Tom Slakey

Bursnell Teague and the Einstein Puzzle Tom Slakey

Bursnell Teague and the Einstein Puzzle is the second in this series of young adult mysteries about a teenage detective named Bursnell Teague. A couple of years have gone by, and Bursnell is spending the weekend as a prospective student at St. John's College in Santa Fe, New Mexico. A statue has been stolen from the college, setting up a mystery in which Bursnell must solve a logic puzzle, as happened in the previous story (Bursnell Teague and the Particulars). Bursnell is up against the same villains (The Particulars) as before. These stories are an entirely new type of mystery, the only mysteries that are truly solvable by the reader, because in each the mystery is based on a logic puzzle. Mr. Slakey has invented a new mystery sub-genre. A must-read for any mystery collector. This mystery is gripping and perfectly readable whether or not one wants to tackle the logic puzzle built into it. The differences between this book and the last are that this one is much longer, contains more logic puzzles, and the puzzles are much harder. The central "Einstein Puzzle" on which this mystery is based is said to be so difficult that only two percent of the population can solve it, a nice challenge. This book is a paean to St. John's College and to Santa Fe, New Mexico, both of which the author clearly loves. It is great reading for any fan of mysteries, anyone who loves both (right-brain) reading and (left-brain) puzzles, and anyone who wants to hear more about college life. Suppose you are a high school student in the throes of applying to colleges. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to read about what the college visit (prospective weekend) might be like? This book shows that, and it is difficult to find any other book that does.