

This allows the series to come to an end at any point without ending abruptly and also leaves it open for another book.Įxcept as noted, the original hardcover editions were published by Turtleback Press, and had four different authors. In the introduction of subsequent books, however, Mr Boddy explains how he survived the end of the previous book, with the exception of the eighteenth book. In the solution, no explanation is given, and it is suggested that Mr Boddy actually dies. Someone attempts to murder Mr Boddy in the final chapter of each book. The guests also have very distinct, exaggerated personalities that betray their identities to the reader when they are not directly named. Deduction of the guilty party is done by tracking particular oddities given specific to the mystery, such as the guests all trying on specific scents of perfume or a note that some are wearing a particular style or color of clothing. The first nine mysteries typically involve some sort of competition between the guests (in which case readers must deduce who won), a guest attempting to murder another guest, or some sort of rare treasure of Mr Boddy's that has been stolen. The answer is printed upside-down on the next page, providing an explanation of how the criminal was foiled, or how the victim (if there was one) survived. Each mystery ends with a question to answer, and a picture of the checklist from the game is provided to assist with solving. This ends with some kind of cliffhanger that leads into the first chapter.Įxcept for the first book, which contains thirteen, all the books contain ten mini-mysteries similar to the Encyclopedia Brown books.


He explains the situation and introduces the six suspects. The books are compilations of mini-mysteries that the reader must solve involving various crimes committed at the home of Reginald Boddy by six of his closest "friends".Įach book begins with a small chapter where Mr Boddy introduces himself to the reader. The Clue series is a book series of 18 children's books published throughout the 1990s based on the board game Clue. Not to be confused with Clue mysteries (book series).
