The Midnight Manifest

About this book

A masked ball. A murdered auctioneer. Six thousand people aboard a ship two days from land, and only one of them did it.

On the night of the Captain's Masquerade Ball, the famous London auctioneer Ambrose Kettering is found dead in the ship's glass-domed library, with the last chapter of his scandalous memoir torn away. Nobody has left the Opaline, and nobody can. The captain hands you the Master Manifest: 6,000 passengers and crew, each with an age, height, hair and eye color, shoe size, blood type and the last time their keycard was used before midnight.

Overnight, the investigation turns up 20 clues: forensic findings, witness statements and documents. A chip of a gold mask. A footprint in spilled port. A pianist who swears the killer was taller than him. A luggage tag, a brandy receipt and a dance card with a blotted name. Every clue is true, and every clue describes the killer. Cross out everyone who doesn't fit, and exactly one name will be left.

Inside:

• One immersive case with a full story, a cast of witnesses and 20 fair, carefully ordered clues
• 6,000 suspect records in clean, easy-to-read tables, with an alphabetical index
• Clues that start with big sweeps and end in real deduction: comparisons, manifest look-ups and either/or statements
• A tally sheet and a shortlist worksheet so you never lose your place
• Spoiler-free checkpoints and a clue decoder for when you get stuck
• A sealed solution with the step-by-step elimination and the killer's motive
• Checked by our software: exactly one suspect fits every clue, and no clue is wasted

Hours of pencil-and-paper detective work for adults and teens who love murder mysteries, whodunits and logic puzzles, and a thoughtful gift for any armchair detective.

6 x 9 inches.

Who it's for

Puzzle fans who like a murder mystery story to solve.

Questions