If Wordle was the word-of-mouth puzzle sensation of 2022, then 2023 was dominated by the similarly named, but rather more sinister, Murdle. Now, Murdle has joined the likes of Michelle Obama’s Becoming, Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club and Kate and Kay Allinson’s Pinch of Nom: Comfort Food in becoming a Christmas bestseller.
According to Nielsen BookData, Murdle sold 52,549 copies in the UK in the week ending 16 December 2023, comfortably outstripping seasonal favourite Guinness World Records and Richard Osman’s latest crime novel. In total, Murdle has sold more than 300,000 copies since going on sale in June, contributing to UK puzzle book sales reaching their highest level since 2005, when sudoku fever gripped the nation.
Name of the game
Murdle is the name given to the logic puzzles created by American writer G T Karber. In each puzzle, players follow the adventures of Deductive Logico, using a grid and a series of clues to try and work out the key facts in occasionally bizarre murder cases. The puzzles’ format may not be revolutionary – and in fact bears several similarities to Cluedo – but, by combining the thrill of the murder mystery with the intellectual rigour of the logic puzzle, Karber has clearly discovered a winning formula.
Like Wordle, Murdle began online, with Karber using an algorithm he invented to create daily puzzles. Since then, however, he has begun to release them in book form, rewriting the puzzles to make them better and funnier, with Volume 3 set for release later this year.
While puzzlers may have come across Murdle online, readers are more likely to have learnt about it at bookshops, with Waterstones naming it their ‘Gift of the Year’. Crucially, praise for Murdle has come from writers such as Janice Hallett, bestselling author of The Appeal and The Twyford Code, as well as from puzzle enthusiasts, suggesting that Karber’s creation hits the sweet spot between crime fiction and puzzle book.
A safe bet
Books always make an ideal gift at Christmastime and, no doubt, December will have seen many bibliophiles heading to their local bookshop; finding themselves at a loss as to what to buy their nearest and dearest, they may have turned their heads to see a wall of red eyes staring at them from beneath stylish black hats. Intrigued, they may have stepped towards the display and seen the words ‘Solve 100 devilishly devious murder mystery logic puzzles’. A lightbulb goes on. A hand reaches out. “Yes”, they think. “I’m sure they’ll like that.”
We might not yet know who committed the murder, but that’s one mystery solved.
Did you get a copy of Murdle in your stocking? If so, let us know what you think.