a heroine, a puzzle, a novel
May 22, 2018 6:43 AM

Looking for books with puzzles, and preferably female protagonists - think Special Topics in Calamity Physics and The Westing Game.

Other books I consider in this genre: PopCo, The Ghost Network.

Female-centered is a bonus but will take other recommendations.

Not fussed about adults vs. YA, though should not be fantasy - I want roots in the real world.

Political elements are great - Special Topics and Ghost Network both hearkened to 60s radicalism, PopCo had some anti-consumerism.

Whimsy is a plus.

Learning new skills (like how to break codes with Vignere squares in PopCo!) is a double-plus!
posted by quadrilaterals to Media & Arts (13 answers total) 53 users marked this as a favorite
Night Film (successor to Special Topics in Calamity Physics)
posted by Obscure Reference at 7:08 AM on May 22, 2018


Maureen Johnson just started a new series that starts with Truly Devious - it's set on the campus of a private school, created by a billionaire with a penchant for riddles. The female protagonist sets out to solve the biggest riddle of the campus. I devoured the first book and can't wait for the next one.
posted by librarianamy at 8:32 AM on May 22, 2018


The Eight by Katherine Neville is a somewhat older (pub 1988) novel that hits all of your points.
A young woman in "present" day (1970's) is sent abroad for work and gets pulled into intrigue surrounding a historical chess set; parallel story in 1700's has nuns hiding the same powerful chess set.
and hey, looks like it is super-cheap on Kindle right now (1.13).
posted by maryrussell at 8:42 AM on May 22, 2018


Seconding The Eight, which is a very fun book. But weirdly, I'm here to recommend a book called The Basic Eight by Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket.) I read it a while back and Special Topics reminded me of it a great deal.
posted by PussKillian at 9:01 AM on May 22, 2018


When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead.
posted by Violet Hour at 10:21 AM on May 22, 2018


Arturo Perez-Reverte's The Flanders Panel involves a female art restorer who has to figure out a present-day murder mystery using clues from a 15th-century painting of a chess game.
posted by goatdog at 10:21 AM on May 22, 2018


It sounds like you might enjoy Walter Jon Williams' This is Not a Game and Deep State. They are techno-thrillers featuring a female protagonist, Dagmar Shaw, an alternate-reality game designer who uses her crowdsourcing skills to solve real life conspiracies.
posted by subocoyne at 11:33 AM on May 22, 2018


If you like YA SF/F, I'm always happy to plug Suzette Haden Elgin's Ozark Trilogy (Twelve Fair Kingdoms, The Grand Jubilee, and And Then There'll Be Fireworks). I read them around the same time I read The Westing Game, and they scratched the same itch.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 1:09 PM on May 22, 2018


On reread, I see that I missed your line about fantasy. I can say that, aside from flying mules and a little backwoods-style folk magic, the Ozark books are only mildly fantastic.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 1:12 PM on May 22, 2018


When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Seconding this!

If you are okay with YA, you can try the Mysterious Benedict Society, which is Middle Grade. It has 4 main characters and two of them are girls. Along the same lines, is the Chasing Vermeer series.
posted by soelo at 2:07 PM on May 22, 2018


If you like YA, then you might enjoy The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, by E. Lockhart.
posted by airplant at 3:50 PM on May 22, 2018


Oh oh oh! The Red blazer Girls by Michael D Beil! YA books about a group of tweens who use math (and music, and physics) to solve mysteries. So, so good.
posted by janepanic at 4:51 PM on May 22, 2018


it's a manga, but Liar Game?
posted by Cozybee at 11:44 AM on May 23, 2018


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