Murdle mastermind G. T. Karber scoops British Book of the Year 2024 for his puzzles that turn readers into detectives

Arkansas-raised Greg Karber, aka G. T. Karber, first created Murdle in 2022; his third book of puzzles was released last weekRead more: Murdle, he wrote! The true story behind the new addictive murder puzzle game taking over Britain 

When it comes to sleuth credentials, Greg Karber has got them in spades - the kind of spades you might hide a dead body with.

The Arkansas native, who's currently flying high on the Sunday Times bestsellers list with his detective puzzle book Murdle, is the son of a judge and an attorney. His grandfather was an FBI detective working out of San Francisco in the 1960s.

Still, not even Karber himself, who writes under the name G.T. Karber, could have predicted his idea for murder mystery puzzles, which loosely piggybacks on the viral puzzle that came before it, 'Wordle', would become such a huge hit - and particularly with Brits.

This week his first book, Murdle, published in the UK by Souvenir Press, was named Book of the Year at The British Book Awards 2024. It's been described as 'utterly addictive', a 'murderous puzzle book for armchair detectives everywhere'.

Named Book of the Year at The British Book Awards 2024 this week, Murdle, a book of puzzles with a Whodunnit theme, was top of the literary charts at Christmas...and started with a napkin doodle

It also topped the non-fiction: lifestyle & illustrated category at the awards, and at Christmas, it beat the likes of Richard Osman and The Guinness Book of World Records to be top of the book charts in the most lucrative season of the year. 

Karber, who's also a part-time computer programmer, first jotted down the bare bones for Murdle on the back of a napkin in a cafe in 2022.

So, how does it actually work? Like many murder games before it, readers/players are given a list of weapons, suspects and locations to start with.

Using a Sudoku-style grid and clues, players then have to try and work out whodunnit, where and with what weapon.

G.T. Karber, aka Greg Karber, first conjured up the idea of a detective-themed puzzle while in a cafe in LA; two years later his website murdle.com, and three books of puzzles have proved a huge hit

Raised in Arkansas, Karber has the kind of background you'd want a mystery writer to have: he's the son of a judge and a civil rights attorney, and his grandfather was an FBI detective

After sending his cafe scribbles to a friend, who suggested why one of the clues might not work, he used his computer programming background to create code that would create the puzzles for him. The result was murdle.com, which is free, and has a vast following thanks to its daily puzzles.

While the mystery writer himself remains relatively unknown; he has just over two thousand followers on his Instagram account, his star is in the ascendant, thanks to the runaway success of his three book releases so far.

Speaking to Mail+ last month, he said: 'I wouldn't say it immediately blew up but a lot of fans of murder mysteries and puzzles liked it.'

Pictured with his partner Dani: Karber is currently on a tour promoting his third book Murdle: Even More Killer Puzzles: 100 Cunningly Clever Murder Mystery Logic Puzzles

A background in computer programming meant he could create a piece of code to ensure his puzzles are always doable, without errors

He's surprised by just how much British audiences have got onboard with Murdle too, saying: 'That's such a compliment. Murdle is a love letter to British mysteries, so its success there is like hearing your crush likes you back.'

He published his first book in June last year, another in October and the third in the Murdle series - Murdle: Even More Killer Puzzles: 100 Cunningly Clever Murder Mystery Logic Puzzles - was published last week. They already have a global audience, with the books translated into more than 28 languages.  

And mini sleuths can get in on the act too; Murdle Junior: Curious Crimes for Curious Minds is out in November, just in time for Christmas, of course. 

Murdle: Even More Killer Puzzles: 100 Cunningly Clever Murder Mystery Logic Puzzles is out now on paperback