Five-minute Mysteries 5: 40 Additional Cases of Murder and Mayhem for You to Solve

by Ken Weber

Overview

When you have a few minutes to kill.

Armchairs sleuths can test their powers of deduction with 40 of the best quick-read whodunits in this fifth volume of the popular Five-minute Mysteries series.

Here's the idea. Readers take about five minutes to read a short mystery. Next, they must solve the question posed at the end by putting themselves in the shoes of the detective to examine the evidence and figure out who done it. All the clues they need are found somewhere in the story.

A sampling of the mysteries to solve:

• A murderer describes in detail the Perfect Crime. But the plan is flawed... how?
• An English arrow kills a French soldier during the Hundred Years' War. Which clues point to a cold-blooded murder?
• What clues did the rookie cop see that went unobserved by the veteran sheriff?
• What exactly told investigators that the forged painting wasn't picture perfect?

Cases are rated easy, moderate and challenging. Some mysteries will unravel faster than a dime-store sweater while others will take longer to solve. Solutions for all, however, are revealed at the back of the book.

Five-minute Mysteries 5 is a treat for both puzzle aficionados and mystery fans, and a rare opportunity to step into the shoes of law enforcement professionals.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781770850675
Publisher:	Firefly Books, Limited
Publication date:	08/22/2013
Series:	Five Minute Mysteries
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	189
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Ken Weber is professor emeritus of the University of Toronto and the best-selling author of more than 40 educational and general interest books, including the Five-minute Mysteries series.

Table of Contents

Memorandum

Unsolved Cases

1. Alone on the Beach
2. Border Alert
3. Homicide at 24 North Bleaker Street
4. In Pursuit of Deserters
5. Count to Five, Press the Button and Get Out!
6. The Case of the Open Safe
7. Getting to the Front Door
8. Leave No Trace
9. A Great Future in Art Forgery
10. A Rush Order
11. Undercover with the Black Lasers
12. Deadly Treasure Hunt
13. Too Much Medication?
14. Detective Aylmer's Report
15. An Impulse Rewarded
16. A Second Opinion on the Case
17. Corinne Beardsley's Deadly Mistake
18. After Hours at the Bank
19. Analyzing a DJ
20. The Anthrax Plot
21. Assessing the Risk
22. The Unlamented Demise of Tony "the Heaver" Pellino
23. A Perfect Crime?
24. Mr. Mayo's Wakeup Test
25. Mr. Mayo's Wakeup Test: A Sequel
26. Leo's Interim Report
27. An Enemy Within?
28. En Route to the Scene
29. A Discussion at Clancy, Goldberg&Associates
30. An Alternative Career
31. The New Recruit
32. The Secret Service at Work
33. The Next Step
34. The Whitsun Islands Sting
35. One Bad Apple?
36. Why Pvt. Raymond Failed
37. On a Grassy Knoll
38. Keeping an Eye on the Docks
39. To Praise a Rookie Cop
40. One Small Favor Before the Wedding

Solutions

Preface

Memorandum

To: ALL MYSTERY BUFFS From: the author

Mystery buffs know there are only two kinds of people in the world: those who love mysteries and, well, that other kind. A tiny majority, the latter are, and that's a good thing because they are missing something unique. For only in mysteries can a reader get a charge out of winning or losing.

It works like this. Nothing gives mystery buffs more satisfaction than getting ahead in a story and beating the writer to the punch. They get a special charge out of combining logic, analysis, intuition and insight so that before they turn the last page, they already have the problem solved. Yet -- and this is what sets mystery lovers apart -- nothing thrills them more than when the mystery defeats them, when they turn the last page and find a surprise waiting, something they'd missed.

In this, the fifth installment of the series, mystery lovers get no less than forty shots at the fun of winning or losing, in a set of wildly different stories. Every mystery in the book is set up for the reader to solve. At the end of each mystery there is a question: Who did ...? or What did ...? or It seems the thief made a mistake. How could ..? Like that.

There's great variety. The settings range from city to country, from a bank to a beach, and from France to Australia. You'll encounter detectives, thieves and murderers, a sub-lieutenant searching for deserters during the Napoleonic Wars, an undercover KGB agent and a centurion in the Roman Empire.

There's also variety in the level of challenge. As you turn the pages of Five-minute Mysteries 5 you'll notice one, two or three symbols -- a gun -- at the beginning of each story. The number of guns suggests how easy or difficult the mystery is, one being easy, two being a little harder, and three, difficult. (Or, perhaps more accurately, how easy or difficult each one seems to me.) But don't let the ratings stop you from enjoying all the mysteries! One that I rate "difficult" might be an open-and-shut case for you, while you might be utterly stumped by one I've rated "easy." Try them all.

Finally, all the solutions are at the back of the book, so you can prove you're a winner or, once in a while, get a kick out of losing. Either way, enjoy.