Clue (book series)

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This article is about the book series based on the board game. For other uses, see Clue.

The Clue series is a series of 18 books based on the board game Clue.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Reginald Boddy lives in his stately home, Boddy Mansion. Every weekend, he invites five of his closest friends, who, along with his maid, are six of the most greedy, scheming people in the world. Throughout each book, they plot to steal Mr. Boddy's most prized possession(s), much of the time resorting to violence with the help of the famous six Clue weapons. However, they rarely get away with it. Despite all this, Mr. Boddy always invites everyone back the next weekend.

[edit] Format

Each book begins with a small chapter where Mr. Boddy introduces himself to the reader. He explains the situation and introduces the six suspects. This ends with some kind of cliffhanger that leads into the first chapter.

Except for the first book, which contains thirteen, all the books contain ten mini-mysteries similar to the Encyclopedia Brown books. Each mystery ends with a question to answer, and a picture of the checklist from the game is provided to assist with solving. The answer is printed upside-down on the next page, providing an explanation of how the criminal was foiled, or how the victim (if there was one) survived. The first nine mysteries typically involve some sort of competition between the guests (in which case readers must deduce who won), a guest attempting to murder another guest, or some sort of rare treasure of Mr. Boddy's that has been stolen.

Someone attempts to murder Mr. Boddy in the final chapter of each book. In the solution, no explanation is given, and it is suggested that Mr. Boddy actually dies. In the introduction of subsequent books, however, Mr. Boddy explains how he survived the end of the previous book, with the exception of the eighteenth book.

[edit] Books

Except as noted, the original hardcover books were published by Turtleback, and had various authors. Later paperback reissues are credited "Book created by A.E. Parker", and are published by Scholastic Press. Dates below are for the first publication. ISBNs are for the paperback reissue.

  1. Who Killed Mr. Boddy?, by Eric Weiner (1992) ISBN 0-590-46110-9
  2. The Secret Secret Passage, by Eric Weiner (1992) ISBN 0-590-45631-8
  3. The Case of the Invisible Cat, by Eric Weiner (1992) ISBN 0-590-45632-6
  4. Mystery at the Masked Ball, by Eric Weiner (1993) ISBN 0-590-45633-4
  5. Midnight Phone Calls, by Eric Weiner (1994) ISBN 0-590-47804-4
  6. Booby Trapped, by A. E. Parker and Eric Weiner (1994) ISBN 0-590-47805-2
  7. The Picture Perfect Crime, by Jahnna N. Malcolm (1994) ISBN 0-590-48735-3
  8. The Clue in the Shadows, by A. E. Parker (1995) ISBN 0-590-48934-8
  9. Mystery in the Moonlight, by Marie Jacks (1995) ISBN 0-590-48935-6
  10. The Case of the Screaming Skeleton, by Marie Jacks (1995) ISBN 0-590-48936-4
  11. Death by Candlelight, by Marie Jacks (1995) ISBN 0-590-62374-5
  12. The Haunted Gargoyle, by Marie Jacks (1996) ISBN 0-590-62375-3
  13. The Revenge of the Mummy, by Marie Jacks (1996) ISBN 0-590-62376-1
  14. The Dangerous Diamond, by Marie Jacks (1996) ISBN 0-590-62377-X
  15. The Vanishing Vampire, by Marie Jacks (1996) ISBN 0-590-13742-5
  16. Danger After Dark, by Dona Smith (1997) ISBN 0-590-13743-3
  17. The Clue in the Crystal Ball, by Dona Smith (1997) ISBN 0-590-13744-1
  18. Footprints in the Fog, by Dona Smith (1997) ISBN 0-590-13745-X

[edit] Characters

Main article: List of Cluedo characters

With the exception of Mr. Boddy, the six central characters' faces were featured prominently on the back cover of each book, with three randomly selected to appear in an illustration created especially for the cover of each book. Books 1-4 feature the characters as they appeared in the 1986 edition of the board game. From Book 5 onwards, the character redesigns from the 1992 edition were used. Some characters such as Mrs. White and Miss Scarlet changed greatly (the latter becoming Eurasian), however throughout the series, not much detail is given towards description. Scarlet, however, is described as having long, jet-black hair in book 5, thus suggesting that the written characters were faithful to 1985 appearances. Neither Scarlet's ethnicity nor White's general age, for example, are ever addressed in the books.

[edit] 2003 Spinoff

In 2003, author Vicki Cameron wrote a new set of mini-mysteries, in the Clue Mysteries books. Only two were published. Both books featured more complex storylines, fifteen mysteries apiece, and were set in 1926 Britain.