SOLVED. YA/ Adult Mystery. Solve It Yourself Train Murder mystery with clues. Correct solution is revealed at the back. Illustration/ blueprints of train car layouts & timelines. Set in Europe? 1920s-1950s? Small around 6" square. Read 1990s. [s]

[Adam]

I had this book in the early to mid 1990s – a do it yourself you solve the murder mystery on a train. You’d have to put the clues together to find the correct solution revealed at the back. Had the odd illustration/blueprints of certain train cars and layout throughout so one could figure out timelines of certain passengers. I think the story took place sometime between 1920-1950s. Can’t recall if this was a series of books and if so love to track down this one and more. This has been a tough internet search without getting Murder on the Orient Express results… 😉

– smallish hardcover possibly was 6” square and ¼” thick/page count
– possibly maroon/dark red cover
– pretty sure the correct solution was in the back; may have had a red decoder plastic/acetate/film you placed over this text to actually see the solution (a very 80s/90s gimmick)

Any help tracking what this book or series of books was would be much appreciated!

-Adam

[Kris]

Adam, is this book for kids, teens or adults?

What is the story's location/ country?

[Adam]

I think it takes place in Europe - might have been France? Definitely teens to adults book I believe - too difficult to solve for a kid from what I remember.

[Mai]

Murder on the Riviera Express? It came up in a search so I don't know if the format is as you describe it!

This is the article that came up and lists the books in the series:
https://www.paperbackdetectives.com/b...

EDIT: I missed that this one was published in 1999 so it's probably too recent but I'll leave it just in case

[Kris]

I added some details to the header/ topic title. Feel free to edit it.

[Kris]

Mai's suggestion of Murder on the Riviera Express by Lagoon Books looks promising.

One copy on eBay shows a train layout/ schematic (with black background). It looks like the solution is printed upside-down (at the back). Scroll through the images - and hover/ mouse over to zoom in.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/224636309778...

Amazon says first edition is 1996. Size is 9.1" x 6.6" x 1.1".
Worldcat.org says it's 95 pages.

[Adam]

I’m 99% sure this is the book based on that ebay posting! I will try to grab a copy of this to be 100% sure. Appears it was a small series of books so depending on how this one’s mystery difficulty holds up, may check out the others as well. Well done all, thanks!