Thanksgiving Murder Mystery Picture Puzzle: Printable 1960s Elimination Case File for Adults

🔎 CAN YOU FIND ONE KILLER HIDDEN AMONG 324 PIES?

The Blue Ribbon Killer is a printable murder mystery logic puzzle: 324 records, 13 clues and exactly one killer. Read the clues, cross out every entry that breaks them, and expose the one that survives.

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🕯️ THE CASE
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Every Thanksgiving morning since 1921, the women and men of Pickett County, Iowa have carried their pies through the snow to the Grange Hall in Cedar Bluff for the biggest pie contest in the state. In 1966 there were three hundred and twenty-four.

Mrs. Opal Thorsen, the contest secretary, took the entries from seven o’clock until half past ten and wrote every one into her Entry Book: the time, the baker, their township, the class they entered and the kind of pie. Each pie got a numbered card and was set down on the long tables in the order it came in — left to right, row by row. And Teddy Ames, fifteen, photographed every one of them for the *Pickett County Courier*’s famous “Pie Parade” page.

The police arrested Ida Mae Kettering. But before they took her away, she slipped you a note:

“Detective — They have locked me up for poisoning Harlan Voss, and all I ever gave that man was a cup of coffee and twenty-two years of second place. Somebody brought him a slice of pie while I was ringing the bell. It came off one of the three hundred and twenty-four pies on our tables — and then Elmer Gustafson had every last one of them scraped into the hog barrels and burned. The pies are gone. But Teddy Ames photographed every single pie for the Courier before the judging, and Opal Thorsen wrote every one of them in her Entry Book. Mine was the open pumpkin with the whipped cream, entered at twenty past eight. Look at it. Then find the one that killed him.”

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🎯 YOUR MISSION
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1️⃣ Read the 13 clues.
2️⃣ Search all 324 entries in The Pie Parade.
3️⃣ Cross out every entry that breaks a clue — check your count at every checkpoint.
4️⃣ Look up the last entry numbers in The Entry Book.
5️⃣ Name the killer — then open the sealed solution.

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✅ WHY SOLVERS LOVE IT
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✔ Exactly ONE answer — every case is checked by computer, so the logic always works
✔ Checkpoints after every clue: know instantly if you made a slip
✔ A clue guide with worked keep / cross-out examples for every clue, plus 3 upside-down hints
✔ A real story with suspects, a handwritten letter and a twist in the solution
✔ About 2–3 hours — perfect for a cosy night in, a date night or a team challenge
✔ Large Print Edition included — comfortable to read for everyone at the table

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📂 WHAT YOU RECEIVE
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✓ Case File PDF — story, persons of interest, how to solve, 13 clues, clue guide, checkpoints, The Pie Parade (324 entries), verdict page and hints
✓ The Entry Book PDF — names every entry number
✓ Sealed Solution PDF — the killer, the full story and a step-by-step walkthrough
✓ US Letter AND A4, full colour AND ink-saving printer-friendly versions
✓ PLUS a Large Print Edition — bigger text, roomier tables and bigger pictures, easy on the eyes on paper or on a tablet

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👤 GREAT FOR
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🔍 Murder mystery and true-crime fans · 🧩 Logic puzzle and escape room lovers · 💑 Couples · 👥 Friends and team nights · 🎁 Stocking stuffers · 🌧️ Screen-free evenings

📌 PLEASE NOTE
• This is a DIGITAL DOWNLOAD — no physical item will be shipped.
• Illustrations were created with the help of AI image tools; the puzzle, story and design are our own.
• For personal use only. Please do not share or resell.
• Questions? Message us any time — we reply quickly.

Detective… are you ready?