Armchair PuzzlesCalm, large-print word searches
The Overdue Book
The Overdue Book

The Morning After

Print

Chapter 1 of 10

The morning after the Friends of the Library dinner, the marble stairs smell of cigars and the chairs stand not quite straight. Miss Aldous unlocks the building at eight, as she has for thirty-one years, and stops at the cabinet. The first edition stands where it always has, spine out, behind glass. She looks a long moment, then unlocks it and takes the book down. Ruth Quill, shelving returns, watches her chief open the cover, close it, and stand very still. To any patron it is the same book. To the two librarians, a stranger wearing a friend's coat. Miss Aldous locks it back, pockets her key, and says only: no telephoning the dinner guests, and Mr. Beck not told before Thursday. Then she sits at her desk and starts the day's stamps as if nothing has changed.

R
T
R
E
T
U
R
N
S
S
P
T
E
L
B
R
A
M
T
N
T
T
N
T
E
G
A
O
A
S
H
C
N
N
N
E
L
N
M
E
E
H
I
B
A
V
O
A
P
E
T
P
D
T
E
R
S
B
S
D
S
R
A
S
T
T
U
K
A
S
A
S
T
A
I
R
S
E
H
T
T
M
P
T
L
E
E
N
O
H
C
H
G
A
D
H
T
I
T
P

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 The Overdue Book, a mystery told in word searches. Each chapter leaves you one clue; the finale needs them all.

How a mystery chapter works

  1. 1
    Read the scene first.Every chapter opens with a scene from the case. The word list is drawn from it, and so is the clue.
  2. 2
    Find 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.
  3. 3
    One 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.
  4. 4
    The 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 The Overdue Book as one large-print booklet: every chapter and its puzzle, a clue ledger, and the ending sealed on the last page.

Print the case bookletPrinting tips →

All chapters of The Overdue Book

More to explore:All Mystery Cases word searchesPrintable Mystery Cases word searches

↑ Back to the puzzle