Just when you thought it was safe to pick up a pencil

Killer Su Doku is based on the original Su Doku grid, with the same rules and numbers--1 to 9--but with an added deadly twist. This time there is an element of arithmetic involved and there are few, if any, clues. The aim is to not only complete every row, column, and cube so that it contains the digits 1 to 9, but to also fill in the outlined cubes so they add up to the same number.

Hints to solve the puzzle are hidden in the joined squares where only one combination of numbers applies. In the case of joined squares, if the printed number is 3, it should be 1 and 2 that go into the squares. Likewise, in the case of three joined squares, if the printed number is 6, the only combination possible is 1, 2, and 3.

To add one final fiendish level, each puzzle also has a time worked out by its Japanese creators so you can try to beat the clock.

Tackling word puzzles is a great tactic to keep your mind in tip-top shape! Studies show that one way to be sure your brain stays at its best is to learn new things regularly, creating new neural connections. This book offers a fun way to do just that, with a variety of word puzzles that require solvers to reorient their perspective and think differently about language. One-third of the book features Split Decisions, a popular puzzle type that author Fred Piscop contributes regularly to the New York Times. Throughout the rest is a mix of other puzzles: Bits & Pieces (in which solvers answer clues using and reusing blocks of letters), Clueless Crosswords (featuring grids partly filled in so that there is only one possible way to complete them), Double Exposure (testing pattern recognition in two different ways), Mixagrams (where words are interwoven in a simple yet confounding way), and Two by Two (in which each grid contains only two consonants... but you have to figure out which).

A cozy mystery story combined with themed word search puzzles creates an interactive and charming whodunit experience in this fun new format that invites you to solve the case as you uncover clues.

Abby Jones has it all figured out: moving to Cranberry Creek will give her the fresh start she needs. From opening her brand-new bookstore on Main Street to learning to love her busybody landlady, Myrna, to spending her time on her favorite cozy hobby (word searches!), Abby has her hands full. But when a famous author is mysteriously murdered at her bookstore’s opening event, her new future is at stake. It’s up to Abby, with the help of some new friends, to solve the case.