The final chapter
Sunday dawn, and the Lakeview is quiet the way only a resort in September can be quiet. The sheriff stands at the end of the dock with his notebook, and the nine clues lie in it like a season's accounts waiting to be totaled. A nightcap only the household knew. A scent that means patience, not temper. A passkey and a safe key that share a drawer. A cabana that explains a wife without convicting her, a songbook that warms without burning, and a paper trail, mortgage to blueprint to letter, that ends at a date ten days old and a desk where all the Lakeview's truth is filed. Your nine clues are the word list now. Find them all, and the letters the puzzle never uses will spell the total, who closed the season, and why. Out on the water the mist is lifting. In the pavilion, somebody has begun, very quietly, to stack the chairs.
Use the arrow keys to move between letters. Press Enter or Space on the first letter of a word, then again on the last letter. Press Escape to cancel.
armchairpuzzles.com · free large-print word searches
About this case
A chapter of Bitter Almonds, a mystery told in word searches. Each chapter leaves you one clue; the finale needs them all.
How a mystery chapter works
- 1Read the scene first.Every chapter opens with a scene from the case. The word list is drawn from it, and so is the clue.
- 2Find the words.Tap a word's first letter, then tap along to its last, or press and drag. Found words colour themselves in and cross off the list.
- 3One listed word is not in the grid.Find the other nine and the word left over is the chapter's clue. Note it down, or let the case page keep it for you.
- 4The finale needs every clue.The last puzzle's word list is the clues you collected, and once you find them all, the leftover letters spell out who did it, and why.
Prefer pen and paper?
Print Bitter Almonds as one large-print booklet: every chapter and its puzzle, a clue ledger, and the ending sealed on the last page.