I first saw one of these mystery puzzles in a store a while ago and was enthralled, but didn’t purchase it because it was new and I try not to buy games new. Especially if I haven’t heard of them before. So when I saw the BePuzzled mystery puzzle “Grounds for Murder” in a thrift store, I snatched it up!
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I think I was expecting something more like one of the escape room games I have so enjoyed, but that’s not what these mystery puzzles are. They’re a short story mystery and a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle. Still fun, and I love puzzles, so I was still excited.
This is the inside flap.
Assembling the Mystery Puzzle Blind
You know how when you put together most puzzles, you can look at the box cover for a picture of the puzzle you’re making? Yeah, that’s not true here. I mean, if they did that, you’d have no reason to do the puzzle at all. I was expecting this aspect to be challenging, and I was right. I don’t love puzzles that much!
This is the back of the box.
The most frustrating and hardest part of the mystery puzzles is that you’re doing the puzzles blind. However, the solution of the one we tried was also rather underwhelming. I finally peaked (the solution is written in mirror image on the last page and a half) and most of what they called “evidence” was circumstantial at best.
This is the first page of the story.
We did notice everything mentioned in the solution, but they made more out of everything than we did. Everything was pretty easily explained by elements of the story.
Random pages from the middle of the story.
We Prefer Other Mystery Games
At the end of the day, if you love puzzles and want to try your hand at one of these mystery puzzles, I recommend finding a used copy. Ours was missing 11 pieces due to the way the puzzle is packaged, but it was still doable. And while I spent many hours assembling the puzzle, at least I didn’t spend a lot of money acquiring it. If you would like a more satisfying mystery game, check out the escape room and whodunnit games we’ve tried.
The previous owner did not put the puzzle pieces in a bag before putting them in the pull-out tray. Then, the tray was upside down! I’m sure that a new game comes with the puzzle pieces in a bag to prevent losing the pieces.