The Sherlock Holmes Escape Book: The Adventure of the London Waterworks

In this Escape Room book you play the role of Sherlock Holmes, who is lured to the London Waterworks and trapped inside with his ever faithful sidekick Dr Watson. Similar to a “choose your own adventure” book, you decide your path however your decisions are based on the solutions to the puzzles presented to you throughout the adventure rather than personal choice. There is a good mixture of puzzles from riddles, mathematical and even picture based puzzles. There are hints at the back of the book as well as the solutions to help you when you get stuck. Most entries will include a “from” page to let you know you have got the correct solution and are on the correct path however the plot does diverge at critical points and based on my playthroughs there are 3 different endings. There are two multiple part puzzles in the book. The first one is used to gate-keep the second part of the adventure and the other is used to determine which of the 3 different endings you achieve. The standout feature for this book is the decoder wheel on the front of the book which is used in multiple puzzles involving the Dancing-Men from the Sherlock Holmes short story of the same name. The biggest weakness of the book is the story, which is quite good however like most puzzle books, the story’s main purpose is to serve as a vehicle for the puzzles. This book is very good and the series as a whole gets better with each book. I would recommend this book to any puzzle fan, people who like the Professor Layton series will enjoy this book.

Lots of puzzles in this book - some fairly straightforward, others really fiendish. Great format - like a choose your own adventure - and the code wheel is a real treat. I was addicted straight away - well written, a good range of puzzles and the right balance of story to puzzles. There are hints in the back to help you out if you get stuck, and always the option to turn back a few pages if you find you've made a mistake. Some tricky decoding, but all very logical. I love puzzles and escape rooms and would recommend this to like-minded people.

This a version of the choose your own adventure books which have been around for years. However, this takes the form of an investigation by, unsurprisingly, Sherlock Holmes. The reader, playing the part of Holmes, must solve various puzzles to direct their progress through the story. The aim is to escape and prevent the crime, but make a wrong turn and other outcomes are possible. The book proved to me I'm not quite as smart as I think I am 😂. Or maybe that I rush for goals without thinking things through fully. On my first attempt, I escaped but failed to prevent the crime which, as the book helpfully points out, is not good enough for the great Sherlock Holmes. Backtracking and finding my mistake was easy enough and, of course, I'd missed something key, to which the book had alluded more than once. Some of the puzzles are fairly easy, (I thought), and some were tougher. But that could just be down to my individual puzzle skillset and the sort of puzzles I like most. Several puzzles have to be decoded using in intricate code wheel on the front of the book. This is a little cumbersome but there's also a version on the wheel available online, which helped me. The quality of the wheel is a little lacking because not all the letters and figures line up. I do, however, have criticisms of the book. And they're significant, or at least they proved that way for me. Several puzzles have codes or numbers hidden in images. These images tend to be very dark and of low quality. Even poring over 3 or 4 of them with a magnifying glass, I was unable to find the codes in these inages, even when I'd given up and looked in the answers at the back, so knew where I should be looking! Having the answers provided meant I at least wasn't left stuck, but I consider this a significant quality issue. I shouldn't need a microscope to find smeary, indistinct, tiny clue in an image made up mostly of black and various tones of dark grey, printed on off white paper. Another thing is that most of the text is in a small font on a mid to dark grey or off white background. Oh and a lot of it is in italics or script too. It's hard on the eyes and difficult to read. I wouldn't recommend this book for anyone with less than perfect vision. I wouldn't buy another book of this type from this publisher unless I was absolutely sure these issues wouldn't be present. I docked the book a star because of them. The constant flipping back and forth between sections was a bit irritating, but unfortunately rather necessary for a book of this type. All in all, it's an entertaining distraction for a short while, at a fairly reasonable price. The quality, save for the readability and image quality, is good. But it does come with some frustrating issues. I think if I want an escape scenario in the future, I'll consider something more interactive, like a video game, or an actual escape room.

great idea, book value for money. gift

My grandson loved it.

I have a friend who loves puzzles and reading and she was delighted with this.

A great little puzzle book! Purchased as an “extra gift” for someone on their birthday and it was a hit. It is easy to follow and complete - with hints and… if you’re really stuck… a way of finding the answer at the back. Highly recommend!

This was one of the best books I have ever read, great read.

These books are so fun! They remind me of the Choose Your Own Adventure books from my childhood, except there are actual puzzles and brainteasers that you can solve. The story is fun too! Every cover is a vital decoder to the story as well, which is a fun addition. If you like Sherlock Holmes mysteries, puzzles, and the old choose books, you'll love this.

Så rolig idé

Nice idea and very good printing for people who like more read then solve. But If you are a fun of books like Journal29 or Tachyon you could be disappointed with this one.

This was a perfect way to spend a winter day. I am always worried these puzzle books will just be the same type of puzzle over and over but this had lots of different puzzles, even the ones that used the wheel had subtle differences.

I saw this book on tiktok and my fingers have never flown to Amazon so fast. This book was AMAZING. The puzzles were unique, the story was compelling, and most importantly, it was fun. I recommend pairing it with the magnipro light up magnifying glass. If you love puzzles, escape rooms or exit games, get this book!