particular favorite was The Good Smell of New York City / The Ocean-Salted Air - A really innovative short story, with two timelines literally running in parallel. DeWitt features in both timelines, one set against the AIDS epidemic, the other the COVID crisis.

Little Mysteries definitely inspired me to seek out more of Gran's DeWitt novels.

Loved this set of short stories, a really nice few hours spent reading them and I’m hoping to read more like this.

ALWAYS AN PRESURE TO READ A THRILLER - ALTHOUGH NOT THE BEST WAS KINDA PREDICTABL;E BUT WAS A FUN READ AND SHALL RECOMMEN

This is a truly surprising collection of little lit fic mysteries that provoke a wide variety of emotions and really pack a punch for their length!

{Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eArc!}

This is clever little book of short stories that have a true golden age crime feel to them, with a choose your adventure type feel making a good fresh combo. Fully immersive for the readers but sometimes a little too obvious would have liked more clues etc for the reader to investigate themselves. But it's good clever little book that would make a great stocking filler for any arm chair detectives in your life

3.25 stars

This book of short stories contains nine mysteries with inspiration from Encyclopedia Brown, Nancy Drew, Choose Your Own Adventure books, and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. I wouldn’t say that they are puzzles, per se, as the subtitle suggests.

The Case of the Mysterious Dr. Crowley: Read like Encyclopedia Brown but was nearly impossible to solve with the provided information although the author did provide the solution.

The Mystery of the Mycelial Net: Assistant detective Claude gets his big case to figure out who has found out about his aunt Helena’s affair, interesting distinction between solving a crime and a mystery, not sure how he figured it out.

The Good Smell of New York City: interesting format of two separate columns down page - 1988 (HIV) and 2020 (Covid). Carmen saves Claire from a drug overdose in 1988 despite the risk of HIV, and then Claire saves Carmen in 2020 despite the risk of Covid.

The Case of the Jewel in the Lotus: I liked this one but not my favorite.

The Case of the Razor’s Edge Between Life and Death: Claire talked with a suicidal woman at a Chinese restaurant. She picked up on several clues about the woman’s state from the solution.

The Case of the Blood on the Snow: This one was decent.

Choose Your Own Heartbreak: Choose your own adventure while taking on bad guy Hal Overton. I think I’m too old to read choose your own adventure books.

Cynthia Silverton and the Charnel House Grounds: ode to Nancy Drew with a twist

The Mystery at Killington Manor: I think this is adapted from A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder with protagonist Poppy trying to figure out who killed her great grandmother Mrs. Kitty with the help of her great grandmother’s friend Aunt Julia. I liked this story the best, and fortunately it was the longest story of the bunch. I really recommend this story in particular.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. It publishes February 25, 2025.

This was not exactly what I was expecting! I guess I was thinking it would be more structured like Come Closer, but alas it was a fun and different kind of read.

I didn’t expect Sara Gran to write something so cozy and wholesome. This reads more like an outlines for different novels with the same main character. Every story is pretty short and I would say unsatisfying. The backstories of the characters are laid out well but we spend so little time with the mysteries itself, we don’t have enough of information to investigate or for more details to be provided, the solutions are abrupt and dry. This would be a good read if you’re looking for some easy little stories. 2.5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the ARC.

I was intrigued by the premise of this and looked forward to reading it, however I didn't quite 'get it'
The stories are of varying length with a common theme and after reading a few, I didn't read anymore. This is not to say that there is definitely an audience for these type of stories, but unfortunately that is not me!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my eARC

This author has done a wonderful job in weaving a story that was captivating and thrilling. Loved the overall story and the characters in Little Mysteries!!

Unfortunate DNF at 31%

First, this book would be better enjoyed as a physical book, because many pages have specific formatting that is quite hard to read in an ebook.

I had never heard of this author when I requested the book.
I was interested in reading about short mysteries and trying to solve them and a few "mysteries" in, I have come to the conclusion this isn't at all what this book is. The mysteries are not fun / solvable, they're written as social commentary rather than in the interest of posing elements with the goal to find the solution (the "solutions" don't make sense or are just like ? I mean I guess ? okay?

I'm sure if you go in not expecting mysteries but rather, knowing the style this author writes, you have a higher chance of enjoying this. It just really isn't what I was expecting or what I want to read right now and so I am not having fun and reading it feels like a chore so I am stopping here. I might pick this up again as an actual book once it's out.



Thank you NetGalley and Dreamland Books for the opportunity to read this ARC.

This book was fun, it is literally what the title say. Each story is entertaining, the style change from one story to the other, it's hard to be bored reading those. Plus, and it's what I love about collection of short story, you can skip one then going back later, you choose the pace.

thank you net galley for the copy

Wow! Before reading this book I never heard of Sarah Gran, but now I want to read everything by her! This darkly humorous collection of literary mysteries was quite the page-turner, sprinkled with satire, absurdism, and Christmas Spirit.

Firstly, this book deconstructs, teases, and then reinvents the mystery genre with great satirical flaire. Skinned in 90s teen amateur sleuth vibes, the little mysteries aren't always about a crime - Gran tackles the mysteries of the human soul. Lot's of classical mystery techniques are employed: Solution Sections, Choose-Your-Own-Adventure, Five-Minute Flash Mysteries. New techniques are added: Two stories are told on the same page, for the sake of juxtaposition.

Secondly, this books message tackles surviving the hardships of life itself. Here I was expecting a little Clue-inspired mystery-with-the-solution-printed-upsidedown book but NO - This book is closer akin to what Kurt Vonnegut does with science fiction - reducing the genre to its basic elements and then rebuilding a philosophical message around it... with funny flaire on top.

Thirdly, this book is darkly hilarious in a snippy, quipy, absurdist way. The voice of the narrator carries a dry, deadpan bluntness that resonates perfectly with my New England sense of humor. Sara Gran's humor reminds me of Douglas Adams, Kurt Vonnegut, Voltaire (thinking specifically of Candide), and William Goldman. The humor was my favorite part of this book and was what kept me reading.

Now, there was a disconnect about what type of book I was expecting and what I actually read. I grew up on the Clue mystery books, which follow the format of a mystery followed by a short solution one can glean from context clues sprinkled throughout. I thought this book would follow a similar format, and while two of the short stories DID, this book was, at the end of the day, not trying to be the same type of book of the Clue books, but a satire of the Clue books. I think there could be a few more "clues" either in the title/subtitle or the cover that this book isn't trying to deliver true puzzles.

Despite this disconnect, this has been probably one of my top ten books of the year, and I've read about 120 books thus far. I am typically very picky about mystery because I can predict the ending very well, but the last thing this book is is predictable. I am going to keep my eye out for more Sara Gran. I've been looking for another mystery writer I afore as much as Agatha Christie, and I think I've finally found them! It's discovering writers so low under the radar like Gran that make the ARC-reading experience so magical.

A big thanks to Netgalley, Sara Gran, and her publishers for a free ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is exactly the book I needed right now: end-year, mid-life, early-apocalypse. I found Sara Gran by way of the Claire DeWitt mysteries (which I love fiercely and recommend constantly). I've since read all of Gran's work and she is one of those authors I'd gladly follow off the edge of the universe, because I know she'll stick the landing—I mean, I may be destroyed or terminally haunted in the process, but it will be in a satisfying and honest way. It doesn’t hurt that Gran really speaks the language of my latchkey-kid-absolutely-obsessed-with-teen-sleuths heart, So, plunging back into Claire's world (and the extended Silette-Silverton universe) was a comfort--but never quite comfortable--in the best possible way. There’s a kernel of hope at the core of each of these stories (or, if not hope exactly, a kind of frank determination) and the message that 1) no does it alone, but 2) we’re all doing it alone, and 3) maybe we can all do it alone together? Little Mysteries is a deft, shape-shifty delight of a short fiction collection—it’s a literary house of mirrors, except the mirrors don’t change from room to room, you do. Thank you to Dreamland Books & NetGalley for the ARC!