Classic Whodunits: More Than 100 Mysteries for You to Solve by Stanley Smith

by Stan Smith, Tom Bullimore, Hy Conrad

Solve the crimes...if you can. Armchair detectives who love a baffling mystery will find just what they crave in this collection of wickedly devious whodunits. These are stories where the writer plays skillfully with the reader's mind and where the pivotal piece of evidence appears at first to make no sense--even though it must. Match wits with some stupendously clever sleuths (including Sherlock Holmes) on their cases and try to figure out the puzzles, clues, and marvelous twists that unlock the mysteries. Every story is brain-busting fun.

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories

275 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Librarian Note: There are several authors in the database with this name. This is Stan^^Smith. For other authors with this name see: Stan^Smith, Stan^^^Smith, Stan^^^^Smith, Stan^^^^^Smith, Stan^^^^^^Smith, Stan^^^^^^^Smith, Stan^^^^^^^^Smith, Stan^^^^^^^^^Smith, Stan^^^^^^^^^^Smith, Stan^^^^^^^^^^^Smith, and Stan^^^^^^^^^^^^Smith.

Stan^^Smith has written whodunits and puzzles.

Reviews

[Cat Carstairs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this was a really fun experience with my brother! I'm interested in forensics and solving all kinds of mysteries and riddles, and this satisfied that interest. I think I enjoyed the first portion the most with Detective Sherman Holmes, as those were the most funny. Though some of the answers to the mysteries made no sense, there were a lot of them that really made the gears in our brains churn. Classic Whodunits was such a fun read, and I definitely recommend!

[Chazzi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This little book is a collection of mini-mysteries and word puzzles. Set up in three sections with three different sleuths as the main character in their own section.

Some are simple but as you progress the difficulty gets to be more. The solutions are listed in the back so you know if you get it right or not.

Not the type of book you would sit and read at a steady rate, but it is fun to pick up and give your brain a little exercise now and then.

[Elena Santangelo · Rating 1 out of 5]

The title of this book is "WHODUNITS: More than 100 mysteries for you to solve." The description on Amazon says "You solve the crimes! ... join forces with some expert crime-solvers to untangle the clues and find the guilty parties in these wickedly devious whodunits ..." I expected something like "Two Minute Mysteries" which I read in elementary school, and perhaps, since nowhere is this volume called a children's or young adult book, a bit more adult and challenging.

A good 2/3 the "whodunits" in this book have nothing to do with crimes, or even with "who"--they're merely logic and math puzzles. I usually like logic puzzles, but these aren't good ones and are all much the same.

Of the remaining crime puzzles, only 2 or 3 of them were satisfying. For many, the reader was expected to have expert knowledge of a subject. For others, guilt was presumed because of a silly discrepancy in evidence. I can't explain that too much further without giving a spoiler, but let's say that because a man has one arm in a sling going into a building and the other arm coming out, doesn't prove he killed anyone.

At least 2 solutions in this book were plain wrong. (If you're facing one direction, then make right and left turns, you won't be facing the opposite way.) Other solutions depend on assumptions not told to the reader, for instance, which direction the houses on a street are numbered (depends which side of the street you're on and which way you're facing).

The only thing I did like in this book were the first three sleuths. They, at least had a little comic personality. I was appalled, though, that Sherlock Holmes, Watson and Lestrade were characters in the last section of the book, which were the poorest puzzles in the whole volume.

Don't waste your money on this.

[Sophie_The_Jedi_Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've owned this book for some time now, and I've read it more than once. It's interesting to see the four different parts of the books with different detectives and differently-styled mysteries. I liked the Sherman Holmes stories the best. His personality and the narrative of the mysteries were fun. The Stanwick ones are almost all logic puzzles, ex. "One lies and one tells the truth but only on Thursdays, who killed the mayor?" They're really not my cup of tea. The Inspector Forsooth ones are interesting but elaborate. They're on another level from Sherman Holmes. The Sherlock Holmes mysteries are all just really short logic and math puzzles - a far cry from Sherman Holmes. I think I'm going to be passing this book on. Not all of the mysteries are equally made, which would work for some people, but not for me.

3/5 stars.

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

My husband and I read Whodunits as a shared morning reading. Most of the mysteries were short and the answers are all in the back of the book. We were glad to have the answer key. As the book progressed, the mysteries became more like logic puzzles than mysteries. We didn’t enjoy those as much and I have to admit that we skipped most of the last section. It got to the point where we needed to write down clues to find a solution. Overall, I’d say it was an OK shared reading, but not a great mystery book. I’m passing it on to someone who enjoys logic puzzles and I’m sure she will enjoy it more than we did.

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was able to solve some of the problems, but too many involved mathematics in which I am not that proficient. I was particularly frustrated with logic problems that seemed not to provide sufficient clues. The solutions at the end would include items missing in the "story." I ended up skipping over many of those.

[Mayda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book of mysteries to solve is a mixed bag. It has four sections written by four different authors, and each is quite different. Some give detailed explanations, one lists questions to think about and answer to arrive at the solution, and one just gives an answer, which might leave kids wondering how they got there. (Don’t kids alway have to show their work?!) Some are true mysteries, others are logic puzzles, and still others are math problems in mystery form. The many illustrations add to the enjoyment of the mysteries. My favorite section by far is the second one featuring detective Thomas P. Stanwick. Kids will likely enjoy some but not all of these mysteries. Even if they can’t solve the mysteries, reading them is entertaining and a learning experience.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are fun on long road trips to pass the time

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ranges from fun and tricky to nearly impossible!

[Tonya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, short quirky mysteries featuring a detective that reminds me of an adult version of Encyclopedia Brown. Given to me by my Maddy, so especially special :-)

[Sarah Jowett · Rating 1 out of 5]

It wasn't at all what I thought it was going to be and the "mysteries" are way too short with one little bitty bit that gives it all way but it's not at all obvious.

[Drucilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

The mysteries were varied which was good. I found them to be very difficult to solve, but I'm not very good at whodunits so that's probably the reason I couldn't solve any of them. : )

[Martavious.phillips0]

i didn't like it it was too boring for my taste.

[Lindsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

It wasn't all that bad but I don't think I really liked it- it was just more of something to pass the time with. Some of the mysteries were good, but the majority of them were annoying.

[G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite being really bad at these, I enjoyed these word puzzles

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just not well-written or enjoyable. Maybe the initial idea was good, but sadly it was poorly executed. I greatly enjoy good mysteries, but I cannot recommend this volume.