The Conkerbury Detectives: The Case of the Missing Conker Champion
30 solvable mystery cases for detectives aged 8 to 12, set across one very British school year.
A detective puzzle book for kids aged 8 to 12. Read the clues, cross out the suspects and crack each case. Every case has exactly one fair answer, checked by a computer solver.
Coming soon in paperback and on Kindle. Already have the book? Check your answer.
Join the Conkerbury Detectives!
Somebody has pinched Old Knuckles, the conker champion of Conkerbury Primary. Can YOU work out who did it, and where it's hidden?
Look at the clues, cross out the suspects one by one, and crack the case. Then check your answer right here.
About the book
The Conkerbury Detectives: The Case of the Missing Conker Champion by Inspector Cuthbert Conkerworth is a detective puzzle book for children aged 8 to 12. It has 30 short, illustrated mystery cases set in the made-up English village of Conkerbury, across one school year: conker season, the bake sale, bonfire night, the panto, Pancake Day, the village show and the summer fete.
What's inside
- 30 cases that get harder as you go, from Rookie to Chief Inspector
- Suspect cards, maps, timelines, logic grids, codes and fibbing witnesses
- A Secret Ledger that unlocks the final mystery of the bell tower
- Hints for every case, and answers printed upside down
- A detective certificate to fill in
Who it's for
Puzzle-loving readers aged 8 to 12, for long car journeys, rainy half-terms and classroom brain-teasers. Nothing scary: just missing conkers, swapped cakes and vanished trophies.
Formats
Paperback (8.5 x 11 in, 156 pages, room to write in) and Kindle. Coming soon on Amazon.
For parents and teachers
Every case is a fair-play logic puzzle with exactly one answer, checked by a computer solver. Children practise careful reading, reasoning and elimination. Hints give a nudge without spoiling the answer. This website is free, with no adverts, cookies or sign-ups.
- Read the case. Find out what's gone missing and when.
- Study the clues. Footprints, measurements, what the witnesses say.
- Cross them out! Every clue rules somebody out. Keep going until only one suspect is left.
- Make your answer code. The culprit's CODE WORD plus the number of the hiding place.
“A real detective never guesses. You cross people out until there's only one left. That's called elimination!”
Priya, Head of Notes
Meet the Conkerbury Detectives
Priya
Writes everything in her notebook. Spots the clue everyone else walked past.
Ollie
Football mad. Knows everyone in the playground and everything they're up to.
Ffion
Carries a tape measure everywhere. Heights, footprints, shelves: she measures it all.
Alfie
Sees the whole picture. Draws the maps, and spots every pattern.
Biscuit
A sausage dog in a very small deerstalker. Excellent sniffer. Terrible at sitting still.