The playing time varies from 20 minutes to 3 hours, depending on the mystery: 

• The Vanishing Professor Vanderkopf: 20 - 45 minutes
• The Death of Countess Cornelia: 20 - 45 minutes
• Christmas Eve in Little Smithering: 40 - 60 minutes
• Murder at Pettifog Hall: 45 - 90 minutes
• Peril at the Edge of the World: 1 - 2 hours
• Death in a Snowstorm: 1.5 - 3 hours (usually played throughout December as an Advent Calendar).

Some players choose to complete a game in one sitting, while others prefer to enjoy it over several days – the choice is yours!

Our games can be played by solo sleuths, detective duos, and gumshoe groups! These are the recommended number of players per game.

• The Vanishing Professor Vanderkopf: 1 - 2
• The Death of Countess Cornelia: 1 - 2
• Murder at Pettifog Hall: 1 - 4
• Christmas Eve in Little Smithering: 1 - 6
• Peril at the Edge of the World: 1 - 6
• Death in a Snowstorm: 1 - 4

Some customers have bought two or more copies so that teams can compete against each other.

We recommend most of our games for ages 14 and up, and Christmas Eve in Little Smithering for ages 12 and up. These are guidelines only.

We've suggested these ages due to the difficulty of the clues and the use of some adult themes (including murder!). But we observe the conventions of cosy crime, and don’t include any explicit content in our games.

We include difficulty ratings on all of our games, scored out of 5.

• The Vanishing Professor Vanderkopf: 2.5 / 5
• The Death of Countess Cornelia: 2.5 / 5
• Christmas Eve in Little Smithering: 3 / 5
• Murder at Pettifog Hall: 3.5 / 5
• Peril at the Edge of the World: 4 / 5
• Death in a Snowstorm: 4.5 / 5

You can find Hints & Solutions either in an envelope inside the kit, or online (the games will provide the web addresses). 

3 - 4 layers of hints are provided for each clue, so you can decide how much help you want without giving the game away.

You may want to look-up one or two things online, as well as the ‘Big Reveal’. Otherwise, the games provide a welcome break from screens. 

For some mysteries, hints and solutions are provided online.

Our games are set in the 1920s and 1930s, the Golden Age of Detective Fiction – bringing old-fashioned glamour to life.

Our gift boxes make beautiful presents. All of our mysteries make stylish vintage gifts and can be delivered directly to your loved ones.

You can leave a gift message once you add an item to the shopping basket – this will be handwritten for the lucky recipient.

Unfortunately, we no longer offer other gift wrapping.

Please note that for mysteries sent outside the UK, the value of the item must be included on the outer packaging for customs reasons.

Yes, the contents of most of our kits are recyclable. The main materials we use are paper and card. Other materials include metal, glass, wood, faux leather, recyclable glassine.

We ship all of our mysteries worldwide.

We ship to the UK, US and Canada directly from this website. For orders to any other countries, please visit our Etsy shop at murderbypost.etsy.com

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to us.

You will receive a shipping confirmation email when your order is dispatched – for
most orders, this contains a Royal Mail tracking number, ending in the letters 'GB'.  

You can track the progress of your order by entering the tracking number on the Royal Mail tracking site: www.royalmail.com/track-your-item

Please note that some smaller orders (eg. postcard sets and envelope orders outside
the UK) are sent without tracking to keep costs low for our customers. 

More information in our Shipping Policy.

We do our best to get your mysteries to you as soon as possible! Items are usually
processed within 1-3 business days after you place your order and payment is
received.

We send most of our orders via Royal Mail, with the following delivery times once
the order has been processed:

• United Kingdom: standard delivery 2-4 business days.
• United States & Canada: standard delivery 7-12 business days.

Please note that these are estimates – actual times may vary due to customs processing, local postal delays, or seasonal demand.

More information in our Shipping Policy.

Orders shipped outside the UK may be subject to additional duties and tariffs, or local taxes and fees imposed by the destination country. 

🇺🇸 United States: Since August 2025 the US government has started imposing a greater number of tariffs on products from abroad, making them more costly for US customers. As of September 2025, these are 10%. The good news is, these duties/tariffs are automatically calculated for you at checkout, and included in the final price.

🇨🇦 Canada: There are no duties/tariffs when sending products from the UK to Canada, however local taxes may be due before your item is delivered – depending on your province/territory, this ranges between 5% and 15%. This tax is not included at checkout – you should receive a message from the postal service with more information on how to pay this fee. You can calculate the tax required on this page from the Canada Border Services Agency.

Please see our Shipping Policy.

We ship to the UK, US and Canada directly from this website. For deliveries to any other countries, please order from our Etsy shop at murderbypost.etsy.com

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to us.