You Are The Detective: The Creeping Hand Murder By Maureen Johnson & Jay Cooper

Whenever we crave a murder mystery, we always seem to think of Maureen Johnson. The thrill of gathering clues and figuring out the investigation hits different with all her books. This month, she teamed up with illustrator Jay Cooper to give us a solve-it-yourself mystery—You Are The Detective: The Creeping Hand Murder!

This new murder mystery by Maureen Johnson and Jay Cooper comes out just in time for you to plan your Halloween parties and themed dinners this fall. We had so much fun reading along to You Are The Detective: The Creeping Hand Murder, and here’s why!

Book Overview: You Are The Detective: The Creeping Hand Murder

Content warnings: death, blood, bodies, references to drug use, addiction, and overdose, heavy drinking, drowning, stabbing, poisoning (Read at your discretion!)

Summary: Dear Detective,

Surely you have seen the papers and read about the dreadful murder of the American novelist—stabbed while in a room with six other people, and yet no one went near him or saw the murder occur. The crime is so devious, so logistically impossible, that it seems to have been committed not by a person but by a disembodied hand.

I must confess that we are at a loss. Who wrote the poison pen letters that lured these seven people to this deadly gathering? A poet, an earl, an actress, a cook, a telephone operator, and a lothario . . . What do they have in common? And how could a man be stabbed in a room full of suspects, even though no one went near him or saw a thing?

We have had our best people on the case, Detective, and we still can’t make heads or tails of it. We are giving this case file to you. Can you decipher the clues, decode the witness statements, and identify the murderer? You are our last hope. Can you help us crack the Creeping Hand Murder?

Yours truly,
Detective Chief Inspector of the Metropolitan Police

Interacting With The Mystery

If you’re anything like us, an interactive murder mystery makes for a great way to pass the time. You Are The Detective: The Creeping Hand Murder by Maureen Johnson and Jay Cooper tested our memory and attention to detail. The photos of the crime scene combined with each suspect’s testimony made us feel like we were there when it happened. We kept flipping back and forth through the pages to try and catch any clues we missed the first time around.

The Detailed Illustrations

The illustrations in You Are The Detective: The Creeping Hand Murder really sealed the deal for us. We especially love the floor plans and the photos of everyone at the crime scene. Every part of the illustrations is intentional, especially when certain photos come up later in the investigation. (No spoilers here!) We’re not ashamed to admit that more than a few details went over our heads. But trust that the incriminating evidence was there the whole time.

Final Guesses

Before we got to the big reveal in You Are The Detective: The Creeping Hand Murder, the authors gave us a pause to lock in our final predictions. Although we thought our two guesses had great odds of being the killer, we were ultimately wrong. Even when we try not to fall for the most obvious suspects, we couldn’t pick up on the real killer. We aren’t too worried, though. That just means we need to hone our detective skills a little more. And we’d be happy to do that with another solve-it-yourself mystery book! *wink wink*

You are the Detective: The Creeping Hand Murder by Maureen Johnson and Jay Cooper comes out September 16th, and you can order a copy of it here!

How did you enjoy Maureen Johnson and Jay Cooper’s solve-it-yourself mystery? Were you able to find the murderer in You are the Detective: The Creeping Hand Murder? Let us know on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!

Want to hear some of our audiobook recommendations? Here’s the latest!

Interested in more book reviews? We got you!

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT MAUREEN JOHNSON:
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TO LEARN MORE ABOUT JAY COOPER:
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