Member Reviews

I love listening to true crime podcasts and reading true crime books. I also really enjoy puzzles, so when I saw this book on Netgalley, it caught my attention.

When I sat down to actually look at the book and the types of activities it included, I didn't have a good feeling. It felt pretty gross to be seeing "spot the difference" of crime scenes. I am not usually one to yuck someone else's yum, but at the same time, there are real life victims behind every true crime story. Every one of those people were somebody's somebody.

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A great puzzle book and trivia book. Full range of different puzzles and very fun to complete. I really enjoyed completing this book and learning some new facts I wasn't aware of before.

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"Unleash your inner detective with this book of 130+ crime-themed puzzles and trivia quizzes—a unique gift for any true crime fan."

This book will make an excellent stocking stuffer for the true crime aficionado or wannabe detective in your life. It has tons of trivia and lots to true crime and general puzzles. I have enjoyed very much so far and look forward to hours more fun!

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to check out this great book!

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Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

Lana Barnes’ True Crime Trivia & Activity Book is a captivating blend of puzzles, trivia, and true crime stories that will enthrall any fan of the genre. This interactive book offers a unique way to engage with some of history’s most intriguing and notorious crimes, making it both educational and entertaining.

With over 130 crime-themed puzzles, this book offers hours of entertainment.

Each puzzle is accompanied by intriguing trivia that sheds light on the crimes and the people involved.

Beyond the entertainment factor, the book provides a wealth of information about historical and contemporary crimes.

Barnes’ writing is clear and engaging, making complex criminal cases accessible to a wide audience. Her ability to weave together puzzles and true crime stories is impressive, creating a seamless and enjoyable reading experience. The tone is informative yet light-hearted, perfect for an activity book.

True Crime Trivia & Activity Book is a must-have for true crime enthusiasts and puzzle lovers alike. Lana Barnes has created a unique and engaging way to explore the world of true crime, making this book a standout in its genre.

Whether you’re looking to test your knowledge, learn something new, or simply enjoy a good puzzle, this book delivers on all fronts.

Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys true crime, puzzles, or both. It’s a perfect addition to any bookshelf and a great gift for the true crime aficionado in your life.

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As a police officer and someone who loves true crime, this was such a fun publication for me to review! I was also able to share this with my husband who teaches law enforcement at a local technical school and he gave it raving reviews as well! It's a fun element that can be added to classroom activities that get the wheels turning for them. I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves true crime, trivia, and puzzles!

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A fun book of activities for the true crime aficionado in your life! These puzzles are all true crime or mystery-themed. If they are something like a sudoku they at least have a true crime fun fact on the page to keep them relevant. This would be a great gift or something to bring along to stay busy on a plane or in a waiting room.

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Okay, so this book? Literally so fun and addictive. If you're into true crime and puzzles, like, this is your dream combo. It’s packed with all sorts of activities—crosswords, cryptograms, spot-the-difference, trivia—you name it. And the best part? Everything’s got that true crime twist, which totally makes it feel like you're solving cases while doing puzzles. Some were tricky, some were a breeze, but all of them? Super satisfying.

I mean, sure, it’s not your typical puzzle book you'd grab at the grocery store, but that’s what makes it fab. It digs into real cases, and even though some of the crimes were new to me, it just added to the whole detective vibe.

Perfect for rainy days or, like, those moments when you just want to kick back and get lost in something fun but with a little edge. Definitely something any true crime fan would obsess over. Huge thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

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I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

True Crime Trivia and Activity Book is the perfect book for any true crime fan or lover of puzzles. The book is filled with a range of different types of activities to do such as cryptography, suduko, spot the difference (crime scene style), fingerprint match, trivia, and much much more. What made this book do much more appealing to me as a puzzle lover was the fact that it was based on true crimes woven through each puzzle. It's definitely a great book to do with family, on a rainy day, or to decompress. Some took me a few days to work out, and others I flew through, but I'd say there's something for everyone in this book.

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Not at all what I expected when looking at the cover and blurb.
I thought this book would be more trivia and informative but is actually a game book with a minimal true crime flare. Nearly impossible to play and judge via ebook ARC I received other than being disappointed.

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This book is perfect for people who enjoy trivia and puzzles as well as true crime.
It was fun to flip through and see all the activities included and how the author made them true crime themed. Some of them, e.g., the number puzzles, couldn't really be thematic, but that's okay!
I'm a huge fan of the logic puzzles so I always look for those!

Thanks to the publisher for the eARC; all opinions are my own.

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Full of fascinating true crime facts, Barnes' True Crime Trivia and Activity Book is chock-full of puzzles to suit any taste. For the wordsmiths, there are tons of crosswords, wordsearches, cryptograms. Math lovers will find sudoku, and it's cousins Futoshiki, and Kakuro. There are also trivia tests, logic problems and other puzzle types.

Not gonna lie, I learned about a ton of true crime stories I knew little about, as well as facts in areas if true crime that don't normally pique my interest, such as scams. Highly recommended for all the puzzle-loving crime buffs out there!

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True Crime Trivia & Activity Book by Lana Barnes is a fun book that includes many kinds of puzzles and game, such as sudoku, crosswords, word searches, quizzes and more. In a sense, it's not very different from any puzzle books you can find at the grocery store before a day at the beach, but this one is true crime themed, mostly focused on American true crime. Because of that, I was not familiar with many crimes so I was not always able to complete the puzzles, still I think it's an interesting activity for true crime fans.

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This was a tremendously fun and novel way to look at true crimes. The puzzles were a mix of Sudoku, word searches, cross words, cryptograms, mazes, quizzes and more. A great book for me even if it didn't have a theme running through it, which it did, and I loved! The quizzes were my favourite as it was a mix of logic, common sense and 'wait...I know this!'
The answers were really accurate and it covered a wide span of topics from prisons to CSI to worldwide heists.
I dearly wish I had access to a physical copy as the digital version was quite hard to work with. One for the Christmas list!

A big thanks to Netgalley, Zeitgeist publishing and Lana Barnes for the privilege of reading a copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

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Thanks to Zeitgeist and Netgalley for this copy in exchange for my review.

So I love puzzles and love true crime so I was instantly interested in this book. This is similar to the variety puzzle books you might find at the grocery store, but with a true crime twist. There's trivia about a variety of killers, including a few I've never heard of. I really enjoyed this and it was a good way to pass some time.

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Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book. The book has a fun assortment of word finds, crosswords, trivia, unscramble the clues, and other fun mystery games. I like that throughout the book, there’s several interesting facts at the bottom of the pages.

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This book contains a variety of puzzles (including my favourite magic squares), so you'll certainly be amused for some time. However, I was expecting something different.

There are quizzes that test your knowledge about different kinds of crimes. On my first try, all I could do was guess. I hadn’t heard about most of these acts, because the book is heavily focused on American crimes and is thus mostly targeted at Americans. I get it—the author is American, so she wrote about what she knew. In my case, it at least gave me an opportunity to learn something new. However, I would’ve preferred if we were first given a few paragraphs about the topic and then our knowledge was tested. Otherwise, I strongly relied on the answer key.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for this free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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This activity book includes tons of different true crime-related puzzles. Some types of puzzles included are: word searches, sudoku, futoshiki, acrostics and crosswords. The book also includes an answer key so you can check your answers. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

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I'm already in the minority here since I don't get the appeal of true crime. As someone who likes trivia and puzzles, I figured I'd give this a try. This book does not know what it wants to be. Many puzzle types don't fit thematically (sudoku, magic square). Others do, but the science behind them isn't explained, such as the spot the difference puzzles involving fingerprints and shoe prints. I appreciated the instructions for each kind of puzzle and answer key, but the concept didn't quite work for me.

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If you're a fan of the NYT games and true crime - you'll love this! It's an endless book of puzzles, word searches, crosswords, and more!

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This is quite a unique spin on the typical crossword / sudoku / puzzle book. Mixing in trivia about different types of crimes throughout history, makes this an entertaining activity book.

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