Mystery Riddles That Will Even Stump Your Family Detective

These riddles have a bit of a mystery hidden within. Have fun trying to untangle the clues to come up with the answers. You’ll find mystery questions, detective riddles, and killer clues below!

Check out our other riddles with answers! You might also like camping riddles, birthday riddles, music riddles, and beach riddles.

Mystery Riddles with Answers for Kids

• Riddle: One winter morning, Mr. Wilson found a man standing in the middle of the front yard. The man stayed in the yard for several weeks, but Mr. Wilson didn’t mind. Eventually, the man disappeared. Who was he? – Answer: A snowman.
• Riddle: There were three men swimming in the ocean. When a lifeguard called them to stay away from the water due to high tides. The lifeguard noticed that only two of the men’s hair was wet. What about the third man?  – Answer: The third man was bald. 
• Riddle: One night, a woman was sitting inside a house with no light; she did not even have a lamp or candle. How was she reading? – Answer: This woman was reading braille as she was blind.
• Riddle: I am all about but cannot be seen. I can be captured but cannot be held. I don’t have a throat, but I can be heard. What am I? – Answer: Wind
• Riddle: Identify me. I have cities without houses. There are mountains, but no trees. There is water but no fish. – Answer: A map
• Riddle: I am at the beginning of the end & at the start of eternity, I am at the end of time and space, in the middle of yesterday, but nowhere in tomorrow. What am I? – Answer: The letter ‘e.’
• Riddle: Why don’t secrets stay secret in Hawaii? – Answer: Because the waves keep spreading them around!
• Riddle: Why did the police officer bring a notebook to the bakery? -Answer: To take a few dough-notes!
• Riddle: Why don’t family detectives ever stay bored? – Answer: Because there’s always a clue hanging around somewhere!

Mystery Riddles with Answers for Adults

No clear evidence is needed to answer these riddles!

• Riddle: A man decides to go to sleep after an exhausting long day of work. He turns off all the lights and goes to sleep. When he wakes up, he finds out that he has killed 105 sailors. He does not sleepwalk and has slept all night without waking up once. – Answer: The man was a lighthouse operator.
• Riddle: A homicide detective told his wife he’d be home at 8:30 and came home at 8:30. Then why was the detective’s wife angry with him? – Answer: He said he’d be home at 8:30 P.M. and came home at 8:30 A.M the next day.
• Riddle: A chemist was murdered in his own lab. The only evidence was a piece of paper that had the names of deadly chemicals written on it. The substances were nickel, carbon, oxygen, lanthanum, and sulfur. The chemist only had three people come by his lab on the day of the murder: fellow scientist Claire, his nephew Nicolas, his wife, and his friend Marc. The police officer arrested the murderer right away. How did they know who it was? – Answer: There was a very obvious clue on the piece of paper. If you combine the abbreviations of the chemical substances on the paper, you’ll get a name: Ni-C-O-La-S. 

Related Post: Riddles about Time

• Riddle: Every single person died in a plane crash. However, there were survivors. Who were they? – Answer: Married Couples.
• Riddle: Two pills, a safe one and a dangerous one, were given to a group of victims to take. All of them died even though they took their pills in a random order. How did they die? – Answer: The glass of water was poisoned
• Riddle: A man had returned his cup of tea because a fly was in the cup. He got angry when he realized the waitress had just given him back his old cup of tea thinking he wouldn’t know. How did he know it wasn’t changed? – Answer: The tea was sweet because he added sugar; if it was a new cup, it would have been bitter.
• Riddle: On the first day of school, the principal was called to a classroom where a trophy had vanished. Four people were in the room that morning: the math teacher, the science teacher, the janitor, and a student. The math teacher said, “I was grading quizzes.” The science teacher said, “I was setting up a volcano experiment.” The janitor said, “I was cleaning the first floor.” The student said, “I was helping carry boxes.” The principal immediately knew one person was lying. Who was it?
  -Answer: The science teacher. It was the first day of school, so there wouldn’t already be a volcano experiment set up for class.
• Riddle: At a dinner party, six guests drank from the same pitcher of water. Five became sick from poison. One remained perfectly healthy. The detective determined the poison wasn’t in the water at all. Where was it?
  –Answer: The poison was in the ice cubes. The healthy guest drank quickly before the ice melted.
• Riddle: A detective placed a coin in the middle of an empty room. Nobody entered all day. The following day, the coin was gone. There were no doors or windows open. How did it disappear?
  – Answer: Someone picked it up before the room was locked. The detective never said the coin stayed there all day.
• Riddle: A man entered a room with only a coin in his pocket. An hour later he walked out with $1 million. He didn’t steal, gamble, or find treasure. How?
  – Answer: He owned the room. It was a bank vault.
• Riddle: A detective found muddy footprints leading into a room but none leading out. The room was empty. Where did the person go?
  – Answer: The footprints were made while walking backward out of the room.

How to write good mystery clues?

This all just depends on the type of riddle or question. You need to be sure that you use descriptive words, like the sound of a gunshot or details about the crime scene that might come in handy to solve the riddle or clue.

Print your Mystery Riddles

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For more giggly fun, check out these books:

• Best Joke Books for 7-year-olds
• Knock-Knock Jokes for Kids (check it out on Amazon here) – Affiliate link
• Laugh-out-Loud Jokes for Kids (check it out on Amazon here) – Affiliate link
• National Geographic Kids Just Joking (check it out on Amazon here) – Affiliate link