92 Best Murder Riddles That’ll Inspire Your Inner Sherlock

Are you astute enough to solve murder riddles? It’s not as simple as it appears. To solve some bizarre murder riddles, you’ll need a lot of brain cells.

When you hear something about the murder, you may feel a variety of gestures. Most of us are terrified, and some people make fun of it, while others start crying when they hear about mass killings.

We’ve all got that friend who has nightmares or pees on the bed after watching a horror movie on the same night.

We have murder riddles with answers that can transform you into a detective character and excite you to solve even more. You can also use these riddles to entertain your friends on a night out.

Best Murder Riddles

Thousands of crime riddles exist, making it tough to select the best ones. Remember that the best murder riddles can either make you laugh or make you scared, depending on how you interpret them.

1. A chemist was killed in his own lab. The crime scene had no evidence to be found except a piece of paper with the names of chemical substances Nickle, Carbon, Oxygen, Lanthanum, and Sulphur on it. On the day of his murder, he had only 3 visitors; his nephew Nicolas, his wife, Martha, and his friend John. Who was the killer?

Answer: Combine the symbols of the chemical substances to get a name, Ni-C-O-La-S.

2. A serial killer kidnapped five different people and sat them down each with two pills in their hand and a glass of water. He told them each to take one pill but warned them that one was poisonous and the other was harmless. Whichever pill the victim didn’t take, the serial killer would take. Every victim somehow chose the poisonous pill and died. How did the serial killer get them all to take the poisonous pill?

Answer: Neither of the pills was poisonous. The poison was in the water that all the victims used to swallow their pill.

3. A man is found hanging in a room four feet off the floor. There is nothing else in the room except for a large puddle of water below him. The police do not see anything the man would have climb on to hang himself. Did he commit suicide and, if so, how did he do it?

Answer: He stood on a block of ice and put the noose around his neck. Once the ice melted, he was hung, and all that was left was a puddle of water on the floor.

4. An old man lived alone in a small cottage. One certain Thursday morning, while the mailman was delivering a letter he found out that the old man is murdered. He immediately calls the cops. When the cops arrive at the scene. They find two bottles of milk, Monday’s newspaper, a catalog, flyers, and unopened mail. The police find the suspect. Who is the suspect and why?

Answer: They suspect the newspaper boy, as Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s newspapers, were missing.

5. A man and a woman went to a restaurant for dinner. While they were waiting for the main dish, she ordered 5 drinks with ice because it was very hot. The woman drank 4 of them all at once, while the man only drank one. After a while the man became ill and died. The doctors said that all the drinks were poisoned. Why was the woman still alive when the man died?

Answer: The poison was in the ice. Since the woman had her drinks quickly, the ice didn’t have time to melt. The man drank slowly and the poison melted into his drink

6. A detective, who was only days away from discovering the identity of a top brass mob boss, has suddenly gone missing. She left behind a single note: 5508 51 7718. Currently there are 3 suspects: Bill, Lucky, and Greg. Can you crack the detective’s code?

Answer: Upside down: “Bill is boss.”

7. On the first day of the school a young girl was found murdered. Police suspect four male teachers and question them. They were asked what they were doing at 8:00 am. Mr. Walter: I was driving to school and I was late. Mr. Thomas: I was checking English exam papers. Mr. Benjamin: I was reading the newspaper. Mr. Calvin: I was with my wife in my office. The police arrested the killer. How did the police find the murderer?

Answer: Mr. Thomas as he cannot be checking exam papers on the first day of school.

8. An unidentified man in the local town kidnaps people and demands them to take one of the two pills that he offers. The pills look identical, but the killer claims that only one is poisonous. When a victim chooses a pill, the killer takes the remaining one. The victims always die after swallowing the tablet with water. How does the killer manage to get the safe pill every time?

Answer: The riddle is easy to solve if you look at it from a different angle. As it turns out, the poison is not in the pills but in the glass of water that the victim drinks.

9. A well-known chemist was found murdered in his laboratory. While investigating the crime scene, police found a note near the dead body that read ‘26-3-58/28-27-57-16′. The police suspected that someone known would have done that. They called all the people who had visited him that day, his wife Maya, his nephew Nicolas, and his friend, Felice. Police immediately caught the murderers based on the numbers written on the note. How?

Answer: The atomic number of Fe is 26, Li is 3, Ce is 58, Ni is 28, Co is 27, La is 57, S is 16. “Fe (Iron. – Li (Lithium. – Ce (Cerium.” -> Felice “Ni (Nickel. – Co (Cobalt. – La (Lanthanum. – S (Sulphur.” -> Nicolas Hence, Felice and Nicolas are the murderers.

10. A man walks into his house only to hear his wife shout, ‘no John, don’t shoot!’. The man bursts into the kitchen where he sees his wife on the floor, and a doctor, a lawyer, and a policeman standing by her. He immediately knows who shot her. How?

Answer: The policeman has his name written on his badge.

11. It’s 6pm and George Manly was murdered. Yet no murderer was found. But the cops got witnesses. There were 5 other people in the house at the time of George’s murder. The chef said he was cooking dinner. The gardener said she was gardening. The auntie said she was playing chess with her brother. The wife said she was watching TV. And the grandfather said he was on his wheelchair. So who murdered George Manly?

Answer: The aunt killed George Manly. There were 5 people in the house besides George – The chef, gardener, auntie, wife and grandfather. But the aunt said that she was playing chess with her brother, which makes it 6 people. The aunt was lying.

General Murder Riddles

Murder mystery riddles have the potential to hook someone right away. You can rest assured that these mystery riddles for kids have been compiled with great care. They allow the children to concentrate on developing critical thinking skills.

1. Melissa was killed on a Sunday morning. Her roommates gave the following testimonials: Agnes was getting the mail, Angela was doing laundry, Maggie was cooking, Carl was planting in the garden. Who killed Melissa and how did the police know who to arrest?

Answer: Agnes killed Melissa as no mail is delivered on Sunday.

2. A girl is at the funeral of her mother. She meets a nice guy that she didn’t know who also was at the funeral and they hit it off. She was busy at the funeral and didn’t have time to ask him for his number before he left. She tried really hard to track him down, but no one knew who he was or how to contact him. A few days later her sister dies and the police suspect it to be a murder. Who killed her sister?

Answer: She killed her sister. She was hoping that if someone else in her family died, the man she met at her mother’s funeral would show up again.

3. A man eats dinner, goes up to his bedroom, turns off the lights, and goes to sleep. In the morning, he wakes up and looks outside. Horrified at what he sees, he hurls himself out his window to his death. Why does he do this?

Answer: The man was a lighthouse operator. He wasn’t supposed to turn off his lights. When he wakes up in the morning, he sees a giant ship that has crashed into the land, causing much catastrophe. Unable to go on, he decides to take his own life.

4. A man was shot to death while in his car. There were no powder marks on his clothing, which indicated that the gunman was outside the car. However, all the windows were up and the doors locked. After a close inspection was made, the only bullet holes discovered were on the man’s body. How was he murdered?

Answer: It was a convertible car.

5. A rich family lives in a round house, when the family came back from their dinner date their mother was dead. The daughter said she was playing with her dolls, the son said he was playing outside in the garden, the maid said she was dusting corners, the butler said he was watching the son, and the chief said he was baking pies. Who killed the mother?

Answer: The Maid; As she said she was dusting the corners and in a round house, there are no corners.

6. A man murders his wife with a knife, leaving no trace and no witnesses. He returns home. An hour later the police call to tell him that his wife has been murdered and to come to the scene of the crime straight away. As soon as he arrives, he is arrested. How did the police know he did it?

Answer: Police didn’t tell the man where the crime scene was.

7. A man owned a casino and invited some friends. It was a dark stormy night, and they all placed their money on the table right before the lights went out.

When the lights came back on, the money was gone. The owner put a rooster in an old rusty tea kettle. He told everyone to get in line and touch the kettle after he turned the lights off, and the rooster will crow when the robber touched it. After everyone touched it, the rooster didn’t crow, so the man told everyone to hold out their hands. After examining all the hands, he pointed out who the robber was. How did he know who stole the money?

Answer: Because the tea kettle was rusty, whoever touched it would have rust on their hands. The robber didn’t touch the kettle, therefore he was the only one whose hands weren’t rusty.

8. Accused of stealing the farmer’s chickens, Jack is locked up in an empty room in the local jail. His cell has a dirt floor and is completely void of any accessories except for a shovel. There is a window overlooking the hills outside. Jack is determined to break out and prove his innocence, but the window is too high to reach. How can he escape? Note that digging a tunnel is not a feasible option because the ground beneath the dirt is rock hard. Jack doesn’t have the energy to dig through it as he is deprived of food and water.

Answer: Jack needs to use the shovel to make a pile of dirt that helps him reach the window. He can then climb on the pile and easily escape the cell.

9. A woman decides to kill her husband in the car when there is no one around to see. She throws his body into the ocean, and makes sure that there are no fingerprints, and gets rid of the murder weapon too. A few hours later, the police arrive to say that her husband is dead and that she needs to come to the scene of the crime. When she arrives there, she is arrested immediately. Why?

Answer: The police never said where the crime scene was – the fact that she knew where to go was proof of her guilt.

10. Acting on an anonymous phone call, the police raid a house to arrest a suspected murderer. They don’t know what he looks like but they know his name is John and that he is inside the house. The police bust in on a carpenter, a lorry driver, a mechanic and a fireman playing cards. Without hesitation or communication of any kind, they immediately arrest the fireman. How do they know they’ve got their man?

Answer: The fireman is the only man in the room. The rest of them are women.

Murder Riddles with Answers

Murder riddles with answers will be dull because the answers will already be provided. A woman shoots her husband and then submerges him in water for five minutes. They both go out for a fantastic dinner together a short time later. How is this possible?

1. The geography teacher was found dead on the very first day of their school. The gardener was busy fixing the new saplings, the science teacher was taking a mid-semester test, the coach was playing basketball, and the principal was in the office. Who killed the geography teacher?

Answer: The science-teacher. He cannot conduct a mid-year test on the first day of school

2. One murder happened in a village. A police officer instructed two police constables to go to the crime scene, investigate and prepare a preliminary incident report.

It was already past midnight and the crime scene was far away from the police station. The two constables decided not to travel to the crime scene and came up with a fake incident report instead. Below is the report.

When we reached the spot, the door was open and one man aged between 40-45 was found dead lying on the floor. The light and fan were switched on. There were some items found on a table: One open bottle of poison, One half filled drinking water bottle, One fountain pen, One newspaper was flipped open, pages 9 and 10 facing each other, One table top calendar showing June 20, One notebook. The person committed suicide by drinking the poison. After reading the incident report, the police officer immediately knew that it was fake. How did he know?

Answer: The page numbers of newspapers, when flipped open, are always even-odd, e.g. 2-3, 4-5, etc. So the police report cannot be true, as the pages 9 and 10 of the newspaper cannot be facing each other. Page 10 of the newspaper will be at the back of page 9.

3. A man goes to sleep after an exhausting, long day of work. He turns off all the lights and falls asleep within a few seconds. Waking up, he finds that he has killed 100 sailors. He does not sleepwalk and has slept all night without waking up even once. How is this possible?

Answer: He was a lighthouse operator.

4. A man is found murdered on a Sunday morning. His wife calls the police, who question the wife and the staff, and are given the following alibis: The wife says she was sleeping. The butler said he was cleaning the closet. The gardener was declared he was picking vegetables. The maid explained she was getting the mail. The cook said she was preparing breakfast. Immediately, the police arrest the murdered. Who did it and how did the police know?

Answer: The maid, because no mail is delivered on Sunday.

5. A couple reported a robbery. The husband told the policeman, that he thinks that the burglar presumably entered the house by breaking through the window, pointing to the broken window glasses on the outside of the house. The policeman noticed that the inside of the house only a few tiny pieces of window glass particles scattered around near the broken window area and told him that it was not a burglary and no outsider has entered his house through that window. What made the policeman so sure?

Answer: When a window is broken from the outside by a thief, most of the glass will be found on the inside of the house, not on the outside of the house.

6. Ray Whitcombe was found dead in his office at his desk. The police have narrowed the suspects down to three people: Mrs. Barbara Whitcombe, Ray’s wife. Mr. Jason McCubbins, Ray’s business partner. Mr. Harold Nichols, Ray’s best friend. All three visited Mr. Whitcombe the day of his murder, but all three provided the police with stories of explanation as to the reason for their visit.

Police found Mr. Whitcombe with his wrist watch still on his right arm, a torn up picture of his wife laying on the floor beside the trash can, and an ink pen in his right hand. On the desk, the police found a name plate, a telephone that was off the hook, and a personal calendar turned to the July 5th page with 7B91011 written on it. After examining this evidence, the police knew their suspect. Who was it?

Answer: Jason McCubbins, Ray’s business partner. The calendar was the clue to solving this murder. The police realized that since Mr. Whitcombe was wearing his watch on his right arm, he must have been left-handed. Realizing that the number on the calendar was written in a hurry and with his opposite hand, police matched the written number with the months of the year. So the B was an 8, thereby giving us 7-8-9-10-11: July, August, September, October, November. Use the first letter of each month and it spells J-A-S-O-N.

7. On Thursday afternoon, a friendly woman brought a home baked pie to her wealthy neighbor’s house. She noticed that the front door was ajar, and through the crack she could see her neighbor’s body lying in a pool of dried blood. On the porch were two packages, unopened letters, Monday’s newspaper, junk mail, and a flyer for a plumbing service. A police officer arrived on the scene and suspects murder. Who does she suspect and why?

Answer: The person delivering the newspaper knew not to deliver past Monday

8. A woman named Cathy goes to the police claiming that someone broke into her house and stole her diamond bracelet while she was at work. The policemen investigate the crime scene and notice that the bedroom window is broken. There are muddy footprints all across the bedroom floor. However, the room is otherwise neat and organized. The following day, Cathy is arrested for fraud. Can you figure out why?

Answer: Cathy was convicted of fraud because the bedroom window was broken from the inside. If somebody had broken in from the outside, there would have been glass pieces on the bedroom floor. Also, the room was perfectly tidy, which means the so-called thief didn’t search for items and knew exactly where the bracelet was. The mailman killed the old woman.

9. Mr. Richard was very rich. He lived in a luxurious house with his young wife and servants. In late Autumn, the police received a call from his maid. She found him stabbed in the bedroom. The detective arrived at the crime scene. He determined that there were 3 people in the house at the time of the murder. The Cook said: I was preparing dinner. The maid said: I was cleaning the dining room after lunch that Mr. Elliot and his wife had. The wife said: I was swimming in the pool after lunch. The detective realized who stabbed Mr. Richard. Who is the killer?

Answer: The killer is Wife because she could not swim in the pool in late Autumn, as it was already drained.

10. On the first day of school, the history teacher is found dead in his classroom. There were four suspects, but they all had alibis – the gardener said he was mowing the lawn, the soccer coach said she was doing practice drills with the first years, the math teacher said she was holding mid-year tests, and the principal said she was meeting with two parents. Immediately the math teacher is arrested. Why?

Answer: It was the first day of school – so there couldn’t have been any mid-year tests.

11. The store room of your house is locked with a certain kind of padlock that can be closed without a key but requires a key to open which you own and there is no duplicate key. You decide to move your old stuff to the storeroom. After keeping the things carefully, you lock it back again perfectly. The next day, a dead body is found in your closed store room. Since only you have the key to the store room and you live alone, the police suspect you as the murderer. You can’t understand anything when suddenly a thought strikes your mind. There is a possible way using which the dead body could have been placed by someone else. Can you find that way so that you can tell the police and prove yourself to be innocent?

Answer: When you were inside the room, the murderer replaced the padlock with his own one that was identical to your original padlock. When you locked the store room, you did not require a key and there was nothing abnormal for you. When you left, the murderer opened the padlock with his key, placed the dead body inside and replaced his padlock with the original padlock back in place. He then locked it without any problem.

12. A dead female body lies at the bottom of a multistory building. It looks as though she committed suicide by jumping from one of the floors. When the detective arrives, he goes to the first floor of the building, opens the closed window, and flips a coin towards the floor. He goes to the second floor and does the exact same thing. He continues to do this until he gets to the top floor of the building. When he comes back down, he states that it was a murder and not a suicide. How does he know that?

Answer: She couldn’t have jumped from any of the floors because when the detective went to each floor, all of the windows were closed.

Short Murder Riddles

Short murder riddles exist for those so lazy that they don’t want to move their lips. For example, there was a plane crash in which every single person died. Who survived? Couples who are married.

1. A man was found dead while on his work trip to California. The suspects were Mars, Mason, Barry, Lisa, and Alex. On the calendar, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 were written in blood. How to decode the numbers to find the killer?

Answer: The numbers are those of the months whose first letters spell out ‘Mason’.

2. A couple went to Hawaii for their honeymoon. Unfortunately, the husband returned home alone because his wife had died in a horrible boating accident. The police contacted the travel agent he booked the trip with and arrested him for murdering his wife. How did they know he did it?

Answer: The travel agent revealed that he had only booked a one-way ticket for his wife.

3. A woman shoots her husband, then holds him under water for five minutes. A little while later, they both go out and enjoy a wonderful dinner together. How can this be?

Answer: She shot her husband with a camera and then developed the photo.

4. A man was found dead out in a field of snow. The only tracks that were left was a set of footprints between two parallel lines. Who should the police be looking for?

Answer: A man in a Wheelchair.

5. A girl and a boy were out one night. They were in the woods, and they saw 3 men hunting. Next day the girl and boy were found dead. Why is this?

Answer: It was Halloween night and they were dressed up as deer.

6. A girl was attending her grandmother’s funeral when she met an intriguing man. She spent most of the funeral comforting grieving relatives, and didn’t get a chance to even get the man’s name. Later, when she went to find him, he had already left. A week later, she murdered her older brother. Why?

Answer: She wanted to see the man again.

7. There was a plane crash every single person died. Who survived?

Answer: Married couples.

8. An elderly woman lived alone in her house by the suburbs. She rarely left the house and knew only a few people. One Friday morning, the mailman called out for the woman but didn’t receive a prompt answer as usual. Upon peeking in through the window, the mailman realized that the woman was murdered. The police investigated the house and found Tuesday’s newspaper by the dead body. Also, by the door outside, there were three unopened bottles of milk, one of which had gone bad. The police arrested the killer the very next day. How did they figure out so quickly?

Answer: The mailman killed the old woman because the newspapers for Wednesday and Thursday weren’t found in or outside the house. This means he knew there would be no one to read them. (He tried to trick the police by reporting the crime himself – but turns out he isn’t too smart at creating riddles after all.

9. You arrive at a murder scene where a man is hanging from the ceiling with nothing around him other than a large pool of water. How did the man die?

Answer: He was standing on a block of ice, and it melted.

10. A man was shot in his car. There are no gunpowder residues on his clothing, no bullet holes in the windows of the car, and the doors and windows are all locked. How was he shot?

Answer: The car was a convertible – the murderer popped the top and then popped it back on again.

11. Detective Ixolite was investigating a murder. It was a difficult case, and Ixolite was completely stumped until he noticed a message sent to him by the killer cunningly hidden in a newspaper advertisement selling car licence plates. Detective Ixolite thought about it for a while, and when he had solved the puzzle, immediately arrested the guilty man. This is the newspaper advert (car licence plates for sale. that Inspector Ixolite saw. Car License Plates For Sale:

W 05 NOW, H 13 HSR, O 05 EBM, D 08 UNE, U 10 HTY, N 04 BRE, N 16 TTE, I 26 LHC, T 10 AEE, I 26 CAN, X 22 VDA. How did Ixolite know the advert was a clue for him? Solve the code and determine who Ixolite arrested.

Answer: The first bit is easy, as the first letter of each plate spells WHODUNNIT IX (A challenge to our detective. If you read the last three letters in each plate from the bottom up and right to left you get “ADVANCE EACH LETTER BY THE NUMBER SHOWN”, so advance W by 5 to get B, H by 13 to get U and so on until you spell BUTLER DID IT.

Easy Murder Riddles

Cracking easy murder riddles will be a godsend for those who struggle to understand jokes in one sitting. For example, I can only live where there is light, but if the light shines on me, I die. What exactly am I? A shadow.

1. Two cars were involved in an accident in the center of town. The man who was driving a little green car, had overtaken a big black car. The driver had misjudged the distance between him and the on-coming traffic and had to swerve back in, causing the black car to swerve and crash into a shop window. When the occupants of the cars were examined everyone in the green car was okay, but in the black car was one dead man. However, the driver of the green car was not charged with manslaughter, why was this so?

Answer: The black car was a hearse and was on its way to a funeral.

Answer: She killed her sister. She was hoping that if someone else in her family died, the man she met at her mother’s funeral would show up again

3. A crime has been committed on Main Street. The main suspect is a man named Simon Bates. It was said that a man had been walking along the pathway when he was suddenly shot in the stomach. The suspect had brown hair, blue eyes, and wore a baggy Armani just like Simon Bates’. Simon was asked to tell the story right from the beginning. “Well,” said Simon, “I was just hanging around the park when I saw this man walking along the pathway. Suddenly, a guy came up from behind him and shot him! I ran home as fast as I could. The policemen asked him to give a description of the murderer. “He had a red mustache, red hair, and a baggy Armani suit on.” “I think this man is telling a lie,” said one of the policemen. How did he know?

Answer: How can the murderer shoot him in the stomach if he came up behind the man?

4. “Who shot her?” cried a man as he rushed into the hospital where his wife was kept. The man was stopped by the police who asked him where he was last night he told them he was spending the night at a friend’s place. He told them that when he called to check on his wife, the maid answered the call and just told him that his wife has been taken to the hospital. And as soon as he heard this he came running to the Hospital. After hearing this the police immediately arrested him. Why?

Answer: As, soon as he entered the hospital, she cried “who shot her?”. How would he know that she was shot when no one informed him so.

5. There was a very rich family, they lived in a big circular house. They had a maid, a butler, and a gardener. The parents were going to a party, so they tucked the younger kids into bed and kissed them goodnight and said goodbye and kissed the older kids goodnight. While the parents were gone the butler was feeding the older kids, the maid was dusting was dusting the corners, and the gardener was watering the plants. When the parents came home all of the kids were dead. Who killed the kids?

Answer: The maid did because she said she was dusting the corners, but it’s a circular house, so she had to be doing something else, which was killing the kids.

6. A guy was standing near a window. He threw something out of the window and died soon enough. He was perfectly healthy and he did not get murdered by someone. Can you find a logical explanation to what might have happened here? How did he die?

Answer: The guy threw a boomerang in the air from his window. It flew away and looped around to return back with high velocity. It hit his head and he died on the spot due to the injury. This can be the only logical explanation.

7. A famous killer told the police that he plans to kill someone in the one place you can’t see the Eiffel Tower from in Paris. How did the police catch the killer?

Answer: The police caught him inside the Eiffel Tower.

8. Jane was found in her house lying in the center of a pentagram. The police questioned three people they found in her recent calls. Jane’s brother: I have called her in the morning. She was depressed because she had been fired. Jane’s Neighbor: She borrowed a pretty sum of money from me and called to ask for more time. Jane’s Boss: She didn’t show up to work for a few days. I have called her to ask if anything happened. Who is lying?

Answer: Jane’s brother is lying because he said that Jane was depressed because she had fired from work. but her boss said he hadn’t seen Jane in her office. So, the liar is Jane’s brother.

9. Two chickens were found dead on the farm. What does the detective suspect?

Answer: Fowl play.

10. Seema was killed on a Sunday morning. Her roommates gave the following testimonials: Roma was getting the post from the postman, Priya was doing laundry, Megha was cooking, Shreya was planting in the garden. Who killed Seema and, how did the police know whom to arrest?

Answer: Roma killed Seema as Sunday being a holiday, no posts are delivered.

Hard Murder Riddles

You can place bets with your friends on very hard murder riddles and easily win. For example, the more of it you have, the less you see. What exactly is it? Darkness.

1. Andy is put in a cell with a dirt floor and only one window. The window is too high for him to reach. The only thing in the cell is a shovel. He won’t be able to get any food or water and only has two days to escape or he’ll die. Andy can’t dig a tunnel because it will take him much longer than two days to do it. How will Andy escape from the cell?

Answer: Andy has to use the shovel to create a pile of dirt under the window so he can climb up onto it and escape from the cell.

2. A Japanese ship was leaving the port and on its way to open sea. The captain went to go oil some parts of the ship and took his ring off so it wouldn’t get damaged. He left it on the table next to his bunk. When he returned, it was missing. He had suspected three crew members could be guilty and asked them what they had been doing for the ten minutes that he had been gone. The cook said, “I was in the kitchen preparing tonight’s dinner.” The engineer said, “I was working in the engine room making sure everything was running smoothly.” The seaman said, “I was on the mast correcting the flag because someone had attached it upside down by mistake.” The captain immediately knew who it was. How?

Answer: It was clearly the seaman. It was a Japanese ship and a Japanese flag is white with a single red dot in the middle. It can’t be hung upside down.

3. It was a man’s birthday. He lay dead in the recreation room of his house. Next to his body was a note written in pencil. The note read “Happy Birthday, Friend.” The victim had a girlfriend; the police suspected her ex-boyfriend. They could find no obvious evidence. While searching the ex-boyfriend’s car, the police saw an envelope with the girlfriend’s address written on it. They thought they would get the handwriting on the envelop checked against the note. The scientist in charge came in early to work the next day; it was 7am. He looked out his window which faced east and stared at the rising sun and it was then that he realized how to prove the ex-boyfriend killed the man, even though the girlfriend’s address was not written in the same handwriting. How did he do it?

Answer: The scientist’s office faced east, and the sun was coming in through the window at a very low angle. He saw some very faint shadows on the surface of the envelope. He looked closer. There were the words embossed on the paper. They read “Happy Birthday, Friend.” The ex-boyfriend had forgotten that a pencil leaves an impression on paper beneath the page written on.

4. A guy was found dead in his study by his friend. The victim’s friend called the police. He told them that when he was walking by the victim’s place, he thought that he would pay him a visit. But as soon as he wiped the frost on the window to peep inside, he saw his body lying on the floor and therefore immediately called the police. The officer immediately arrested him for the murder of his friend. How did the officer know that he was lying?

Answer: Frost forms on the inside of the window, not the outside. So Peter could not have wiped it off to discover Ben’s body.

5. A guy and his wife went to the store and left their three children at home. When they returned, all of his children where dead. The au pair said she was reading the newspaper. The maid said she was making the beds, and the butler said he was putting away the groceries. Who did it?

Answer: The butler because the parents went to the store to get the groceries. Therefore, they were out of groceries and there was none to put away.

6. A man killed his wife for he was not sure of her fidelity. He stabbed her on heart with a knife. To cover up his crime, he pushed her body in his car. He drove a few miles and then threw her body in an alley. He carefully wiped his finger prints and threw the knife on the crime scene. Then, he drove back to his home. After an hour, he received a call from the local sheriff. The sheriff told him that his wife was murdered and that he must reach at the crime scene. But when he reached the crime scene, he was arrested by him. How did the sheriff know that he was the culprit?

Answer: It is simple. The sheriff never told him where the crime scene was. But still he reached at the right place. This points towards the fact that he knew it already and that he is the killer himself.

7. Melanie lived with her siblings in a small town. One afternoon, Melanie was found dead in the living room. When the police questioned her siblings, they both were in the pool from the morning and hadn’t killed her. But the police arrested Melanie’s siblings for her murder. Why?

Answer: The police checked their hands and found that their hands weren’t wrinkled. If they had been in the pool for a long time their hands would have been wrinkled.

8. A famous businessman is murdered at his home, stabbed in the heart but the weapon of murder is never found. The police suspects 4 people – the nanny, the cook, the music tutor, and the driver. The killer has left notes with clues in every room for his favourite detective Watson. There are notes found in the store room, under the sofa, on the piano, and in the bathroom closet. All the notes have one message: “The clues are in the notes” The police immediately arrest the murderer

Answer: The music teacher. The knife was hidden in the piano, where the music ‘notes’ are found.

9. Who doesn’t love a murder mystery? From Poirot to Sherlock Holmes, all the best detectives ended up solving all kinds of murder mysteries. But how good do you think you’d be at solving a murder? Now is the time to find out with our selection of murder mystery detective riddles (with answers.! 1. 2 pills, one which was safe and one which was poisoned, were given to a group of people to take with some water. All of them died. How did they die?

Answer: The water was poisoned.

10. Raj and Rahul were friends and their house was in a snowy region. Raj called the police and informed them about his friend’s death. Raj said he went to meet Rahul and knocked at the door but nobody opened the door. He cleaned the moisture of the window glass to look into the house. He saw Rahul lying on the floor in the pull of blood. Police arrested the murderer right away. How?

Answer: Raj wouldn’t be able to unfreeze the window glass because it’s usually icy on the inside.

11. On the first day of school, a little girl was murdered. Cops suspected four male teachers and questioned them. They were asked what they were doing at 8:30 am. Mr. Alex: I was driving to school, and I was late. Mr. Garry: I was checking English exam papers. Mr. Kevin: I was reading the newspaper. Mr. Smith: I was with my wife in my office. Cops arrested the killer. How did they find the murderer?

Answer: Mr. Garry, as he couldn’t be checking exam papers on the first day of school.

12. “Who shot her?” cried Rogers as he rushed into the hospital three minutes after his ex-wife died from a bullet through her head. “Just a minute, Mr. Rogers,” said Professor Stiggins. “We’ll have to ask you a few questions-routine, you know. Although divorced for the past six months, you have been living in the same house with your ex-wife, have you not?” “That’s right,” replied Rogers. “Had any trouble recently?” “Well, yesterday, when I told her I was going on a business trip, she threatened to commit suicide. In fact, I grabbed a bottle of iodine from her as she was about to drink it. When I left last evening at seven, however, telling her I was spending the night with friends in Sewickley, she made no objection. Returning to town this afternoon,” continued Rogers, “I called my home and the maid answered.” “Just what did she say?” inquired Stiggins. “‘Oh, Mr. Rogers, they took poor mistress to St. Ann’s Hospital abbout half an hour ago. Please hurry to her.’ “She was crying, so I couldn’t get anything else out of her; then I hurried here. Where is she?” “The nurse will direct you,” said Stiggins with a nod. “A queer case, this, Professor,” said Inspector Kelley. “These moderns are a little too much for me, I’m afraid. A man and woman living together after being divorced six months!” “A queer case indeed, Inspector,” mused the professor, “and you’d better detain Mr. Rogers. If he didn’t shoot her himself, I’m confident he knows who did.” Why did the professor advise the Inspector to detain Rogers?

Answer: Rogers could not have known that his ex-wife had been shot unless he had the guilty knowledge of the crime. The maid did not say why she had been taken to the hospital. Yet Rogers’ first words on entering the hospital were, “Who shot her?”

Murder Riddles for Adults

Murder riddles for adults draw the brightest minds. For example, a man died suddenly while writing a letter in his cabin during a lightning storm. How did he pass away? The cabin was on a ship.

1. There was a girl who was extremely brave and always bragged about how brave she was. Many of her classmates got sick and tired of her boasting, so they decided to play a trick on her. One day, a group of boys and girls walked up to her and said, “If you’re so brave, we all dare you to go to the old graveyard at the back of Ol’ Man Jenkins mansion all alone at midnight. Stand in front of a tombstone, rumor has it that if you do, a bony hand will reach out and grab you, dragging you underground! You said you were brave so that shouldn’t be so hard! To prove that you actually went, stick a knife in front of a tombstone so in the morning, we’ll know you were there.” Of course, the girl couldn’t refuse and agreed to the dare. At midnight, she did just as her classmates asked and went to the graveyard with a pocketknife. The night was cold and windy, blowing her dress, chills went up her spine. She slowly walked up to a tombstone and quickly stuck the pocket knife into the ground. She was beginning to feel not as brave as she thought she was. Turning around as fast as she could, she just wanted to get out of there right away! But, there was a problem. Something was stopping her from moving. Was it a bony hand trying to drag her down? A shrill scream was heard. The next morning, the boys and girls went to the graveyard to see if the girl had been there. To their horror, she was there, dead. i. What prevented the girl from escaping the graveyard? ii. How did the girl die?

Answer: i. The girl was wearing a dress at the graveyard. It was dark, so she hadn’t noticed where she stuck the knife in the ground. She accidently stuck it in her dress (and the girl DID NOT get hurt by the knife in any way. That is what prevented her from running away. ii. Since the knife had her stuck, she was frighted that the rumor of the bony hand was true and had grabbed her, trying to pull her into the ground. She was truly terrified and died of fright.

2. At the crime scene, the police found a cassette recorder and a gun in the dead man’s hand. After playing the cassette, they heard the man’s voice saying, “I have committed sins and have nothing to live for”, and a gunshot. Even then, police knew it wasn’t a suicide but a murder. How?

Answer: A dead man cannot rewind the recorder to play from the start.

3. On the first day of school, someone murdered a history teacher. There were four people at the school that the police suspected had done it: the landscaper, a math teacher, a basketball coach, and the principal. These were their alibis: The landscaper said he was outside mowing the lawn. The math teacher said he was giving a mid-year test. The basketball coach said he was running practice drills with his players. The principal said she was in her office. After giving their alibies, the police arrested the killer immediately. Who killed the history teacher and how did the police know?

Answer: The math teacher killed the history teacher. He claimed that he was giving a mid-year test, but it was the first day of school.

4. Anna goes to her friend Mara’s house, on a wintry evening only to find her dead. When the police learn about the incident, they question Anna about how she found out. Anna says that she knocked on the door and rang the bell repeatedly. Since the light was on in one of the rooms, Anna knew Mara must be home and decided to look through the window. The windows were frozen, so she breathed on the iced glass, and that’s when she noticed Mara’s body on the floor. The police suspect Anna is the murderer. Why?

Answer: Anna could not have possibly gotten a clear view of the room from outside, as both sides of the glass would be frozen, so she could not have seen inside

5. A man wakes up, decides he wants to go to the bar. He goes to the bar, orders 4 shots and 3 beers and goes to the bathroom. Comes back from bathroom, orders 3 shots and 4 beers. Drives home, turns off the lights and goes to bed. Next morning, looks out of window, sees something and jumps out of window and kills himself. Why?

Answer: Like the three shots and four beers and four shots and three beers and the bathroom thing? That stuff doesn’t contribute to the car theory, either. Really the only extra piece of information that does is the fact that he drove home, but I’d say the thing about jumping out the window as his method of suicide specifically points to the lighthouse theory. So it at least evens out.

6. There are five people. One of them shot and killed one of the other five. Dan ran in the NY City marathon yesterday with one of the innocent men. Mike considered being a farmer before he moved to the city. Jeff is a topnotch computer consultant and wants to install Ben’s new computer next week. The murderer had his leg amputated last month. Ben met Jack for the first time six months ago. Jack has been in seclusion since the crime. Dan used to drink heavily. Ben and Jeff built their last computers together. The murderer is Jack’s brother. They grew up together in Seattle. Sherlock holmes arrived at the scene and immediately find the murderer. Who was the murderer?

Answer: Jeff Killed Mike. Jack is not the murderer, because he is the brother of the murderer. Dan can’t be the murderer since he ran a marathon, and the murderer recently had his leg amputated, and wouldn’t be running a marathon of any magnitude that quickly. Ben is not the murderer if he just met Jack, since Jack and the murderer grew up together. This leaves Jeff and Mike. Since Jeff is still alive (he wants to install a new computer next week, present tense. he must be the murderer. Mike also didn’t grow up with Jack. It has been determined that Jack, Dan and Jeff are all alive. Ben must also be alive since Jeff plans to install Ben’s computer next week. This means that Jeff killed Mike.

7. A woman was murdered on Orient Street. It was said that the woman was walking on the pathway when she was suddenly shot in the face. A man named Dean Miller claimed to have witnessed the murder. According to the police, the killer had black hair, brown eyes and wore a baggy suit. The detective asked Dean to tell him what he saw on that day. Dean said, “ I was walking in the park when the killer suddenly appeared behind the woman and shot her.” The detective then asked Dean to describe the killer. Dean said, “He had blonde hair, blue eyes and wore a baggy suit.” The detective knew Dean was lying. How?

Answer: The killer couldn’t have shot the woman in the face if he came up from behind her.

8. Alexander is stranded on an island covered in forest. One day, when the wind is blowing from the west, lightning strikes the west end of the island and sets fire to the forest. The fire is very violent, burning everything in its path, and without intervention the fire will burn the whole island, killing the man in the process. There are cliffs around the island, so he cannot jump off. How can the Alexander survive the fire? (There are no buckets or any other means to put out the fire.

Answer: Alexander picks up a piece of wood and lights it from the fire on the west end of the island. He then quickly carries it near the east end of the island and starts a new fire. The wind will cause that fire to burn out the eastern end and he can then shelter in the burnt area. Alexander survives the fire, but dies of starvation, with all the food in the forest burnt….lolzzz

9. A man and his wife are driving in a car, but it breaks down. He gets out but makes sure that the windows are up and the doors are locked. When he comes back to his car, his wife is dead, there’s blood on the floor, and there is a stranger in the car. What happened?

Answer: His wife was pregnant and died giving birth while he was away from the car.

10. Two senators meet in a bar and start drinking vodka tonics with ice. One of the senators knocks them back like there is no tomorrow, but the other senator takes his time and sips his drink slowly. Suddenly, he drops down dead. Why?

Answer: The ice cubes in the vodka tonics were poisoned – the first senator drank his too quickly for the poison to affect him, whereas the ice cube melted in the second senator’s drink

11. One woman was not punished by the court despite her sister claiming and showing ample proof that she murdered her husband. Why was the woman not jailed?

Answer: Both women were Siamese twins.

12. A man was shot to death while in his car. There were no powder marks on his clothing, which indicated that the gunman was outside the car. However, all the windows were up and the doors locked. After a close inspection was made, the only bullet-holes discovered were on the man’s body. How was he murdered?

Answer: The victim was in a convertible. He was shot when the top was down.

Murder Riddles for Kids

Murder riddles for kids should be very subtle so that they are not overly scared. For example, the woman witnessed a man being murdered. She sobs but does nothing to help him. Why? She’s watching a TV show!

1. A man invited his friend for dinner, and they both had a gala over mashed potatoes and chicken nuggets. For dessert, he cut an apple in half and gave one to the man, and he ate the same apple’s other half. How did his friend die?

Answer: Only one side of the knife was poisoned.

2. My wife was attacked by a burglar when I was on my way home from work. She stabbed him with a butcher knife and killed him. The police say it was an obvious case of self-defense. When I went to pick her up from the police station, she said. – “When I heard the doorbell I thought it was you, but then a masked man jumped me as soon as I opened the door!” – “You must have been so scared” – I said – “But you’re safe now” – I hugged her tightly. How did she kill the burglar so fast when he attacked her at the door?

Answer: His wife came to the door with a butcher knife because she thought her husband was coming home. She was planning to kill the husband.

3. Nicole went to the police to report that someone had stolen her vintage ring. When the police got to her house they notice that the window was broken, there was a total mess inside, and there were dirty footprints on the carpet. But, there were no other signs of a break-in. The next day, the police arrested Nicole for fraud. Why?

Answer: As soon as the police got to the “crime scene,” they knew that Nicole has most likely staged the break-in. The glass from the broken window was all outside of the house, meaning that it had been broken from the inside

4. A dead body is found at the bottom of a multi-story building. Seeing the position of the body, it appears evident that the person jumped from one of the floors, committing suicide. A homicide detective is called to look after the case. He goes to the first floor and walks in the room facing the direction in which the body was found. He opens the window in that direction and flips a coin towards the ground. Then he goes to the second floor and repeats the process. He keeps on doing this until he reaches the last floor. Then, when he climbs down, he tells the team that it is a murder not suicide. How did he come to know that it was a murder?

Answer: None of the windows were left open. If the person jumped, who closed the window?

5. I enter the garden. There are 34 people in the backyard. You kill 34 people. How many people are in the garden?

Answer: If the backyard and garden are two different locations then there would be one person left in the garden. This is because the murderous rampage took place in the backyard, not the garden. However, the riddle solver considers that the backyard and the garden is the same place then, then zero people would be left, as the killer would technically be counted amongst the 34 people

6. One evening there was a murder in the home of married couple, their son and daughter. One of these four people murdered one of the others. One of the members of the family witnessed the crime. The other one helped the murderer. These are the things we know for sure: The witness and the one who helped the murderer were not of the same sex. The oldest person and the witness were not of the same sex. The youngest person and the victim were not of the same sex. The one who helped the murderer was older than the victim. The father was the oldest member of the family. The murderer was not the youngest member of the family. Who was the murderer?

Answer: Mother. We know from (3. that the youngest person was not the victim, from (4. that the youngest person was not the helper and from (6. that the youngest person was not the killer. The youngest person can only have been the witness therefore. If we make up a chart there are now three possible combinations: Oldest person (father. H H M). Next to oldest (mother. V M H). Next to youngest (son. M V V). Youngest (daughter. W W W). (H = Helper; V = Victim; M = Murderer; W = Witness. We can work out from (5. that the father was the oldest, from (2. that the youngest person must have been the daughter. Therefore the next to the youngest must have been the son and the next to the oldest, the mother

7. I can only live where there is light, but I die if the light shines on me. What am I?

Answer: A shadow.

8. On the very first day of college, a science professor was found murdered. The police had 4 suspects: The Physics professor, the football coach, the peon, and the principal. Police asked them about their whereabouts and, their replies were like this, The Physics professor said, “He was correcting mid-year test papers.” The football coach said, “He was on the ground playing the game.” The peon said, “He was serving tea.” The principal said, “He was in his office.” The police found out who was lying and caught him. How?

Answer: The killer was the Physics Professor. According to his words, he was holding a mid-year test, but the crime happened on the first day of the college year.

9. A crime was committed in the middle of a forest, which left the police stumped. Who did it?

Answer: A tree!

10. Man killed his wife. He had legal rights to do so. People watched him but, no one could accuse him of his action. Why?

Answer: The man’s job was of an executioner, and his wife had received the death penalty so, he was doing his job.

11. Someone used a sharp item to kill Robert; his friends clarified they couldn’t have killed Robert as they only had a music player, a water bottle, and some papers with them. How did the detective find out they were lying?

Answer: One friend had put a piece of broken ice in the water bottle, which melted after Robert was killed.

12. At the scene of a heinous crime, five suspects, one of whom is the guilty party, are being interrogated by a detective. Each of the suspects gives one statement and it later transpires that just three of these statements are correct. These are the statements: Uncle Jack: Uncle Jim committed the murder Aunt Mary: I did not do it. Cousin Stewart: It was not Cousin Margaret. Uncle Jim: Uncle Jack is lying when he says I did it. Cousin Margaret: Aunt Mary is telling the truth. Who committed the murder?

Answer: Cousin Margaret. The statements of Aunty Mary, Uncle Jim and cousin Margaret are true.

Final Thoughts on Murder Riddles

A get-together with friends is never fully functional without some great murder riddles. You must recall a time when you were out late with your friends and decided to tell one another nightmare stories.

Instead, ask murder riddles to make the mate’s evening unforgettable. You can use murder riddles and answers with anyone who enjoys the horror genre, not just friends.

There are many different types of murder riddles with answers that can be used for children, adults, and even grandparents. Before you tell them the murder riddles, ask your mother whether they have any heart problems. We’re just making sure you’re not to blame for your grandparents’ death. Another murder joke follows.

Hope you enjoy the above murder riddles, which you can use whenever you have the opportunity or in a setting where people are discussing murders and encounters. Consider when you start looking for answers and one of them scares you to death.