PLAYING DETECTIVE

A Self-Improvement Approach
to Becoming
a More Mindful
Thinker, Reader, and Writer
By Solving Mysteries

By Robert Eidelberg

The intentionally long subtitle to PLAYING DETECTIVE comes close to saying it all about this unique two-in-one book - but not quite. PLAYING DETECTIVE is both a book to read for the fun of it and a book to read for self-improvement if you are looking to become a better thinker, reader, and writer.

The for-the-fun-of-it part comes from reading and wondering about the mystery-solving approaches and skills of the contemporary and classic detectives showcased in these 17 remarkable mystery stories. The self-improvement part comes from the book's four special interactive features: Suspicions?, How Clever?, DetectWrite, and Don't Peek!

Multiple Suspicions? "intermissions" in the margins of each mystery are strategically placed to help you to think like a detective - and like a good reader. Their provocative questions prompt you, as you read, to note and track clues and to make predictions while immersed in the mystery.

How Clever? questions and activities, located immediately after each mystery's conclusion, give practice in the skills of detection and reflection so vital to the self-improvement goal of becoming a more observant reader and more mindful thinker. How Clever? sections enable you to review the now-solved mystery, analyze the strengths and weaknesses of your own Suspicions? speculations, and evaluate just how capable both you and the story's fictional sleuth were in arriving at a solution.

DetectWrite writing prompts following all the How Clever? sections of each mystery help you to establish your own voice as a more effective writer in a variety of writing forms while also giving you many opportunities to write like a detective story author.

At the very end of the book (but don't jump to any conclusions!), the more than thirty pages of the Don't Peek! section provide "one reader's" commentary: mindful explanations and a "best reading" of the solutions (not necessarily "the answers") to the 17 case studies in PLAYING DETECTIVE.