This book drew me right in, beginning with the first chapter. It offers a unique read with some "Choose Your Own Adventure" elements and puzzles for the reader to solve. These make it a perfect read for those who enjoy both doing logic puzzles and reading mysteries. I imagine that the author had fun with this title. Add it to a summer beach read list...or read it wherever you are.

A MOST PUZZLING MURDER is an interactive mystery with a lot to unpack!

I started this book on my Kindle. Pausing to figure out the puzzles was easy enough, though honestly, a little too taxing on my tired brain for late-night reading.

The next day, I switched to the audiobook while I was busy doing mundane tasks. Dylan Moore does a great job with the narration, but it’s not a method I would recommend. You have to pause the audio, then either go to your ebook or print copy to work the puzzle, or download the PDF and use that. You kind of need the answers to make sense of the story, since they’re not worked into the narrative. And stopping to figure out puzzles isn’t usually convenient for me when I’m listening to an audiobook. Something for readers to keep in mind when choosing a format.

I felt that Destiny’s story suffered from too much background noise. We have a bunch of POVs (7, I think). We have the main plot and subplots galore. We have magic that isn’t really explained, drama with all the extended family, mysteries, sentient animals, a best friend ghost, past trauma, the puzzle clues, and several “choose your own adventure” side stories. For me, it was too wide-reaching, making the story feel tangled and convoluted.

I’d been intrigued by the concept of an interactive mystery, but I’ve learned it’s not for me. I like to get lost in a book, and this felt like work. I couldn’t relax into the story.

The writing style is entertaining and engaging, so definitely give it a try if the concept appeals to you.

*Thanks to MIRA for the free eARC, and to HQ Audio for the free audiobook download!*

A Most Puzzling Murder is an incredibly unique mystery novel, featuring several “choose your own adventure” style scenes and many puzzles of varying difficulties and skill sets. I really enjoyed it from start to finish, and of course I did read all possible avenues for the choose your own adventure scenes after selecting mine, because how could I not? Some of the puzzles did have me stumped at first, but I love that you can email the main character to get hints should you need them. The author, Bianca Marais, also has an incredibly helpful downloadable puzzle workbook on her website for those reading on kindle or audiobook, so I utilized that so I could work through the puzzles.

I did read this partially on kindle and partially on audio, and I found I actually preferred the audio format! I usually am not a huge fan of audiobooks, but A Most Puzzling Murder is truly fantastic on audio! The narration reminded me so much of the older Nancy Drew computer games, which may be a niche reference but is so, so accurate. The tone and cadence the narrator uses was very reminiscent of those games. I’m not sure if that was an intentional choice, but I really loved it nonetheless!

This book was a really fun blend of fantasy and mystery, two of my favorite genres, so it’s really no surprise that I enjoyed it so much. I would definitely recommend it in any format, but like I said above, I personally would lean towards audio for this one if you were a fan of those Nancy Drew computer games growing up (or let’s be real, still to this day) as it provides a nice dose of nostalgia.

Thank you Mira and The Hive for the early review copy and ALC of A Most Puzzling Murder. All opinions are my own!

This is the most fun I’ve had with a book ever. The challenging puzzles, choose your own conundrum chapters along with a magically mysterious plot, what’s not to love? I went in expecting an Inheritance Games style mystery. I got that and sooo much more! I’ll certainly be in the lookout for anything this author writes in the future!

4.5/5
This book was so fun and cool! It had an English island mystery to solve but also had a choose your own path story and puzzles to solve. I feel like that’s not done as much anymore and so interesting! This is definitely a must read for those who love solving the mystery alongside the MC.

Thank you netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I was disappointed with this one. I love a riddle and puzzle filled story, but I'm not a fan of the story depending on my ability to solve them. This was also a choose your own adventure type of book and frankly, to me, it doesn't translate well as an ebook or, from what I can tell from my reading buddies, the audiobook. It seems like a ton of POVs and subplot and it was to the point that I didn't even finish.

This was not my cup of tea. I love Bianca Marais's novels. She is a brilliant writer, and I enjoyed reading her previous works and looked forward to this one. I just couldn't get past the premise of the book. It is admirable how well thought out and interactive it was, but I don't want to feel tasked while reading. I read to escape from tasks and don't want to feel like there is work to do. Regardless, a creative way to interact with readers, especially those who love solving puzzles. It just wasn't for me. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for an advance copy.

This book is so fun & so smart! Such a great take on a murder mystery and I love the interactive component for readers (where readers can choose their own path or adventure in parts of the book and can solve the puzzles alongside Destiny Whip and can email her for clues if needed. I also appreciate there is an option to check the answers to the puzzles in the back of the book if you don't want to solve or send emails for clues).

Destiny is a great protagonist - so interesting and smart, but the rest of the cast is also interesting. There are so many messy, dramatic relationships, secrets and lies, it's a lot of fun seeing who knows what and what others think and figuring out what's true. I also really enjoyed Bex and the racoon.

A Most Puzzling Murder:

Destiny Whip is a former child-prodigy and enigmatologist who is somewhat reclusive but ventures out of her world to Eerie Island after receiving an invitation to interview as a historian for the mysterious Scruffmore family.
On her journey, she meets a fellow traveler, Tempest, also headed to the island. However, there seems to be a bit of confusion about their ferry tickets and their arrival at the Scruffmore's and the people are less than welcoming.
The Scruffmore family is full of messy dynamics, secrets, and magic and Destiny is sure one of them is going to die and she must race against the clock, solving puzzles to stop it.

Get this one in hard copy to fully appreciate it. This is the story of Destiny who solves puzzles and you get to not only solve them with her you get to chose how the story goes. That doesn't work in ebook form. That said. even without the ability to flip around, it's a good story about family secrets and lies.. Thanks to the publisher for the arc.

Thank you MIRA and Netgalley for this eARC in exchange for a free and honest review.

Former child prodigy and current world-renowned enigmatologitst, Destiny Whip is very alone in the world. That is until an invitation to interview for the Scruffmore family historian arrives on her doorstep with a hidden message, promising to reveal family secrets. The catch is Destiny never applied for this job and even the internet yields no answers of who the Scruffmore’s are. Through puzzles and adventure Destiny must solve all the puzzles to get to the heart of the Scruffmore mysteries.

To begin with I thought the premise of this book was so fun. I loved we had to solve the same puzzles Destiny was given to continue the plot. I will always be a fan of unique formatting and adding the reader right into the plot through chose your own path chapters and puzzles was thrilling. This novel also kept me guessing the whole time of what was actually happening. The fun part was all of the clues to the final reveal was sprinkled through the book so if you looked hard enough all of the answers were right there to be discovered. Onto of the fun puzzles I loved the overall story as it was ultimately a story of family and finding ones place in the world. I loved that all the characters were complex and even a little messy. It felt like the family story blended perfectly with the murder mystery.

Final thoughts are that I probably will buy myself a physical copy after publication to mark up and love as I solve the mystery and puzzles with Destiny all over again.

This book was a lot of fun. It's a murder mystery story with some other mysteries involved, but instead of the protagonist solving the clues and telling you what happens, you get to solve the clues with the characters. There are puzzles throughout the book for you to solve, but if you do get stuck there is an email you can request hints from and they come pretty quickly. Mixed in, there are a couple of choose your own adventure selections, so this book has a little of everything!

My main recommendation would be the physical book because sometimes you have to go back several pages. It does work with e-book too, just remember where you are before you go to either the answer key or back to other clues.

A Most Puzzling Murder is like no other book I’ve read. Why do I say that? How many books have you read that include brainteasers, puzzles, and choose-your-own-adventure elements? Many books may have one or two, but all three? That’s something that doesn’t happen a lot. And all of the elements work well together.

The story is told from multiple points of view, but all are in the third person. Keeping the POV straight is relatively easy, as the chapters are all labeled with the character at the beginning. The chapters are also labeled with the day of the week and time of day. The majority of the story takes place over a few days. A few chapters flash back several years, but they are labeled as such to let you know.

The puzzles throughout the book are also labeled. The answers are included in the book, but no cheating! You can also email Destiny for help solving the puzzles. And if you answer some of these correctly, you’ll receive an email with a bonus chapter or two. But don’t feel bad if you don’t get the answers correct, you can still get the bonus information. If you don’t want to solve any puzzles, that’s ok, because several will not impact your enjoyment of the book.

Overall, A Most Puzzling Murder is unlike any other mystery book, even a mystery with a fantastical side. Do you enjoy books with quirky characters, some of which are super intense? What about a book with lots of twists and turns? What about solving puzzles and playing escape room games? If you answered yes to any of these questions, I think you should try this book. If you answered yes to all of these questions, I think you need to try this book.

Have you every thought that your actions might have unintended consequences? Well, this book will certainly leave you questioning your own?

This book is very different to anything I’ve read recently. Do you remember those « Choose Your Own Adventure » books? This is kind of like that. It makes the reading experience very interactive and immersive.

Destiny Whip is vulnerable and she receives a mysterious invitation to interview for a historian position on an island. She didn’t apply for this position and is convinced it has something to do with her family. The island is called Eerie, a name, that certainly reflects the atmospheric and secretive nature of the story. It turns out, she must solve a murder that hasn’t happened yet. Intriguing isn’t it?

It’s part mystery, part gothic, part fantasy, part journey of self discovery and part coming of age, in a way.

This will certainly appeal to lots of readers. What didn’t work as well, for me, were the number of puzzles and characters, which slowed the pacing and disrupted the flow a bit.

Still, it’s a creative, unusual read that kept me thinking about cause and effect, and how the past always finds a way of circling back. 3.75 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing/MIRA for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What really drew me to this book was the interactive element. There were puzzles to solve and as I reader, I felt truly engaged with them. I know a lot of work must have gone into this element. However, the story itself is too much. It was hard to keep up with everything happening and there were too many points of view.

DNF 8%

I was very excited about the concept of this book when I read the publisher's description. However, I am finding that I am disappointed in the execution. The puzzles I have encountered so far are not particularly challenging or unique. Further, the prose style feels a bit more juvenile than I expected. This isn't being marketed as a YA title, but that's what it reads like.

The final nail in the coffin for me was the introduction of the magical characters. For me, a locked room mystery can't really work if there are magical abilities at play.

This book is not for me, but I do hope it finds the right readers.

Such a fun concept!

I grew up on Encyclopedia Brown, Nancy Drew, and choose-your-own adventure books, and I love solving puzzles, so when Bianca came out with this, I was all in.

Overall, it was great. There was a lot to follow and keep up with, though. I do wish I’d had a paper copy to make things easier, and this week I heard an interview with Bianca where she suggests a paper copy to mark things up because “everything is a clue.”

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade for the ARC.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: June 10, 2025
Does anyone else remember the “Choose Your Own Adventure” stories from the nineties? Where you got to choose the actions a protagonist took in the novel and, depending on your choice, you’d get a different ending? Well, Bianca Marais’ new novel, “A Most Puzzling Murder” is like that, combined with alpha and numerical puzzles that let the reader solve the novel’s murder mystery alongside the protagonist.
Delightful and fun, “Murder” focuses on the magical and royal Scruffmore family. Living on a secluded island in an ancient castle, the current Scruffmore King is due to give up his throne to one of his many children and they all gather together so that the magical ceremony can be performed and a new ruler can take over. Child prodigy Destiny Whip receives an invitation to the island, under the guise of interviewing for a historian position, but she soon realizes that the Scruffmore family, especially the patriarch, Mordecai, has darker intentions for Destiny, and the rest of the family. After a family member is killed, Destiny must use her penchant for solving curious puzzles to find the murderer- or she very well may be next.
“Murder” is creative and unique, in just about every way. The actions of the Royal, magical Scruffmore family gave hardcore “Game of Thrones” vibes, combined with a singular immersive experience where readers could solve puzzles right alongside Destiny, in order to uncover the murderer.
There was one plot for the story, with periodic puzzles, related to the crime, scattered throughout that Destiny (and readers) were encouraged to solve. There were several smaller sections of the novel where readers experienced the story of a minor character and could choose between two options, both leading to different outcomes. This part of the novel was intriguing and, because it involved background characters or took place in a different time period, it did not complicate the main plot.
Each chapter is narrated by a different Scruffmore character, although Destiny is the primary protagonist. Destiny was a child prodigy, labeled “awkward” and never quite fitting in with her peers, but she was a dynamic and profound character and I always love rooting for the underdog. Her childhood and upbringing were heartbreaking, and her emotional struggles dealing with it all made her the brave and brilliant protagonist you can’t help but root for.
Marais is by no means a new author but, until now, she was undiscovered by me. I am not sure if her other novels have this fantastic puzzle-solving component but if they do, I will definitely be checking them out. “Murder” is a locked room-slash-escape room murder mystery that pulls out all the stops, literally bringing readers along for the ride.

By far the most original, twisty and thrilling book I've read this year!! Canadian author Bianca Marais's latest is an utterly captivating choose your own murder mystery adventure featuring Destiny, a 21 year old genius in search of family connections who travels to a remote island not knowing the dark secrets, power struggles and magic she's going to get caught up in.

Highly recommended if you enjoy puzzles, family drama, shocking reveals and locked room mysteries. It's also good on audio but should definitely be read with a print copy nearby for the many, MANY clues hidden throughout the pages. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

I really enjoyed the premise of this book and some of the decisions you got to make had a lot of interesting repercussions. However the overall book was pretty hard to get through. In the beginning the characters are pretty easy to mix up and the writing style was different compared to later in the book. There were so many side stories happening that it did not feel truly connected, it read very disjointed and was probably meant to confuse you but really it was just too much happening.


SPOILER


As for the storyline with Bex, her ghost plays such a key part being Destiny's confidante but then midway through Bex is just gone because Destiny decides to say goodbye. We don't get to see this happening, just told that Bex is gone. Only for her to not be gone at the end? No continuity for this character.

I haven’t done a choose your own adventure since elementary school and this brought back fond memories! This was a fun, immersive fantasy mystery that kept you on your toes either with puzzles or the wild story unraveling.

This Who-Dunnit mystery is told by a variety of characters and they all have their own goals, this could be good or bad aspirations but all are interesting. This tale has crazy turns, with a hilarious always updating family tree, and some serious family drama.

I also appreciated the emotional moments in this it spoke about grief in a very honest and touching way.

All in all- i enjoyed this and the story unraveling kept me engaged. The puzzles were a little difficult and sometimes they took me out of the story but I still enjoyed them a lot. I do think this book would be better physically to complete the puzzles in the book!