Dear Holmes is a fun, screen-free way to practice critical-thinking, close-reading, and logic skills, learn new vocabulary, and explore the Victorian era.

Our mysteries are more interactive than a traditional mystery novel, and more educational than a traditional escape-room or mystery game.

Our mysteries do not require outside research, but they are difficult, posing a unique challenge to your students that will challenge their problem-solving skills and inspire them to think in new ways.

Dear Holmes is also a unique way to introduce your student to the art of letter-writing and teach them how to a structure a letter.

Snail mail! Your student will receive three to four clue letters per mystery, followed by a letter from Sherlock Holmes explaining his solution to the case.

Each letter will arrive to your student's mailbox on fine stationery, and all of our letters are mailed with real stamps (No metered postage, we promise).

Each of our mysteries requires a different set of skills to solve, and they vary in difficulty, but all should be solveable by most detectives (readers) once all the evidence has arrived and been thoroughly analyzed.

If you’re a particularly talented detective, you may sometimes be able to arrive at the solution after your second or third clue letter.

Our mysteries are self-contained. Outside research is not generally required to solve our mysteries, though it is enriching if you have the time for it (many of our cases are grounded in some historical group or event).

Yes. As of this writing, all recipients of the student package receive the same mysteries. Check back soon for additional student packages.

The earliest you can start receiving mysteries is the next calendar month, when our next student mystery begins, but you can opt to start at a later date too.

We typically mail out the first letter of each mystery in the first week of a new calendar month and letters arrive to students a few days later.

Dear Holmes mysteries are written by a carefully selected group of modern Sherlock Holmes authors (our mystery makers) and edited by MX Publishing, the world's largest specialist Sherlock Holmes publisher, in collaboration with Letterjoy.

Our student packages include a curated selection of past Dear Holmes mysteries that are family-friendly, educational, and easier to solve for younger readers.

In addition, all student packages are one-time purchases. Other Dear Holmes packages may be purchased as a subscription.

Yes. Our Dear Holmes educational products are now available via Florida’s Step Up For Students MyScholarShop.

For other state and local Educational Savings Account and grant programs, contact program staff to confirm availability.

Want Dear Holmes in your program? Don’t hesitate to reach out to our team if you’d like us to join your program.

Yes, this package is available in bulk. Please visit Dearholmes.com/groups to request a quote for your institution?

Since Dear Holmes is an open-ended game, you can play it anyway you like, but we do have a few suggested ways to play. To learn three ways to play Dear Holmes, visit Dearholmes.com/how-to-play.

They’ll encounter a wide variety of clue types typical of a Sherlock Holmes or Agatha Christie mystery. Among other clue types, they’ll study diagrams, solve riddles, and evaluate witness statements and visual descriptions of key locations.

We believe in the power of paper. Our letters are designed to be read on premium paper stocks, folded crisply into a cream-colored envelope and mailed to your door with a real stamp.

Our goal is to help you live, for a few minutes each week, like a victorian-era detective, and if you read our letters on an iPhone, the experience just wouldn’t feel right. For that reason, we don’t currently offer our letters in digital form.

Yes, with two caveats:

1. International postage is more expensive, so we apply a modest postal surcharge to international orders.

2. International mail can take between 7 and 21 days to arrive (This can vary considerably based on the reliability of your national postal carrier).

Another question? You’re thinking like a detective already! The fastest way to get in touch with our support team is via the form on our customer support page.

You can also reach out via email or, fittingly, by letter. Our mailing address is PO Box 70587, Washington, D.C. 20024.