Montague Island Mysteries and Other Logic Puzzles

I absolutely love these puzzle - I actually ended up buying it for my family members as well!They can be a little tedious, but I like that they aren't too easy (which is the issue I had with Murdle). If you like murdle but find it kinda easy, I definitely recommend this!I noticed some commenters mentioning fallacies in this book, but I am pretty far into it and have not noticed any. Honestly, I think this is just due to a false understanding of logic by the reviewers (for example, I've seen someone basically assume that "if A implies B, then B implies A," which just isn't true. For example, if I have a beagle, then I have a dog. But if I have a dog, I don't necessarily have a beagle). Some of these are definitely harder, but if you are good at these sort of logic puzzles and enjoy them I highly recommend this bookNote that they are all similar puzzle types, so if you want a variety, id recommend elsewhere (or, if you are like me, get this along with another puzzle book)

I am quite enjoying this book. I tried Murdle before and died of boredom (too easy and repetitive). These have more variety, although not that that different to each other. You always have some characters and you need to match up characteristics or find a killer etc but they vary enough in the logic behind solving the problems to not be too repetitive. Some phrasings are a bit confusing but you can normally get what the author means because an alternative interpretation doesn't fit. The format makes it easy to write and you don't have to switch pages for info, which is nice. I recommend having some extra paper with you to write stuff down. I can take for some 1-2h while others require me more time. You don't need to have knowledge a priority, all is given in the description of the puzzle.

This is a truly fantastic book for a very specific audience. You have to love the most challenging logic puzzles. If you've ever bought a Dell or Penny Press magazine dedicated to just logic puzzles and enjoyed it, you will love this book. If on the other hand you prefer easier puzzles, or a wider variety of puzzles, or are new to puzzle books in general, I'd recommend starting with a different puzzle book first.I've played or partially played dozens of puzzle books. I had this one on my shelf for a while before finally deciding to give it a try. I'm now about a third of the way in and am completely hooked. I just added books 2, 3, and 4 in the series to my Wishlist. :^)I didn't think I would care for the narrative element and the overarching mystery, but I'm actually really enjoying it, and it's making this book "stickier" than it might otherwise be. I'm also very pleased with the choice of binding, so you can easily lay it flat and write in it if you choose to. (I normally avoid writing in puzzle books at all costs. But because of the binding, I decided to just dive in and write in this book and am very glad I did, as it makes the solving experience much more pleasant. And if I really care to have an unblemished copy later, it's not very expensive so I could buy a 2nd copy.)I was torn about giving this book 4 or 5 stars. It's really a fantastic expression of what it's trying to be -- a series of high quality logic puzzles connected by a narrative and mystery element. In the end, I rounded down as there are a few things that my ideal version of this book would do differently. These are:1. I'm not a huge fan of narrative in puzzle books, so I'm glad this book doesn't have a ton of connecting narrative. But the narrative it does have is stilted and dry, not evocative or enticing. So far, there is zero detail to distinguish any of the characters from one another, they might as well just be A, B, C, etc.. (Compare to, for example, Maze of Games, another book with very hard puzzles but with warmer and more compelling fiction.) Or put it another way, the narrative feels like it was written by a master logician who's been writing and editing logic puzzles for decades. :^)2. It's a bit repetitive. I enjoy logic puzzles, but there's a reason I no longer buy those Dell or Penny Press magazines with ~100 logic puzzles in a single magazine. I prefer puzzle books with a wider variety of different kinds of puzzles. (That being said, I'm definitely hooked on this series and will likely solve them all!)3. The puzzles are definitely tricky. Maybe I'm getting soft in my old puzzling age, but I'm not finding it quite as fun as I used to to beat my head against the trickiest logic puzzles out there. One aspect of the trickiness: in many puzzles, facts are given by characters in the book, and when a character is a guilty party in that particular puzzle, anything they say may be false (or of course, it may still be true too). I'm loathe to make an assumption as to the guilty party/parties then have to backtrack, so often this means reading and re-reading all the clues multiple times until I can find an entry where I can narrow down and determine that at least some innocent guests and therefore rely on their information. Awesome, but also a bit tiring. One thing that might help here that many puzzle books have done is provide a dedicated message board of some sort where players can ask one another for hints. But at least solutions are given within the book itself along with complete logical proof of what the answer must be the one unique answer. (There are generic puzzle-related message board websites, e.g. puzzling.stackexchange.com, but I prefer a forum dedicated to a specific book.)The above being said, I want to specifically refute what another reviewer said. While I'm only 1/3rd of the way through the book, so far, I haven't found a single bug. The puzzles are tricky and they can be frustrating, but so far, every time there was an ambiguity in how to interpret a given clue or set of clues, there was a way to logically deduce and prove a unique solution. As with many logic puzzles, the wording is very precise and must be interpreted correctly, and it's easy to make a mistake or miss a nuance of the given wording. But being very careful, I have been able to solve every puzzle so far w/o hints. Most other puzzle books will have at least a few unfairly clued puzzles that you can't solve without an extraordinary leap of intuitive, and you'll find other people complaining about said puzzles online. Not here. You can positively determine the answer of every puzzle. The upside of have a puzzle book of 100% logic puzzles.

I am not a genius, but I have also done a lot of logic puzzles. Often times, these sort of books (for example, stuff from Brain Games) are annoyingly easy, or you get stumped by unclear wording rather than challenging logic.Montague Island has 3 good things going for it that put it above many comparable puzzle books.1. There is a plot. Loosely. Usually, at best, you get thematic books that reskin puzzles to be "Cold Case" themed or "Sherlock Holmes" themed. There is a consistent cast in Montague Island, and going through the puzzles linearly feel more rewarding, like you are progressing a plot rather than tackling an isolated puzzle.2. The puzzles are more challenging. They are not insanely hard, but they do force you to use logic more than most of these books do. I don't recommend it for a first time logic puzzler, but if you are relatively familiar and comfortable with basic puzzles, you'll like this.3. All puzzles have DETAILED solutions at the back of the book. Rather than simply showing you the solution (ex: Ms Peacock used Rope in the Kitchen), the solution walks through how you would arrive to the solution through the clues given (ex: Clue 2 states that Ms Peacock used either the Candlestick or Rope. However, we can eliminate the Candlestick when we look at Clue 4 with Clue 1. Therefore, Ms Peacock must have used the Rope). These kind of solutions really help you learn *why* you were stumped, and make you better at logic puzzles.As soon as I finish this book, I plan to buy the rest of the 4 books in this series. I highly recommend this for puzzlers who are looking for a fun challenge.

I'm a logic puzzle connoisseur and can rarely find puzzles that actually challenge me- this one did the trick! The puzzles are different than the average logic puzzle, the story is creative and interesting, and I had to use a wide variety of strategies to solve various puzzles. I highly recommend this book to any other logic puzzle lovers! Warning: it is challenging!