Daily Sleuth

About Daily Sleuth

Daily Sleuth publishes one case a day from Caldmere, a fog-bound coastal town with its own map of places and a cast of residents who turn up again and again. Crimes range from theft and fraud to assault, arson and murder, and each case has a number, a title and a short brief.

You read the case file closely, since the story is the evidence, then open each suspect's dossier for their role, connections and history. When ready you accuse: who did it, where and why. You have five guesses, and every wrong accusation reveals a fresh clue. You can also request up to four clues, but your score counts clues double, so the top rank of Super Sleuth goes to those who solve almost blind.

Difficulty follows the week, from Open and Shut on Monday to Cold Case on Saturday. Solved cases rank you on daily, weekly and monthly leaderboards once you pick a display name, and you can share a spoiler-free result card. An archive holds earlier cases, and there is a free iPhone app and an email newsletter.

It suits fans of murder mysteries and logic puzzles who want a few minutes of reading and reasoning rather than a word game.

How to play Daily Sleuth

1. Open today's case and read the brief and case file carefully.
2. Tap each suspect to read their dossier and look for motive, access and contradictions.
3. Make your accusation (who, where and why); a wrong guess reveals a new clue, up to five guesses.
4. Request clues only if needed, then share your verdict and check the leaderboard.

Tips

• Read the whole file before opening clues; most cases can be solved from the text alone.
• Clues count double in the score, so a wrong guess can be cheaper than a clue.
• Saturday's Cold Case is built to mislead, so trust details over the narrative.
• Residents recur across cases, so earlier cases in the archive can give useful background.

Questions