This is actually really enjoyable! Though it did call me dumb in many many ways. The mysteries are hard but not unsolvable if you take your time. I do not have a talent for this, but this is absolutely awesome for people who enjoy escape rooms. Best experience if you take some notes , and i thonk the physical book would help much because you will be turning pages again and again to compare, reread, etc.

Thank you to netgalley and the author for sending me the book in exchange for an honest review

Cute little book. It worked with my students but not with my adults. It was just too easy for them.

A Puzzle Book like none you've ever seen, with complicated, and truly difficult word puzzles where you act as the detective in a series of crimes, betrayals, and mysteries. i found them too difficult for myself so a beginner wouldn't be recommended. but for a person who really likes puzzles where you fit together the clues to find the culprit, this is a great challenge! filled with amazing illustrations, really great story based puzzles, and a good narration, it's a sherlock holms puzzler in a book!

I really liked the idea of this book, the puzzles are more involved than a normal puzzle book and there are some interesting scenarios. It's a fun format, with a variety of types of clues so it doesn't get too repetitive. I did find some of the puzzles a bit too easy but that does mean they'll be enjoyable for a wide range of people and ages. This is the kind of book you dip into every now and then rather than reading in one go.

A quickly-read (if not quickly-solved) spread of kind-of lateral puzzles, where the traitor in the midst of the characters has to be identified each chapter. To start with, the opening poser is from the point of view of an organiser for an eco-protest that got rumbled; with testimony to him and to the police he managed to glimpse it's hoped we can find out who was passing on insider information to the fuzz. Next it's to a coastal hotel, where an acid review is dripping into the profits, unless the manager can prove someone did it out of spite. We leave Britain next, as an elderly artist in New Jersey has his estate picked at before the wake was even finished, but immediately return when the chair of the Neighbourhood Watch in prime Midsommer territory has to investigate graffiti placed at a specific time – against himself.

One aspect of this I loved was the way it outdoes even Janice Hallett – we learn bits and bots through emails, notes on train tickets, and so on, and we don't just get the text in such quirky fashion, but the whole gamut of mixed visuals to provide us with the clues, as per the better home murder mystery pack. I've loved it since a child when the font-setter and type designer has fun. But there are also negatives – and I don't just mean the leftie pronoun-mangling and Brexit dig. Take the second case – the 'proof' we're given in the answers is on the one hand not exactly true, and on the other hand so circumstantial to be irrelevant, and not really a logical aid to anyone. The fourth instance here was a killer, too – in that it killed the fun. It completely ignored that we've had it drummed into us to search for a motive – here there's none – and nothing was actually proven, so all we end with is a cheap way to finger someone because they don't tell the truth.

OK, that's the purpose here – I guess perhaps due to some TV programme here in the UK about traitors. We're not to solve grand crimes (although they do get more serious as the book goes on) but just spot the duplicitous, which would help us all in the real world, probably. But I just think this was not the friendliest of volumes, in not guiding us to the answers after each case, in having multiple answers to multiple posers on the same page, and in not obeying the friendly logic we all welcome in such crime-solving larks. No, to get more cleverness out of the reader I'd have expected more cleverness on the page.

I absolutely love puzzles. I had a hard time getting into this book. Will revisit when life is less hectic in case that was my difficulty.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

The Imposter Puzzle Book: Use Your Logic and Intuition to Identify the Traitors by Roland Hall is a captivating journey into the world of mystery and deduction. This book is not just a collection of puzzles; it’s an adventure that tests the limits of your logic and intuition.

Hall has crafted a series of challenges that are as engaging as they are perplexing. The book comprises 12 unique puzzles, each with its own narrative and set of clues that require a keen eye and sharp mind to unravel. The puzzles range from straightforward to complex, ensuring that both novices and seasoned puzzle enthusiasts will find something to enjoy.

The presentation of the book is noteworthy, with puzzles accompanied by various forms of evidence such as emails, witness statements, and receipts, which add depth to the experience. It’s like stepping into the shoes of a detective, sifting through the evidence to catch the elusive traitors.

What sets this book apart is the interactive element. It’s not just about solving puzzles; it’s about immersing yourself in the stories and becoming part of the narrative. The satisfaction of cracking a particularly tough case is immensely rewarding.

However, the book is not without its challenges. Some have said the stories are too verbose or that the solution relies on assumed rather than provided knowledge.

Despite these critiques, the overall consensus is positive for this book. It provides a great way to challenge yourself or to enjoy with friends and family as you collectively put your detective hats on and solve the mysteries within.

The Imposter Puzzle Book by Roland Hall is a delightful addition to any puzzle lover’s collection. It’s a book that will challenge your cognitive abilities and provide you with a unique and entertaining experience. Whether you’re looking to test your own skills or engage in a group activity, this book is sure to provide hours of fun and intrigue.

To start, I think that the layout of this book is very fun, and very interactive. I like the additions of the photographs, and that the lay-out of the evidence is formatted to look like the kind of media it represents. Emails look like emails, wills look like wills, and there are hand-written notes, typed documents, blueprints, maps, and more. I think this is a good way of making the reader feel more involved in what is happening in the puzzle, and giving the evidence in the puzzle more gravitas.

I would have liked this book more if the puzzles' solutions did more to explain the full solution. I'm not great at these kinds of puzzles, I admit. I'm more of a reader of mysteries, so part of me expected a full solution once the puzzle was finished. But I read the puzzles, and I didn't usually correctly guess who-did-it (although a few times I surprised myself), and after each puzzle I immediately flipped to the back of the book for the solution, and the solution only ever gave me the bare-bones answer of who-dun-it. I think I'd like this puzzle book more if the solutions had deeper explanations. Without spoiling the puzzle, in the third puzzle in the book "Family Fortunes," there is money that is stolen from a safe, and the question is: who stole this money? While I was reading through all the evidence given, I had questions of my own that came to mind, that I wanted to know the answer to: What is the safe code, and what does it represent? Why did Milo hate his father? What was the typo, and was it in the will or in the newspaper article? When did Leanne die, and was it really an accident? What was JG's connection to the fire department?) none of which were answered (at least not obviously) in the puzzle documents themselves, or in the provided solution. I understand that it's a puzzle game, and our only job, as the reader, is to pick up the clues and fit them together to figure out who-dun-it, but there are enough details given in the puzzle portion to make me wonder these questions, and they are never fully answered. And when the solution is provided, it also lacks details.

I will admit that the puzzles were interesting, and I wasn't bored at all while trying to figure everything out, but the way the solutions were presented left me mildly frustrated.

Unfortunately there was a glitch on downloading this title so I am unable to give a full review, only an average score.Shame because it looks like it might have been good !

Some of the stories were quite long-winded and I found them a bit too subtle for me. However I think they could be interesting, they are probably just not for me.

The Imposter Puzzle Book contains twelve varied puzzles to solve. Some are easy and some are more difficult. One I had solved without knowing it. The evidence presented includes handwritten notes, police statements, phone records, diary entries, and much more. It was fun to play amateur detective for several days. If you enjoy mysteries or true crime stories, this book is for you. 5 stars!

Thanks to Ivy Press and NetGalley for a digital review copy of the book.

Now, I wanted to like this book. The idea is great: there are little puzzles, mysteries, in all the traditional settings you have read mystery/thriller books about: the gang that plans to rob a place but has a mole, the quiet neighborhood mystery, the husband that might be having an affair, someone that steals money from a rich person, the soccer player that sells their team for money... Twelve little mysteries with their clues to find the culprit.

However, the delivery is... meh. For starters, the mysteries can only be solved by the reader. No one in the world of the stories could find the solution by what appears on the pages of this book. For example, words in a message can tell you who the traitor is. But those words have little to do with the five/six pages long set up Hall has created. It is just too random. Or to explain it in another way, there are also characters that say/do things that they would never say in the real world, like seeing things that are impossible to see. For the reader that may be a clue, but it makes all too 'fake' in my opinion.

It is also too much about checking times and receipts and things like that. It is not so much mystery as accounting, and a little bit boring for my taste. Also, the reasons given to find the culprit are sometimes too flimsy: they are the only ones who have heard something or moved something or have that kind of clothing or... It doesn't really justify making them the traitors. It is a random choice and another random choice could be made to say another character is the traitor.

All in all, an interesting attempt but it ends up a half-baked one. I would prefer if the author tried to make the mysteries real also within the stories, that there was more than just some numbers and with characters that behaved in a more realistic way.

This is an excellent book for all cosy puzzlers and fans of the popular TV game show. I whiled away a good couple of hours working my way through this book, and was immersed in the storyline. The Thursday Murder Club would have a good time with this one!

I was excited to get this arc, but sadly I couldn't enjoy as much as I hoped. Will try when released and I can get a physical copy.

The Imposter Puzzle Book contains 12 fun investigative puzzles. Each puzzle has a set of notes, interviews, maps, emails, chats, etc. You have to read them through and find out what is not adding up to solve the mystery. It was very entertaining to go through it, but I did not get the full experience as the eARC provided was a PDF - I could not make any notes and therefore I had to go back and forth too many times. I bet that an ebook version or a physical copy would be much more entertaining.

Thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Ivy Press for providing me with the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had really high hopes for this one, but sadly it wasn’t what I expected it to be.

Starting with the positive side:
+ The 12 puzzles were all different and unique, both story wise and clue wise.
+ The idea behind this book is fun and amazing, made me think of other escape games and puzzles books I’ve already read in a good way.
+ The length of each story is also fitting, the perfect length for these kind of puzzles. You can easily take a look at a few of them in one afternoon.

Sadly there were more negative things to be noted for me personally:
- The writing style isn’t my cup of tea. I can’t explain it exactly, but it just fell completely flat. I also found multiple typos.
- Some clues were waaaaay too farfetched, or even flawed. Sometimes it felt almost impossible to discover who the traitor was, even when trying to follow the things said in the solution at the end.
- I would have liked to see some decoding stuff introduced in some puzzles, like morse or ROTC.

Thank you Netgalley for this eARC.

This was a delightful little puzzle book. The sections were hard, but not too hard as long as you read carefully. I especially enjoyed the puzzle with the bad review in the hotel.

I am someone who loves puzzle books and solving mysteries, so this was right up my alley. I really enjoyed the stories and getting to search through the evidence to find the culprit in each chapter. I would definitely do more puzzle books from this publisher!

I received this book as an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to the author and publisher for this opportunity.

The puzzles in this book are fun, challenging and thought provoking. This book would make a great family game night gift basket (add popcorn, candy, pens and paper for taking notes).

What a fun book! I love how interactive it is for the reader. The stories are so intriguing and really suck you in to make you want to find out how they end.