I received a mysterious package in the post last week. It appeared to be a book, but was really a box containing 100 curious postcards, which told the story of many murders.
OK, so it was only mysterious because I’d forgot that I backed The Researcher’s First Murder on Unbound several months ago and the “book” only just released. I’ll call it a book for lack of a better term. This project is the brainchild of John Finnemore – noted British comedy writer. Those of a puzzling persuasion might remember that Cain’s Jawbone, the puzzle/book written by Edward Powys Mathers (alias Torquemada) was rereleased in 2019. Cain’s Jawbone is a mystery novel with 100 pages, which are mixed into uncertain order. In 1934, the first reader to send in the correct solution to the order of pages could win £15. Only two competitiors managed that at the time. On its revival, the contest was brought back too. And this time round, the first correct solution was provided by John Finnemore.
Now, compelled to create a puzzle along similar lines, he’s written and constructed The Researcher’s First Murder. Presumably the first person to solve this puzzle must then write another, like some kind of fiendish chain letter.
The puzzle once again consists of 100 pages, this time written on the back of postcards. The images on the postcards contain clues, and can be solved independently from the puzzle of the text.
The solution this time should be in the form of information about 10 murders: who killed who, and where.
I have my own copy of Cain’s Jawbone, and I have to confess I barely got five pages into it before giving up completely. It’s written in a stream-of-consciousness style, and it’s full of allusions and evasions that make it very difficult to read.
I was drawn to The Researcher’s First Murder despite my experience of Cain’s Jawbone by John Finnemore’s assurance that he “hopes it won’t take a global pandemic to solve this one”.
Is The Researcher’s First Murder more approachable?
My first impressions – after reading 20 of the 100 cards – are that it is. For one thing, even ignoring the text, it’s possible to solve the puzzles on the card backs, which consist of rebus-like clues, topics to research, and things to assemble or rearrange.
The text itself does have an unusual style, providing both pluses and minuses to solving and readability compared to Cain’s Jawbone. That book had its sentences bound by their pages – always a capital at the start of a passage and a full stop at the end. TRFM, as I’m going to call it for short, tends to start and finish mid sentence. This should make it easier, but you’d be surprised by the amount of ambiguous connections it’s possible to make.
The book is also easier to get involved in, with interesting characters that I’d like to find out more about, and even some tense moments.
The writing is also just plain entertaining: the format calls for playing with language, and that’s used for jokes as well as concealment. I decided to keep the cards in the order they were given and read them that way, and I’m glad, because I’m sure the more amusing mid-sentence connections are intentional.
Though I’m only a short way in and have only an inkling of what’s going on, I am actually invested in the characters and in what’s happening within the pages – I’m not just reading for the sake of the puzzle.
Oh, and if you’re a locked room fan, there’s one in this book. Apparently. The manual says so, but I haven’t got to that bit yet.
To sum up, I’m really looking forward to getting my teeth into this puzzle! I highly doubt I will solve it, but unlike Cain’s Jawbone, I’m having fun trying. I might post about this book again when I’ve read all the postcards and (hopefully) understand the story a little better.
However, I won’t be able to dig in to it for a week or so, as I’ll soon be off to Torquay, for the Agatha Christie Festival. It’ll be my first time going, and I’m very excited indeed. I’ll do my best to post pictures!
Hi Velleic, thank you very much for your answer. I finally bought the cards on the web. Once received, “I will have only” to translate them into French and then try to understand them with my friends. Already, a lot of work to do before solving the puzzles !!
Caïn’s jawbone was amazing, but very difficult, especially for persons non native from UK. A lot of puns, spoonerism and references to poetry, painting, plants, and so many other themes … We started in September 2023 and finished in June 2024. Sorry for my english !
Hi, I am French and I solved with friends, “Caïn’s jawbone”. It was a fantastic adventure ! We would like to buy The researcher’s first murder, in the form of cards, not the e-book.
Could you tell me where you have bought the game ?
In France we can only find e-book.
Thanks, and good research to to every one !
Hi Annie, well done on solving Cain’s Jawbone, that’s quite an achievement!
I bought the cards from Unbound: https://unbound.com/books/untitled-mystery
I don’t know about shipping to France. It looks like places such as Amazon UK, Waterstones, Blackwells and so on are offering the cards as well. If you wanted to solve in French, I think that possibly the cards are only available in English due to the difficulty of translating them, and that there will be a book version next year which will be translated. I did hear that on a podcast a few months before release though. I hope you’re able to get the puzzle in the way that you want it!
I’m saving the full puzzle for the holidays, but I also got the extra 4 postcards as a pre-order. However, tehre are no instructions! Are these just a fun extra or is there a mini puzzle in them. I’m a bit lost as to what they are or how they connect and Unbound doesn’t mention the 4 postcards anymore.
I didn’t get in early enough to be a backer, so I don’t have these special postcards myself.
I resurrected the funding page using the Wayback Machine and found this: “The Mystery Box plus 4 postcards which form their own puzzle.”
Enjoy your extra puzzle! And good luck with the big one when you get to it!
I picked up a secondhand (but unmarked) copy of Cain’s Jawbone and that put me off backing this project but your review may make me take a second look if it is released more generally now the Unbound has been successful.
I don’t know if the postcard version will be available outside of Unbound, but I believe they plan to publish a book version more widely. Though apparently the book version will have a different solution!
I’ll probably post a second look at it if/when I’ve made more progress and been able to tell if the full puzzle seems possible.
I remember coming across the Portuguese translation of “Cain’s Jawbone” some times (even among some magazines and books that were being sold in a drugstore!), but I’ve never bought it nor gave it much thought. It does seem intriguing, but also complicated. Just imagine what the translators had to endure.
Apparently John Finnemore ended up being a kind of consultant on the translations, since they needed to know the details of the solution in order to translate it properly. Given the snippet of the puzzle he discussed on the podcast I listened to, it must have been a tricky prospect indeed.
I believe The Researcher’s First Murder will only be available in translation in its book form; the postcard puzzles were deemed too difficult to translate. Since the text puzzle pages cut in the middle of the sentence, and that many languages have a different word order compared to English, the challenges must still be immense.