What Each Download Includes
Every case under printable cases comes as three files, and it is worth knowing what each one is for before you spend any ink.
The color sheet. A landscape A4 page with everything on it: the rules, the map with its areas, the key to the objects, the cards signed by each suspect and a space to write down who did it. You do not need anything else, not even the website open.
The same sheet in black and white. This is the one people actually print at home, because it goes easy on the cartridge, and the one you can photocopy without the areas turning into gray smudges.
The solution, in a separate file. On purpose: if it is on the same sheet, it gets looked at. And it is not just the finished map, it is the reasoning written alongside, step by step, which is what helps when you are stuck and want to know where you went wrong.
Free, no sign-up and no ads. You do not have to give your email address to download anything.
Which One to Print First
The setting hardly matters — a beach, a museum at night, a Paris apartment; what decides how long it will take you is the size of the map and how many people are on it.
If you have never done one, print Pine Needles, a five-by-five map with four suspects. It takes a few minutes and lets you see the rules in action, and they make sense much faster when you play than when you read them.
If you already know how it works, the sweet spot is the medium maps: The Newsstand Still Closed, eight by eight, or Vultures Circling, nine by nine. They are the ones for a long, lazy evening after dinner: big enough to get stuck once and short enough to finish in one sitting.
If you have finished a book and want more, this is where the two rule twists come in. Some have a liar: one of the cards is false and you have to figure out which, as in The Hall Clock. Others have an accomplice, which changes what it means to end up alone with the victim; the biggest of them all, Zinc Rooftops, is twelve by twelve and will keep you busy for a whole afternoon.
A practical tip if you are printing for several people: the same setting comes in several sizes, so whoever finishes early can keep going with the same rules on a bigger map instead of sitting there waiting.
How to Solve It in Pencil, Without Guessing
On paper, nobody warns you when you have put someone where they do not belong, and that is exactly the fun of it. The method is short and works on any case.
Start with the most specific card. Not the first one: the one that leaves the fewest possible squares. “I was in the Kitchen” when the Kitchen has two squares is worth far more than “I was next to the window” in a whole Living Room. Almost every dead end comes from someone who started with the card at the top.
Every person you place crosses out an entire row and an entire column. That is the sudoku rule, and on paper it means actually drawing the ✕s in pencil: anyone who tries to keep it all in their head gets stuck by the fourth person.
“Next to” means on the neighboring square and in the same area. Two squares that touch but have a wall between them are not next to each other. It is the only rule people misread, and it can cost you half an hour.
If you place something you cannot justify, erase it. The solution is unique and forced, so you never need to try something just to see what happens. If you catch yourself guessing, there is a card you have not gotten everything out of yet.
The full method, with the four kinds of clues and a case solved from start to finish, is in how to solve a case.
A
KitchenLiving RoomBedroomDining RoomPaper or Screen
They are not the same game, even when it is the same case.
The screen crosses out for you, saves a game you have not finished and lets you know when something does not add up. That helps when you are learning: you see your mistakes right away. You play in the browser, with no account and nothing to install.
Paper does not forgive, and that is why it teaches you more. You can write on it, circle two squares and draw an arrow, leave it half done on the kitchen table and come back to it at night. It goes with you on a plane, on a train and in a waiting room, and it does not need a signal or a charged battery. And it can be shared: two people around one sheet, arguing out loud, is the best way to play this.
Printing Without Wasting Ink
Download the black-and-white version unless you want it as a gift or to hang on the wall: it is drawn for black and white, not just the color one turned gray.
Print at actual size, without “Fit to page.” The sheet is landscape A4 and the squares are sized for writing in them in pencil; if it shrinks, the cards get hard to read.
Do not print the solution at the same time. That is exactly why it is a separate file. And if several people are playing, one copy of the solution is enough for everyone.
One sheet per person. The big maps fill up with marks; sharing a sheet between two works for talking it through, not for writing on it.
You Can Photocopy Them
The permission is in writing and you can show it to anyone who asks: free to print and hand out in classrooms, libraries and nursing homes. All we ask is that you keep the credit: sudokudetective.com
That is what they are made for: a homework club, a homeroom period, a library table, a nursing home. If you are taking them to a group, cases in the classroom and the library has a ready-made half-hour session, with what to explain first and how to handle students who work at a different pace.
And If You Run Out: The Book
When someone gets hooked, the question is always where to find more. The long answer is Sudoku Detective: a paperback, in full color, with illustrated settings and the solution to every case explained step by step. The cases in the book are only in the book, not on the website.
The short, free answer: you can play in the browser, with new cases every week, and the full rules have their own page, with a case solved from start to finish.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I print murder mystery sudoku for free?
At sudokudetective.com/en/printable/ there are cases ready to print, free and with no sign-up. Each one comes in color, in black and white, and with the solution explained step by step in a separate PDF.
Do the printable cases come with the solution?
Yes, in a separate file so you do not see it by accident. It is not just the finished map: it has the reasoning written out step by step, so you can see where you went wrong.
Do I need to sign up or give my email?
No. You click the button and the PDF downloads. No account, no email and no ads.
What paper size do they print on?
Landscape A4, one sheet per case, with the rules, the map, the cards and a space to write down who did it. Print it at actual size, without “Fit to page.”
Which one should I print if I have never done one?
One with a small map, five by five with four suspects: it takes a few minutes and teaches you the rules as you play. The maps that are eleven and twelve squares across will fill a whole afternoon.
Can I photocopy them for a class or a library?
Yes. They are free to print and hand out in classrooms, libraries and nursing homes. All we ask is that you keep the credit: sudokudetective.com
What languages are they in?
All seven languages of the site: Spanish, English, French, Italian, German, Portuguese and Dutch. You can download the same case in two languages at once.
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