Cain's Jawbone

A novel problem from 1934: can you unravel the correct order of the story’s 100 pages? Printed haphazardly, each page appears out of sequence within the book, but it is possible, using logical deduction, to work out the correct order and discover the identities of the book’s six murderers and their six unfortunate victims. With millions of page combinations, red herrings galore and only one solution to read the murder mystery correctly, this is one of the most fiendish puzzles ever published. Originally appearing in ‘The Torqemada Puzzle Book’, published in 1934, the mystery was the brainchild of Edward Powys Mathers (1892-1939), who wrote with the pen-name Torquemada and brought the cryptic crossword to Britain in 1924 as a contributor to ‘The Observer’ newspaper. A literary curiosity and historical head-scratcher in one: the book does not include the solution and very few readers have managed to solve it. Not for the faint-hearted, do you dare to take on Torquemada?

Paperback
17.5 x 11cm
100 pages
Does not include the solution
FSC accredited paper
Republished text, reflecting attitudes of the time
Publisher's note: this puzzle is extremely difficult and not for the faint-hearted