Kob House · Puzzle books

Mysteries you solve with a pen.

Two collections of paper murder cases: one on a chessboard, one in real cities. Every case has exactly one solution, checked by an independent solver before it goes to print.

4 books · India, Uzbekistan, Persia, USAMurder MateChess murder mysteries. The weapon is a checkmate.Out now 3 books · Paris, Tokyo, New YorkMurder MapDeduction in real cities. Cross out the streets until one door is left.Out now

Play a free caseA Murder Mate mystery you can solve right here, in your browser. Five minutes, no book needed.

Murder Mate · How it works

The board is the palace. The black king is the victim.

Every case is a real chess position, and every square belongs to a room. The white pieces are the guests, several of them could have delivered mate, and the witnesses say only one did.

Set up the board

On a real chessboard, or scan the QR code on the case: the position opens on your phone, ready to play, with no engine.

Find every mate

Only one white piece moves, whatever Black tries. Several suspects can still pull it off. List them all.

Read the witnesses

The cook, the butler and the palace clockmaker saw who went where. From Chief Inspector on, one of them is lying.

Name the killer

Who gave mate, in which room, and how. Exactly one answer per case, checked by an independent solver before printing.

Case 01, right page: suspects, testimonies and verdict

Buy on Amazon Inside a case Play a free case online

Murder Mate · Four levels, one book

Start with your first mate. End at 1800.

You only need to know how the pieces move. Forty cases, from Rookie to Commissioner, and a QR code on every case opens the position on your phone.

Rookie · mate in 1Detective · mate in 2Chief Inspector · one liarCommissioner · mate in 3

Try a free case now

Murder Mate · The series

One chess country per book. One chess rule per crime.

A new palace and new suspects every time, and one chess rule that turns into a plot: promotion hides an impostor, a discovered check needs an accomplice, castling makes the perfect alibi.

Murder Mate: Uzbekistan cover — **Uzbekistan**Samarkand · 1403Promotion: the impostor pawnOut nowBuy on Amazon →

Murder Mate: Persia cover — **Persia**Isfahan · 1611Discovered check: the accompliceOut nowBuy on Amazon →

Murder Mate: USA cover — **USA**Reno · 1985En passant: just passing byOut this week

Murder Mate: Spain cover — **Spain**Toledo · 1283Castling: the perfect alibiTo be announced

Murder Mate: Russia cover — **Russia**Moscow · 1956A new rule, to be revealedTo be announced

Murder Mate: Iceland cover — **Iceland**Reykjavik · 1972Stalemate: the accidentTo be announced

Murder Mate: Scotland cover — **Scotland**Isle of Lewis · 1150Underpromotion: the knight's choiceTo be announced

Murder Mate: Cuba cover — **Cuba**Havana · 1921Endgames: the king runsTo be announced

Murder Map · How it works

Every witness tells the truth. None of them knows the address.

Read the statements in order. Each one is true, and each one lets you cross out part of the city. Four steps, one pen, no knowledge of the city needed.

Read the statement

Every witness gives you one fact. None of them lies. Each fact rules out part of the city.

Strike out districts

Hatch the districts the clue eliminates on the printed map. Trust the map, not your memory.

Strike out streets

Six real streets per district. Cross the ones that no longer fit.

Cross out the numbers

Numbers 1 to 120 on every street. Keep going until a single door survives, then check the verification code.

Murder Map · Why it works

The slow puzzle.

You'll know the rules in two minutes. You'll need about two hours per case. That is the point: one pen, one city, one thing on your mind.

Calm

Calm is a method

A clear task, a simple gesture, progress you can see. Cross out the city one line at a time and let the rest of the day wait.

Focus

Two hours where your phone doesn't exist

Paper, pen, sixteen statements. Nothing to swipe, nothing to check, nothing to charge.

Finish

You don't guess the ending, you earn it

Every hatched district and every crossed-out number is work you did. When one door is left, the code at the back confirms it.

Fair

Hard, never unfair

Every witness tells the truth. Every case has exactly one solution, checked by an independent solver before printing. No trick questions.

A case for a rainy Sunday · a long flight · a quiet evening

Murder Map · One twist per city

Same rules. A different way to close in.

Every city gets one mechanic of its own, taken from something real: a loop line, a street grid. The books stand alone and can be played in any order.

Paris

The original

Rive gauche or rive droite, along the Seine or by the périphérique: twenty arrondissements and the clues to cut them down, one statement at a time.

Tokyo

The train is a witness

The Yamanote loop circles the city with 30 stations. Witnesses tell you how far someone rode, clockwise or against the clock, and the loop closes in on the killer.

New York

Count the blocks

Manhattan on a lettered grid, avenues straight up the page. Witnesses tell you how far they walked, up, down or across, never diagonally.

KBHOUSE

Kob House makes puzzle books you solve with a pen and a suspicious mind.

Every case is generated and then re-solved by an independent solver before it goes to print, which means the logic always holds: one solution, no guessing, no dead ends, no case that falls apart on page forty.

Paperbacks, 6 × 9 inches, printed on demand and shipped by Amazon worldwide.

Murder Mate · India Uzbekistan Persia USA Murder Map · Paris New York Tokyo

Mysteries you solve with a pen.