Cain’s Jawbone is a literary murder mystery puzzle written by Torquemada — the pen name of British poet Edward Powys Mathers. First published in 1934 and reprinted in 2019, the book contains 100 pages deliberately scrambled out of order; the reader’s challenge is to rearrange them correctly to reveal six overlapping murder stories and identify six killers. It is widely considered one of the most difficult literary puzzles ever published — only three people successfully solved it on its original release. Readers searching for Cain’s Jawbone in Sri Lanka can order it today with island-wide delivery from bookshopnearme.lk.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Title | Cain’s Jawbone |
| Author | Torquemada (Edward Powys Mathers) |
| Genre | Literary Puzzle / Murder Mystery |
| First Published | 1934 |
| Republished | 2019 (Unbound) |
| Pages | 100 (scrambled) |
| Format | Paperback |
| Available in Sri Lanka | Yes — bookshopnearme.lk, island-wide delivery |
Key Takeaways
- Cain’s Jawbone is 100 pages printed in deliberate disorder — your task is to sort them into the correct sequence and name all six murderers hidden within the text.
- Written by Edward Powys Mathers under the pseudonym Torquemada, it was first published in 1934 and republished by Unbound in 2019, when it became a global phenomenon.
- Only three people solved it in 1934, making it one of the most challenging literary puzzles ever created.
- It is simultaneously a complete murder mystery novel and an interactive puzzle — a genuinely unique reading format that exists nowhere else in literature.
- Cain’s Jawbone is available in Sri Lanka with convenient island-wide delivery through