Minute Mysteries [Detectograms]

About the book

H. A. Ripley's detectograms reduce the detective story to compact problems associated with Professor Fordney, a criminologist whose reputation rests on observation and practical reasoning. Each brief scenario supplies circumstances, statements, or physical details from which the reader is invited to identify the decisive inconsistency. The cases trade extended characterization and atmosphere for the pleasure of a concentrated challenge. Their form makes careful attention essential: a seemingly casual remark can matter more than an apparently dramatic event. The author presents the necessary information within each problem, although the historical assumptions behind particular deductions remain part of the experience of reading them now. The collection works well in short sessions, with the reader repeatedly asked to pause before accepting an explanation.

• Observation
• Logical puzzles
• Deception

Why read it

Read it for brief detective challenges that make you an active participant in finding the overlooked clue.

English collection with foreword by Lewis E. Lawes