I had high hopes for this, but there was just too much going on. The pages with split time line were annoying to read. The choose different paths also was too much going on. I get where she was going with it but not just for me. I get the whole teen detective thing but it seemed a bit elaborate.

I love Sara Gran's novels, but this was my first experience with "difficult" detective Claire DeWitt, and her long-suffering assistant Claude. I loved this collection of weird little puzzles, as well as the longer, more heartfelt stories.

A particular favorite was The Good Smell of New York City / The Ocean-Salted Air - A really innovative short story, with two timelines literally running in parallel. DeWitt features in both timelines, one set against the AIDS epidemic, the other the COVID crisis.

Little Mysteries definitely inspired me to seek out more of Gran's DeWitt novels.

Loved this set of short stories, a really nice few hours spent reading them and I’m hoping to read more like this.

I enjoy reading (Golden Age) mysteries and this collection of short stories challenges the reader to solve the mystery.
I have never read such a mystery collection before.
(I myself subscribe to a Logicgram puzzle book. You fill in the grid according to the clues to solve them.) l These short stories have kept me reading and puzzling for hours!

At times I had the feeling that I had stepped into a game of Professor Layton, where the reader has to solve the puzzle in short stories.
This is the first time I have ever read a collection of short stories like this. I really enjoyed being introduced to it.
Recommended! 4 stars

ALWAYS AN PRESURE TO READ A THRILLER - ALTHOUGH NOT THE BEST WAS KINDA PREDICTABL;E BUT WAS A FUN READ AND SHALL RECOMMEN

This is a truly surprising collection of little lit fic mysteries that provoke a wide variety of emotions and really pack a punch for their length!

{Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eArc!}

This is clever little book of short stories that have a true golden age crime feel to them, with a choose your adventure type feel making a good fresh combo. Fully immersive for the readers but sometimes a little too obvious would have liked more clues etc for the reader to investigate themselves. But it's good clever little book that would make a great stocking filler for any arm chair detectives in your life

3.25 stars

This book of short stories contains nine mysteries with inspiration from Encyclopedia Brown, Nancy Drew, Choose Your Own Adventure books, and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. I wouldn’t say that they are puzzles, per se, as the subtitle suggests.

The Case of the Mysterious Dr. Crowley: Read like Encyclopedia Brown but was nearly impossible to solve with the provided information although the author did provide the solution.

The Mystery of the Mycelial Net: Assistant detective Claude gets his big case to figure out who has found out about his aunt Helena’s affair, interesting distinction between solving a crime and a mystery, not sure how he figured it out.

The Good Smell of New York City: interesting format of two separate columns down page - 1988 (HIV) and 2020 (Covid). Carmen saves Claire from a drug overdose in 1988 despite the risk of HIV, and then Claire saves Carmen in 2020 despite the risk of Covid.

The Case of the Jewel in the Lotus: I liked this one but not my favorite.

The Case of the Razor’s Edge Between Life and Death: Claire talked with a suicidal woman at a Chinese restaurant. She picked up on several clues about the woman’s state from the solution.

The Case of the Blood on the Snow: This one was decent.

Choose Your Own Heartbreak: Choose your own adventure while taking on bad guy Hal Overton. I think I’m too old to read choose your own adventure books.

Cynthia Silverton and the Charnel House Grounds: ode to Nancy Drew with a twist

The Mystery at Killington Manor: I think this is adapted from A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder with protagonist Poppy trying to figure out who killed her great grandmother Mrs. Kitty with the help of her great grandmother’s friend Aunt Julia. I liked this story the best, and fortunately it was the longest story of the bunch. I really recommend this story in particular.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. It publishes February 25, 2025.

This was not exactly what I was expecting! I guess I was thinking it would be more structured like Come Closer, but alas it was a fun and different kind of read.

I didn’t expect Sara Gran to write something so cozy and wholesome. This reads more like an outlines for different novels with the same main character. Every story is pretty short and I would say unsatisfying. The backstories of the characters are laid out well but we spend so little time with the mysteries itself, we don’t have enough of information to investigate or for more details to be provided, the solutions are abrupt and dry. This would be a good read if you’re looking for some easy little stories. 2.5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the ARC.

I was intrigued by the premise of this and looked forward to reading it, however I didn't quite 'get it'
The stories are of varying length with a common theme and after reading a few, I didn't read anymore. This is not to say that there is definitely an audience for these type of stories, but unfortunately that is not me!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my eARC

This author has done a wonderful job in weaving a story that was captivating and thrilling. Loved the overall story and the characters in Little Mysteries!!

Unfortunate DNF at 31%

First, this book would be better enjoyed as a physical book, because many pages have specific formatting that is quite hard to read in an ebook.

I had never heard of this author when I requested the book.
I was interested in reading about short mysteries and trying to solve them and a few "mysteries" in, I have come to the conclusion this isn't at all what this book is. The mysteries are not fun / solvable, they're written as social commentary rather than in the interest of posing elements with the goal to find the solution (the "solutions" don't make sense or are just like ? I mean I guess ? okay?

I'm sure if you go in not expecting mysteries but rather, knowing the style this author writes, you have a higher chance of enjoying this. It just really isn't what I was expecting or what I want to read right now and so I am not having fun and reading it feels like a chore so I am stopping here. I might pick this up again as an actual book once it's out.



Thank you NetGalley and Dreamland Books for the opportunity to read this ARC.

This book was fun, it is literally what the title say. Each story is entertaining, the style change from one story to the other, it's hard to be bored reading those. Plus, and it's what I love about collection of short story, you can skip one then going back later, you choose the pace.

thank you net galley for the copy

Wow! Before reading this book I never heard of Sarah Gran, but now I want to read everything by her! This darkly humorous collection of literary mysteries was quite the page-turner, sprinkled with satire, absurdism, and Christmas Spirit.

Firstly, this book deconstructs, teases, and then reinvents the mystery genre with great satirical flaire. Skinned in 90s teen amateur sleuth vibes, the little mysteries aren't always about a crime - Gran tackles the mysteries of the human soul. Lot's of classical mystery techniques are employed: Solution Sections, Choose-Your-Own-Adventure, Five-Minute Flash Mysteries. New techniques are added: Two stories are told on the same page, for the sake of juxtaposition.

Secondly, this books message tackles surviving the hardships of life itself. Here I was expecting a little Clue-inspired mystery-with-the-solution-printed-upsidedown book but NO - This book is closer akin to what Kurt Vonnegut does with science fiction - reducing the genre to its basic elements and then rebuilding a philosophical message around it... with funny flaire on top.

Thirdly, this book is darkly hilarious in a snippy, quipy, absurdist way. The voice of the narrator carries a dry, deadpan bluntness that resonates perfectly with my New England sense of humor. Sara Gran's humor reminds me of Douglas Adams, Kurt Vonnegut, Voltaire (thinking specifically of Candide), and William Goldman. The humor was my favorite part of this book and was what kept me reading.

Now, there was a disconnect about what type of book I was expecting and what I actually read. I grew up on the Clue mystery books, which follow the format of a mystery followed by a short solution one can glean from context clues sprinkled throughout. I thought this book would follow a similar format, and while two of the short stories DID, this book was, at the end of the day, not trying to be the same type of book of the Clue books, but a satire of the Clue books. I think there could be a few more "clues" either in the title/subtitle or the cover that this book isn't trying to deliver true puzzles.

Despite this disconnect, this has been probably one of my top ten books of the year, and I've read about 120 books thus far. I am typically very picky about mystery because I can predict the ending very well, but the last thing this book is is predictable. I am going to keep my eye out for more Sara Gran. I've been looking for another mystery writer I afore as much as Agatha Christie, and I think I've finally found them! It's discovering writers so low under the radar like Gran that make the ARC-reading experience so magical.

A big thanks to Netgalley, Sara Gran, and her publishers for a free ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is exactly the book I needed right now: end-year, mid-life, early-apocalypse. I found Sara Gran by way of the Claire DeWitt mysteries (which I love fiercely and recommend constantly). I've since read all of Gran's work and she is one of those authors I'd gladly follow off the edge of the universe, because I know she'll stick the landing—I mean, I may be destroyed or terminally haunted in the process, but it will be in a satisfying and honest way. It doesn’t hurt that Gran really speaks the language of my latchkey-kid-absolutely-obsessed-with-teen-sleuths heart, So, plunging back into Claire's world (and the extended Silette-Silverton universe) was a comfort--but never quite comfortable--in the best possible way. There’s a kernel of hope at the core of each of these stories (or, if not hope exactly, a kind of frank determination) and the message that 1) no does it alone, but 2) we’re all doing it alone, and 3) maybe we can all do it alone together? Little Mysteries is a deft, shape-shifty delight of a short fiction collection—it’s a literary house of mirrors, except the mirrors don’t change from room to room, you do. Thank you to Dreamland Books & NetGalley for the ARC!

Sadly this book did not resonate with me as i found it neither delightful nor enthralling. I have never heard of Claire Dewitt or read any of Sara Gran’s books before, maybe that’s why I struggled to read the book.
The reason I requested this book is because I am a fan of mysteries and thrillers and I was intrigued by the title.
I may revisit this review after I’ve read another Claire Dewitt/Sara Gran book first
Thank you Dreamland & Netgalley.

Really enjoyed her pass Work so this book was a no-brainer. I really enjoyed all the different stories in here and I can’t think of one that I like more than the other.

I love Sara Gran. I love Claire DeWitt. Little Mysteries: Nine Miniature Puzzles to Confuse, Enthrall, and Delight are 9 short stories--as the title says, "little" mysteries. Puzzles that a reformed Claire DeWitt (now working as a private detective) solves through always clever deduction. I enjoyed each of the stories (which were of a more consistent quality than is always the case in anthologies).

Claire DeWitt is no longer a hard drinking, drug-taking private detective but sober albeit still somewhat unusual woman working at an agency (which poses its own challenges). She continues to be the oddly empathic woman I have come to know and love despite her strong defenses. These are coming down: although she remains guarded and something of an outsider (often valuable traits in a detective), she has a deep desire to connect with others.

Generally, though, the emphasis though in these stories are less on Claire than on the cases she is working on. She is insecure in her new position. and a little intimidated by her intelligent and accomplished employer. My favorite stories were "Choose Your Own Heartbeat" and "The Mystery of Killington Manor>" I love the use of the old "choose your own" format with different routes to the solution (think a sort of very playful version Juliol Cortazor's Hopscotch or the beloved children's book series of solve your own adventure). Heartbeat provides a longer read--at least for me since I tried out the various possibilities. And I love mysteries that involve manors and endearing characters.

The collection manages to combine fun with intelligence so it is satisfying on several levels. It takes a particular talent to combine the two and Gran pulls it off. Gran is always interesting and at the same time fun. So the thinking deepens the fun and the fun enlivens the intellect.

Thanks to NetGalley, Dreamland Books, and the author for providing me with an advance copy of this delightful book. It left me hungering for a reread of Claire DeWitt and the Bohemian Highway as well as hope for more books by Gran.

Sadly I don’t think I was the target audience for this book. It used filthy language, the cover at least online is completely unreadable because of the colors, and the short stories didn’t make much sense to me.

The formatting was interesting, I couldn’t tell if it was my jam or not. But wanted to like this more than I did.