Recently, I caught a cold, and in my phlegmy state, reading became nearly impossible. As my brain couldn’t process the written words through the sea of cough, medicine said germies required me to take in order to breathe.

However…..I could work on jigsaw puzzles.

More specifically, mystery puzzles by ODD PIECES. These mystery puzzles are a bit different from those those I’ve assembled in the past. Unlike some mystery jigsaws, the makers give you a picture to work from. However, the picture on the box is the fraternal twin of the image pasted on the puzzle pieces.

Why?

Well, each ODD PIECES’ puzzle contains several mini mysteries that work together to alter the original art on the box. Thus, it gives the player a general sense of the geography, color scheme, and characters while increasing the overall challenge rating of the puzzle itself.

And let me tell you, I thoroughly enjoyed assembling all three puzzles my husband and I purchased! They are difficult enough to be challenging but not so hard you want to toss in the towel a quarter of the way through. Plus, it’s hugely satisfying to snap the pieces together after figuring out how a portion of the image was changed.

I would recommend these puzzles to anyone needing something to do on a lazy Sunday morning!

BTW: All the puzzles are 1,000 pieces and fit easily onto a dinner table (ours is smallish, and it still worked). Each box contains a small surprise and two envelopes.

The first includes a checklist that hints at the mysteries needing solving within the puzzle (hinting at some of the changes) and two additional larger pics found on the front of the box. So, if you’re working in tandem with someone else, you’re not arm wrestling over the box every time you need to view the reference picture.

The second envelope contains the final version of the puzzle and a comic that identifies the mysteries and their outcomes.

PS: These are not murder mystery puzzles. They remind me vaguely of an Aunt Dimity novel. I.e., you need to work out the source of the mayhem at the heart of the mystery.

My 52 Weeks With Christie: A.Miner©2025