Usborne Puzzle Adventure series

The Puzzle Adventure book series from Usborne Publishing Ltd was first created in 1984 with the release of Escape from Blood Castle. The first three volumes of the series were originally released as "Usborne Solve It Yourself". Each book contains a vividly illustrated story, with a plot-related puzzle to solve on each double page.

The series's success inspired the creation of three related series: Advanced Puzzle Adventures, Young Puzzle Adventures and Science Puzzle Adventures.

Many of the Puzzle Adventures and Young Puzzle Adventures series have been re-released over the past few years.

Series

Puzzle Adventures

This is the original series of books, aimed at 8 to 13 year-olds.

No. Title Author Illustrator Published ISBN
1 Escape from Blood Castle Jenny Tyler Graham Round 1984 9780746080603
2 The Curse of the Lost Idol Gaby Waters Graham Round 1986 9780746085851
3 Murder on the Midnight Plane Gaby Waters Graham Round 1986 9780860209522
4 The Incredible Dinosaur Expedition Karen Dolby Brenda Haw 1987 9780746080627
5 The Intergalactic Bus Trip Martin Oliver
  • Brenda Haw
  • Martin Newton
 1987 9780746084366
6 Time Train to Ancient Rome Gaby Waters Brenda Haw 1988 9780746080610
7 Danger at Demon's Cove Karen Dolby Graham Round 1988 9780746088678
8 Agent Arthur's Jungle Journey Martin Oliver Paddy Mounter 1989 9780746084342
9 Agent Arthur on the Stormy Seas Martin Oliver Paddy Mounter 1990 9780746084335
10 The Ghost in the Mirror Karen Dolby Brenda Haw 1989 9780746088661
11 The Haunted Tower Susannah Leigh Brenda Haw 1989 9780746088685
12 Agent Arthur's Arctic Adventure Martin Oliver Paddy Mounter 1990 9780746084359
13 The Vanishing Village Sarah Dixon Brenda Haw 1990 9780746088319
14 Search for the Sunken City Martin Oliver Brenda Haw 1989 9780746088692
15 Journey to the Lost Temple Susannah Leigh John Blackman 1989 9780746088265
16 The Pyramid Plot Justin Somper Peter Wingham 1991 9780746080597
17 The Invisible Spy Mark Fowler Peter Wingham 1993 9780746005101
18 The Emerald Conspiracy Mark Fowler Mark Burgess 1993 9780746088302
19 Agent Arthur's Desert Challenge Martin Oliver Paddy Mounter 1994 9780746088241
20 Voyage to the Edge of the World Lesley Sims Peter Wingham 1994 0746016905
21 Mutiny at Crossbones Bay Mark Burgess Mark Burgess 1994 9780746074985
22 Castle of Intrigue Paul Stewart Jane Gedye 1994 9780746068922
23 The Dark Dark Knight Lesley Sims Peter Wingham 1996 9780746069110
24 Agent Arthur's Island Adventure Lesley Sims Paddy Mounter 1998 9780746088258
25 The Crimebusters Investigate Mark Fowler Ann Johns 1997 9780746020968
Agent Arthur's Mountain Mission (announced but never published)

Some of these books were re-printed in the following omnibuses:

  1. The Usborne Book of Puzzle Adventures (ISBN 9780746001554)
    Collecting: The Incredible Dinosaur Expedition, The Intergalactic Bus Trip, Time Train to Ancient Rome.
  2. The Second Usborne Book of Puzzle Adventures (ISBN 9780746003107)
    Collecting: Danger at Demon’s Cove, Search for the Sunken City, Journey to the Lost Temple.
  3. The Third Usborne Book of Puzzle Adventures (ISBN 9780746005125)
    Collecting: The Pyramid Plot, The Emerald Conspiracy, The Invisible Spy.
  4. The Fourth Usborne Book of Puzzle Adventures (ISBN 9780746020715)
    Collecting: Voyage to the Edge of the World, Mutiny at Crossbones Bay, Castle of Intrigue.
  5. The Usborne Book of Solve Your Own Mystery Stories (ISBN 9780746000151)
    Collecting: Escape from Blood Castle, The Curse of the Lost Idol, Murder on the Midnight Plane.
  6. The Usborne Big Book of Puzzle Adventures (ISBN 9780746054246)
    Collecting: Danger at Demon’s Cove, Incredible Dinosaur Expedition, Ghost in the Mirror, Escape from Blood Castle.
  7. Puzzle Adventure Omnibus Vol.1 (ISBN 9780746087336)
    Collecting: Escape from Blood Castle, The Curse of the Lost Idol, Murder on the Midnight Plane, The Incredible Dinosaur Expedition, The Intergalactic Bus Trip, Time Train to Ancient Rome, Danger at Demon’s Cove.
  8. Puzzle Adventure Omnibus Vol.2 (ISBN 9780746087343)
    Collecting: Agent Arthur’s Jungle Journey, Agent Arthur on the Stormy Seas, Agent Arthur’s Arctic Adventure, The Haunted Tower, The Vanishing Village, The Ghost in the Mirror, Search for the Sunken City.
  9. Puzzle Adventure Omnibus Vol.3 (ISBN 9780746095799)
    Collecting: Mutiny at Crossbones Bay, Agent Arthur’s Island Adventure, The Pyramid Plot, Castle of Intrigue, The Emerald Conspiracy, Journey to the Lost Temple, The Dark, Dark Knight.
  10. Agent Arthur's Puzzle Adventures (ISBN 9780746001479)
    Collecting: Agent Arthur’s Jungle Journey, Agent Arthur on the Stormy Seas, Agent Arthur’s Arctic Adventure.
  11. Ghost Puzzle Adventures (ISBN 9780746003367)
    Collecting: The Vanishing Village, The Haunted Tower, The Ghost in the Mirror.

Advanced Puzzle Adventures

This is a more difficult series aimed at older children, currently out of print.

  1. Codename Quicksilver
  2. Cobra Consignment
  3. Mystery on Main Street

The entire series was reprinted in an omnibus edition.

  1. The Usborne Book of Advanced Puzzle Adventures (ISBN 9780746007532)

Science Puzzle Adventures

The Science Puzzle Adventures series written by Clive Gifford contains science-related puzzles. Each tale pits the wits of Dr. Genius and his resourceful team against the world's most evil criminal superbrains. This series is also currently out of print.

  1. The Flask of Doom
  2. The Time Warp Virus

Young Puzzle Adventures

This series uses softer illustrations and is aimed at younger children.

No. Title Author Illustrator Published ISBN
Lucy and the Sea Monster Karen Dolby Caroline Jayne Church 1993 9780746088180
Chocolate Island Karen Dolby Caroline Jayne Church 1994 9780746088197
Uncle Pete the Pirate Susannah Leigh Brenda Haw 1994 9780746087442
Dragon in the Cupboard Karen Dolby Caroline Jayne Church 1995 9780746087435
Molly's Magic Carpet Emma Fischel Teri Gower 1995 9780746049211
Halloween Surprise (previously Spooks' Surprise) Karen Dolby 1995 9780746087725
Lucy and the Sea Monster to the Rescue Karen Dolby Caroline Jayne Church 1997 9780746088715
Uncle Pete's Pirate Adventure Susannah Leigh Brenda Haw 1997 9780746087459
Wendy the Witch Karen Dolby Brenda Haw 1998 9780746087466
Land of the Lost Teddies Emma Fischel Daniel Howarth 1998 9780746088722

Some of these books were re-printed in the following omnibuses:

  1. Young Puzzle Adventures (ISBN 9780746060056)
    Collecting: Molly's Magic Carpet, Wendy the Witch, Uncle Pete the Pirate, Lucy and the Sea Monster.

Superpuzzles

In 1995 Usborne released a 3-in-1 collection of even more advanced puzzles, The Usborne Book of Superpuzzles by Sarah Dixon, Mark Fowler, Radhi Parekh (illustrator) (ISBN 9780746007358, 0746007353). This includes the books Maps and Maze Puzzles, Codes and Ciphers and Logic Puzzles.

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