Books: Crime and Puzzlement

It's a messy thing to write for the teenage crowd. On one hand, you must appeal to the sensibilities of youth - plots must be toned down, characters have to be laundered slightly, and the pacing of a work often has to be sped up for youngsters with short attention spans. When executed correctly, however, fiction for young adults is able to transcend its boundaries and appeal to everyone (see classic novels like The Giver, for example).

"Crime and Puzzlement" is a neat little series of puzzle books from mystery writer Lawrence Treat (and a few different artists over the course of the series), and it has the ineffable quality of being entertaining for all ages. Each puzzle consists of a picture loaded with clues, a few paragraphs describing the crime, and several questions to aid young sleuths. While many of the crimes are sordid, the tone of the writing and artwork is lighthearted and tongue-in-cheek, so it's not too intense even for elementary school kids.

Some of the puzzles require a few probable (and not-so-probable) deductions, but when you figure out the essential nature of the "gimmick" for each puzzle, the crime often unfolds in clockwork fashion. Unfortunately, the books are hard to find nowadays in book stores - in a youth market that is rapidly becoming crowded with me-too "Harry Potter" rip-offs, it's getting harder for good old puzzles I suppose.