Free, no signup. The PDF has the puzzle on page one and the answer key on page two.
Murder Mystery Word Search
11 words · 12×12 grid
How to play: click (or tap) the first letter, drag to the last letter, then release. Words go in any direction, including backwards. Or download the PDF to solve on paper.
Find these words
In 1929 the priest and crime writer Ronald Knox set out ten rules for a fair detective story: the culprit must appear early, and no more than one secret room or passage is allowed. Murder mystery party games run on the same fair-play promise, giving every guest a role and enough clues to name the killer before the reveal. This word find gathers the vocabulary of a good whodunit, from the alibi and the motive to the red herring. The police grid on the site covers real detective work; this one stays with the fiction.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use this murder mystery word search at a party?
Yes. It makes a quiet icebreaker while guests arrive, or a tiebreaker once the culprit is revealed. Halloween is peak season for murder mystery parties, but it suits a book club or a rainy evening at any time of year.
Where does the phrase red herring come from?
It is usually traced to the journalist William Cobbett, who wrote in 1807 that as a boy he had dragged a smoked red herring across a trail to pull hounds off a hare. In a mystery it means a clue planted to point at the wrong suspect.
How hard is this puzzle?
It is set to hard, so words can run diagonally and upward as well as across and down. The long ones, REDHERRING and CONFESSION, are easiest to lose in the grid.
