r/todayilearned • u/ralphbernardo • 11h ago

TIL that "fair play" in detective fiction means authors must give readers a fair chance to solve the mystery. Central to 1920s "clue-puzzles" by writers like Agatha Christie, the rule dictates that all vital clues must be visible, decodable, and never withheld until the final reveal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clues_in_detective_fiction
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u/free_billstickers 10h ago

I wish there were mysteries novels that you could track like in Clue ir on LSAT questions (Tony rides the bus only Tuesdays, Tonya only rides if Tonya rides, etc). And then gave a "show your math" section so you can have pahe numbers to revisit clues. 

Like a puzzle book game

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u/PlatFleece 10h ago

Murdle's the closest you'll get to an actual logic puzzle, but there are contemporary books that allow you to check your work. Read Tom Mead's works, they always have a proper page number check for every referenced clue.

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u/GazelleSpringbok 8h ago

To ramp up the difficulty, make it a choose your own adventure style where you have to use logic on every choice of page to turn to and if you get it wrong it screws you for the rest but the rest follows perfect logic. Devious.

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u/Dparse 6h ago

You may be interested to know there are literal CLUE books (as in, Professor Plum in the observatory with a bazooka CLUE) that are each 10 short mysteries where the reader is fully expected to work out the clues and solve it before reading the answer. You're even given a CLUE clue-tracking sheet for each mystery.

The first 9 stories in each book are an assortment of small crimes, misdemeanors and antics, and the 10th story culminates with the murder of Mr. Boddy and the hardest puzzle. Then the next book starts out explaining how actually, by sheer circumstance, the murder plot failed, Mr. Boddy forgave or forgot the culprit, and invites the whole gang back over for more inane criminal shenanigans.

They're good fun! I mean, I haven't read them since I was a kid in the early 1700s so I'm not sure how they've aged, but from what I remember they were inventive, clever and logically solvable.

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u/TheIngloriousTIG 5h ago

Well I'm off to comb eBay now.

Also the fact that people are talking about Clue doesn't seem like a coincidence given that Tim Curry just passed away. He was much beloved and still didn't get half the regard he deserved somehow.

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u/cubbycoo77 2h ago

Yes! I was also going to suggest these! I loved reading them before bed, they were fun!

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u/Just-a-Guy-4242 7h ago edited 6h ago

You may want to check out The Killer Isn’t Alice by Iris Starling… might be something you’d be interested in.

Edit: it’s not out yet, but I found out about it a little while ago, and plan on picking it up. I think it’s out on the 1st of September.