More Two-Minute Mysteries

Two-Minute Mysteries #2

by Donald J. Sobol

Whether testing their own sleuthing abilities by working against the clock or enjoying the intrigue of unraveling each case, readers will delight in the spine-tingling puzzlers in each of these short but thrilling mysteries.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Young Adult, Short Stories, Childrens, Middle Grade, Mystery Thriller

126 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Donald J. Sobol was an award-winning writer best known for his children's books, especially the Encyclopedia Brown mystery series. Mr. Sobol passed away in July of 2012.

Reviews

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are extremely short but kind of fun. I take books like this in the car with me. You can almost read a story at a stoplight.

[Christine B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to solve but otherwise great!

[Dharia Scarab · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I don't normally write reviews unless I have something specific to say, here's the break down of how I rate my books...

1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.

2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.

3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.

4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.

5 stars... I loved this book! It has earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of what we enjoyed / hated from the first book. One of the stories was about our Doctor Haledjian knowing what side of the skirt is on. Well good for him!

The good ones are a lot of fun but the bad ones are worse than groan-worthy. You're just left wondering where Doctor Haledjian lives that there are so many dead people!

There was one story where he wasn't in the jurisdiction of the death but since it was a close personal friend he went up there anyway, saying that he doesn't mind upsetting the sheriff. What?

[Siskiyou-Suzy · Rating 1 out of 5]

In this bizarro world, people make mistakes in their made-up alibi stories, but they do not make mistakes otherwise. Therefore, if somebody describes looking to the left when they meant looking to the right, and that messes up their story, they should be arrested.

[Robin Herrera]

I had the first book in this series when I was a child. I read #3 about a year ago, but tracking down #2 was extremely hard. (I had two instances of getting #3 instead of #2!) But I finally got it, so I was able to read the remaining Haledjian mysteries.

This book is severely dated (the others are as well) and relies on tired stereotypes (one of the answers to a mystery is "No woman would hang up a mink coat she'd just bought - she'd try it on immediately!".... yeah, okay), but some of the mysteries are fun to try and solve, even if they make you feel stu[id for not knowing the answers. (Especially when the answer starts with, "As any student would know...")

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was pretty good, but some of the mysteries were so totally random that I was thinking that no one would ever get them. I was also thinking that the evidence wasn't enough to arrest someone, like a typo or a certain page number. The suspect was immediately arrested after that found one little bit of information

[ashes ➷ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so cute! Found it in one of those little free libraries, read it in a couple hours. I will say that it's very vintage, but that added to the appeal for me... even if I had no idea what telephone booths were like back in the day.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the solutions are a little dated in their "as everyone knows..." statements, but these mysteries are fun, quick, and easy to read.

[Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ditto.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love reading these with my children before bed. They are great mysteries and we will read 1 to 3 depending on time. They are getting outdate, though, and that can make it harder to solve.

[Christine Pietz · Rating 2 out of 5]

i’ve had this for a while- the re-read is nostalgic, but so many of these cases are based on outdated information or assumptions, a modern day reader has a low chance of guessing the answer.

[Tiyahna Ridley-Padmore · Rating 2 out of 5]

More Two- Minute Mysteries by Donald J. Sobol includes a collection of short mysteries that young readers are supposed to solve. In reading through the story and paying attention to clues embedded in the text, readers are challenged to find the answers to each short mystery with the answers provided at the end.

I started binge-reading Two-Minute Mysteries during my childhood phase of reading stories about child detectives (e.g. Harriet the Spy). In all of the hundreds of two-minute mysteries that I read, I got maybe 1-2 correct -- it was an incredibly demoralizing and frustrating process. No matter how hard I would try, I could not come up with the correct answers. The responses were either ludicrous and unrealistic or they required information that children would not or could not possibly know. In an effort to make the mysteries a challenge to solve, the Sobol inadvertently (or maybe not) made them impossible. Who would enjoy playing an un-winnable game? Even now, looking back on this text nearly twenty years later, I can't help but feel a twinge of failure.

[Mayda · Rating 5 out of 5]

These short mysteries are quite interesting. To solve all of them, readers would have to have a wide range of knowledge. Some are easily solved with a bit of thought and common sense. Others, not so much. Still, in reading the solutions, everyone will learn something new. It’s a good entertaining book for kids as well as adults.

[Aparna Nayak · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you know me you know I love a good plot twist and it's like the main thing I look after in a mystery novel but if the plot twist is not good the whole book seem,blank to me so now.I want to state that it was not bad but because it was written so many years ago so many things I didn't understand. But overall was a good experience.

[AS · Rating 4 out of 5]

A light, fun read. Many of the details are out-dated, but that’s part of the charm. Stories can be kind of predictable after a while,
but they’re quick, as promised from the title. I thought it was fun to see how the author of the Encyclopedia Brown books got his start.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 Stars

This book contains multiple 2-minute mysteries - perfect for would-be detectives, especially those short on time.

If you like working out whodunnit and think you can outsmart the incomparable Dr Haledjian, I couldn’t recommend this book more!

[Arwen · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book of short stories/mysteries. Would be fun to read with kids, but not so interesting to an adult.

[dany · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've actually read this dozens of times since I was a kid, but I did finish it again last night.

[Sara Hruby-Johansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute. It's all about the wording....

[Gabrielle Tecklenburg · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of these stories are outdated and a lot of the explanations made me roll my eyes. Overall, it’s nice to read a few a day to keep your mind fresh.

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick brainteaser stories for kids.

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable short mysteries to get your brain working.

[Rebekah Alexander · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is captivating and good for the brain.
It makes you think 'Now what is hidden inside this story?'
i really liked this book and would definetly recommend it.

[Muhajjah Saratini]

Bukunya belum ketemu lagi, hiks.
Nanti kalau beberes rak sudah selesai dan buku ini ketemu, baru lanjut baca.