SUSPEK · MURDER MYSTERIES
One murder. One victim. 47,000 suspects.
A series of puzzle books where the killer hides among thousands of first names.
THE FIRST CASE
Sunset Boulevard
BEGINNERSunset Boulevard, 3:17 AM. Marjorie Hayes, seventy-six, casting director, three Academy Awards on the mantel, lies slumped across her desk in her Laurel Canyon study. Detective Hartmann places her Rolodex in front of you: fifty years of names, 47,000 cards, seventeen clues, one killer.
THE SECOND CASE
New York
BEGINNEREast 114th Street, East Harlem, 11:48 PM. Stella Cataldo, seventy-eight, lies in the kitchen of the restaurant her family has run since 1947. A marble mortar on the floor. Basil scattered across the tiles. Detective Hartmann opens her reservations book — fifty years of guests, 47,000 names, seventeen clues, one killer.
THE THIRD CASE
Miami
BEGINNERSonido Mar Records, Calle Ocho, Little Havana, 2:30 AM. Romina Valdés, forty-seven, lies on the control-room floor between the mixing console and the rack of vintage compressors. A Latin Grammy statuette on the floor by the door, blood on its base. Detective Hartmann turns the master tape ledger toward you — two generations of credits, 47,000 names, seventeen clues, one killer.
THE FOURTH CASE
Boston
ADVANCED17 Louisburg Square, Beacon Hill, just before midnight on the Sunday before the Marathon. Eleanor Whitcomb, seventy-six, retired Athenaeum trustee, lies on the marble step at the foot of the stair. A brass Athenaeum library bookend set back on the entry table. Detective Hartmann lays the subscriber register flat — 1827 to today, 47,000 first names, seventeen clues, one killer.
THE FIFTH CASE
Seattle
ADVANCED218 Highland Drive, Queen Anne, the Counterbalance side, 10:50 PM on the Tuesday night of Veterans Day week. Frances Holloway, seventy-eight, retired Pike Place Market Historical Society executive director emerita, lies across the open November tenancy roll at her 1908 Craftsman writing desk. A Pilchuck Glass School blue-green paperweight on the corner of the desk. Detective Hartmann lays the Foundation tenancy roll flat — every fishmonger and farm-stall lottery winner since 1907, 47,000 first names, seventeen clues, one killer.
THE SIXTH CASE
Chicago
ADVANCED2147 N. Cleveland Avenue, Lincoln Park, 9:42 PM on the Thursday night of the first Christkindlmarket week. Eleanor Petrov, seventy-four, retired Commission on Chicago Landmarks deputy director, lies across the open M-page of the bound Loft Survey at her 1881 worker's cottage. A Burnham & Root terra-cotta-glazed cast-iron cornice fragment on the parlor side table. Detective Hartmann lays the Loft Survey flat — every preservation consultant and Inland Architect contributor since 1907, 47,000 first names, seventeen clues, one killer.