Several years ago, there was a murder mystery game show called Whodunnit? that ran for a season. It was entertaining to watch, but it was far too removed from actual detective fiction to provide much satisfaction as a mystery. As it turns out, two tie-in books written by show creator Anthony Zuiker were released at about the same time: Murder in Mystery Manor and Murder on Mystery Island. They are... pretty much the exact same as the TV show, down to format and flaws.
The set-up of both books is the same as the show: a group of ten or so people are brought to a fancy, remote location under the guise of a contest or retreat, which turns out to be a trap set by a psychotic killer who is posing as one of the guests that begins to brutally murder the others one by one. Every time a murder occurs, the guests must try to figure out how it happened. Each guest is allowed to investigate one of three locations: the crime scene, the victim's last known location, or the morgue. They're given a brief period to talk and share information, then receive a riddle that points them to the last and often decisive clue. Finally, each guest presents their theory of what happened. The next victim is selected from the two people with the worst theories.
This format works okay, but there are two main issues. First, most of the difficulty in the mysteries lies in the fact that the clues are scattered among three locations, and hidden within a final challenge. If you have all the clues—as the audience does—the mysteries are trivially straightforward. The other issue is that, despite the name "whodunnit," the franchise is concerned solely with "howdunnit." There are absolutely no clues to the killer's identity besides waiting to see which of the final two characters confesses. Every murder is designed such that it could be committed by anybody, and even in retrospect there is absolutely no foreshadowing.
While Whodunnit isn't unentertaining, it doesn't provide the same sense of satisfaction as a well-plotted detective story. There's also something lacking from these books, where everything is controlled by the author, compared to the TV show, which featured real people. Still, it's perhaps to best view these books as "proofs of concept" for how the show could run. In that light, they serve their purpose. Since these were mere books, they could also be written without any regard for cost or logistics in terms of the setting or special effects, and Zuiker's grand plans are a bit awe-inspiring.
The books tie into each other, and fill in a few apparent holes in the show. Mystery Manor takes place before the TV show, and Mystery Island after. The only constant among all three works (besides the format) is Giles, the butler who serves as the host of each game. The culprit of Mystery Manor curses Giles, which is what causes him to constantly find himself in these scenarios. Additionally, the culprit in each game traps the group on the grounds and threatens to kill any staff member who doesn't cooperate, which is why the staff are running the game and why nobody just leaves. Mystery Island reveals the culprit and survivor of Mystery Manor, but there are no inter-connected spoilers beyond that.
These details were added in because the books have to function as full stories where the killings actually take place, while the show could skirt by on the fact that everyone knows it's just a gameshow with a bloody façade. So while it's nice that the context behind the games is expanded, it makes the entire murder plot absolutely ridiculous. For instance, for one of the murders, two people are killed in a car crash, and the culprit wants the contestants to also figure out which victim was in the driver's seat. The solution requires finding certain traces in the car using a magnifying glass. Even if you accept the culprit's plan to murder the two, how could the killer possibly have predicted those traces would be left in that exact spot in that exact manner? Of course, if you remind yourself that these books were just samples of how the show would've run, the issues magically disappear.
The pacing in these stories is very quick, with each segment only lasting a couple of pages. There is minimal character development and fluff; these novels are quite focused on getting through the game expeditiously. In fact, near the end of Mystery Island, I felt like Zuiker started dropping absolutely everything but the bare necessities in order to rush to the end as soon as possible. On the other hand, Mystery Island provides us with an explanation for why the culprit did everything and how they had the means to do so. It's an incredibly brief explanation, but it's more than either Mystery Manor or the TV show attempted. So overall I'd say Mystery Manor and Mystery Island are pretty comparable.
So, are these worth reading? If you saw the TV show and want another season or two, these books will satisfy that itch. If you haven't seen the TV show and think it looks interesting but don't want to put in all the time necessary to watch it, these books are a much quicker read and pretty cheap. But if you saw the show and don't care for its style of "mystery," there's no need to bother with these books. As someone who wouldn't have minded another season or two of Whodunnit? I appreciate that these books gave me that, but I just can't shake that feeling of disappointment over the fact that the books just copied the show down to the letter without going any further or trying to address any of the format's flaws.
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