It all started on the day I decided to go off Instagram. On May 1, I downloaded AppBlocker and set it to its strictest mode. Anyone who has tried getting off social media will know it’s not as simple as logging off. So managing to stay off for 10 days? I’ll give myself a pat on the back!
Fortuitously, the going offline coincided with the arrival of a copy of Murdle at my doorstep. A few weeks earlier, author Shweta Bachchan Nanda had posted about the murder mystery puzzle book (ironically, on Instagram), which marries logic, murder, and Wordle (yes, I still can’t start my day without guessing the five-letter word every morning), and I immediately added it to my cart.
Originally published in June last year, the book has gone from a novelty gift to a viral sensation among armchair sleuths, flying off bookshelves. Just last week, The British Book Awards anointed Murdle the 2024 Book of the Year. As many genius stories go, author GT Karber, a computer programmer and Hollywood mystery writer, is said to have created the first puzzle on a coffee-shop napkin for a friend. Murdle’s protagonist, Detective Logico, has clearly gone places since.
Each puzzle is a mini story—witty and intriguing, featuring a list of suspects, weapons, and crime scenes ranging from luxury yachts to coffee shops to a spooky graveyard. Follow the clues and evidence and, with a little bit of logic, solve the crime. The book, which is split into four sections (each of increasing difficulty levels), has puzzles that can take anywhere between 3-10 minutes to crack, providing the perfect mini-break our forever-connected modern life can afford. That it’s made for non-sporty types and doesn’t need company or the organisational skills a boardgame night requires are an added bonus for me.
“It was a gift from my daughter [Navya],” Bachchan Nanda tells me about her introduction to the puzzle of the season. “I love murder mysteries and puzzles, so naturally, I was hooked. We both solve them on our own time, but we have a huge giggle about the really tough ones.” The evening my copy arrived, I took a break from writing to exercise my brain in a different way. An hour later, I was on puzzle #10, my deadline forgotten (apologies to my editors at The Nod) and my nine-year-old had joined me on the couch, equally engrossed.
I now have a play routine. My morning coffee is dedicated to Wordle and Connections and my 4pm coffee is Murdle time with my daughter—and we’ve just ordered the junior version to solve over the summer break.
Because as they say, all work, too much social media, and no play make for a very dull mind.
Buy it here
