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    Letter Mysteries

    Season One

    Case One · Alderwick · 1924

    Foggy 1920s Alderwick railway station at dusk with glowing platform lamps
    Letter Mysteries · Season OneFair-play mystery · 1924

    Case One · Alderwick

    The Last Train to Alderwick

    After the final evening train, a retired stationmaster is found dead inside a locked luggage room. He took the key in with him. The self-latching door sealed behind him, and that same key lay beside his hand. The village is already choosing a tidy story.

    Over six months you receive six letters and six evidence artifacts, plus six numbered archive prints to keep and six map tiles that build the station plan. Read carefully. Form a reasoned accusation before Letter Six delivers the decisive proof.

    Choose your routePreview Letter One
    Letters
    6
    Months
    VI
    Verdict first
    Yours

    A free Letter Mysteries dispatch

    Start with the free Watch at Four mystery

    Receive a self-contained short case by email, one instalment each day. It is a spoiler-safe way to experience the format before Season One opens on 1 October 2026.

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    Letter Mysteries · Season One · Spoiler-free

    The case on your desk

    The Last Train to Alderwick is Season One, the first Letter Mysteries case. It begins in a quiet railway village that keeps its platforms swept and its ledgers neat. On the night of the final train, that neatness fails.

    Edwin Lark, once the stationmaster, is found dead inside a sealed luggage room. He had begun to reopen a matter the village preferred closed: a railway accident twenty years earlier, and the people who lived with its official story.

    You are not asked to chase suspects through the streets. You are asked to read. Each month adds letters, documents, and a piece of the station map. The season is built so a careful reader can name the culprit with reasons, before the last letter confirms what the papers have been saying all along.

    • A locked-room death

      Edwin Lark is discovered after midnight in Alderwick’s luggage room. The door was secured from within. Whatever story the station prefers, the physical facts refuse to sit still.

    • You are the Investigator

      Edwin asked that a trusted outsider read what he left behind. You receive the case as correspondence: letters, station papers, and the quiet pressure of a village that would rather move on.

    • Fair play, start to finish

      Every clue needed for a reasoned accusation appears before the final letter. Letter Six brings decisive proof and motive. Seal your verdict first, then open the solution.

    Letter Mysteries · Season One timetable

    Six months on the line

    The first case advances the story without rushing the solution. Each month adds a deliberate piece of the Alderwick file. The shape below is public. The culprit is not.

    1. Month I01

      THE KEY AT 9:28

      A sealed letter reaches you after the final train. Inside: a locked luggage room, a retired stationmaster, and a request that you serve as Investigator.

    2. Month II02

      FIVE LINES CROSS THE ROOM

      Five people close to Alderwick Station. Each has a private reason to fear what Edwin Lark had begun to put in writing.

    3. Month III03

      THE PAGE BENEATH THE MAP

      An old railway accident returns to the ledger. Fresh evidence cuts two ways, and the easy story no longer holds.

    4. Month IV04

      THE DOOR THAT LOCKS ITSELF

      A document you trusted shifts under scrutiny. Timetables, alibis, and loyalties rearrange themselves overnight.

    5. Month V05

      TWO NAMES REMAIN

      The field shrinks. With five letters in hand, a careful reader can form a reasoned accusation before the last train of proof arrives.

    6. Month VI06

      THE PACKET AT ELEVEN

      The final letter delivers decisive proof and motive. Seal your verdict first. Then open what the packet held all along.

    By Month V, a diligent Investigator can write a named accusation with supporting reasons. Month VI is confirmation, not a last-minute trick.

    Sealed cream envelope with red wax seal addressed to the Investigator
    Monthly despatch · sealed correspondence
    Numbered archive print showing a soot-marked handkerchief, one of six monthly keepsakes and not evidence
    Archive print I · keepsake
    Map tile 1 of 6 showing the Alderwick Station luggage-room plan, used to understand location and access
    Map tile 1 of 6 · builds the plan

    Letter Mysteries · Season One materials

    What arrives each month

    This is a digital case file designed to feel like a parcel from 1924. Each monthly despatch contains the same five parts: an immersive letter, a readable copy, a clue document, a map tile, and a numbered archive print. Across the intended six-month set, you receive six map tiles, one per despatch, to assemble into the complete Alderwick Station plan, plus six numbered archive prints to keep. The example images show one of each. Print what you like, and keep the rest on your shelf of screens.

    Used to solve

    Evidence gives you facts to test. Map tiles help you reason about location and access.

    Made to keep

    Numbered archive prints form a six-piece keepsake set. They are separate from the evidence and not needed to solve the case.

    • Immersive letter

      A period letter written as correspondence from the case, meant to be read by lamplight and kept with the file.

    • Readable copy

      A clean reading version of the same letter for phones, tablets, and late-night rereads without squinting at script.

    • Evidence artifact

      One printable clue document each month: a duty slip, ledger fragment, diagram, solicitor notice, or other station paper carrying times, names, objects, and facts you use to test your theory.

    • Numbered archive print

      One numbered archive print arrives each month. Together, the six prints form a separate keepsake set for your case portfolio. It is not evidence and is not needed to solve the case.

    • Map tile

      One of six map tiles arrives with each monthly despatch. Assemble the six tiles into the complete Alderwick Station plan to understand location and access. It is a map-building aid, separate from the clue documents.

    Letter Mysteries · Season One specimen · Spoiler-safe excerpt

    Open Letter One

    Break the seal on a short excerpt from the first despatch of The Last Train to Alderwick, the first Letter Mysteries case. The full paid letter, evidence artifact, numbered archive print keepsake, and map tile remain with the season. The archive print is separate from the evidence and is not needed to solve the case.

    Keyboard: activate the envelope, then press Escape to reseal.

    Letter Mysteries · Season One

    Choose your way into the case

    Season One opens on 1 October 2026. Every personal route starts with Month 1 on your chosen date and unfolds as one complete despatch each month for six months. Choose $14.97 per month for six payments, or pay $74 once for the same six monthly despatches. Prepayment changes billing, not the order or timing of reveals.

    Release sequence

    Month 1 first, every time.

    Choose a start date, and Month 1 arrives first. Each route then delivers one complete despatch per month through Month 6. Paying upfront does not open future letters early. Later material and the final proof remain sealed until their scheduled delivery.

    Pay as the case unfolds

    Monthly despatch

    $14.97per month · six payments

    Pay $14.97 each month while the case unfolds. The six-month route begins with Month 1 on your chosen date, then delivers one complete despatch each month while future material remains sealed.

    • All six letters, delivered as one complete monthly despatch from your chosen start date
    • Readable copy with each despatch
    • Six evidence artifacts, available as printables for solving the case
    • Six numbered archive prints to keep, separate from the evidence
    • Complete six-tile station map
    • Form your verdict before Letter Six
    Choose this route
    Best value

    Pay once, receive monthly

    Full season

    $74paid once · six monthly despatches

    One $74 payment covers the same six monthly despatches, saving $15.82 against six monthly payments. Choose when Month 1 begins. Prepayment changes billing, not the order or timing of reveals.

    • All six letters, delivered as one complete monthly despatch from your chosen start date
    • Readable copy with each despatch
    • Six evidence artifacts, available as printables for solving the case
    • Six numbered archive prints to keep, separate from the evidence
    • Complete six-tile station map
    • Form your verdict before Letter Six
    Choose this route

    Public code · first 100 successful redemptions

    10% off the prepaid full season

    From 1 October 2026, enter ALDERWICK10 at checkout for 10% off the $74 prepaid full season. Stripe accepts the code for the first 100 successful eligible redemptions. It does not apply to monthly billing or gifts. Joining the launch list brings opening news and does not reserve a redemption.

    Choose full season Try the free three-day mystery Get opening news

    Choose your start date

    Begin when the timing is right.

    You do not need to join in a particular calendar month. The sequence always starts with Month 1, then delivers one complete despatch per month through Month 6. There are no catch-up downloads. At the 1 October opening, the gift route will be a $74 paid-once digital edition. After payment, the buyer adds the gift details, then the recipient receives a secure invitation to set up a managed Letter Mysteries account, choose Month 1 on or after 1 October 2026, and enter the Case Room. The recipient pays nothing, and later letters and the final proof stay sealed until their scheduled month.

    Month 1 first. Every customer starts with the opening despatch.

    One each month. Receive one complete despatch through Month 6.

    Gift route. At the 1 October opening, pay $74 once through secure checkout, add recipient details after payment, then the recipient follows the invitation to choose Month 1 on or after 1 October 2026 and enter the Case Room.

    Choose a start date Give an Alderwick gift

    Season One opens on 1 October 2026 with all six letters and printables ready for the full six-month experience.

    The gift edition · Paid once

    Give the case its own envelope.

    A polished six-month digital mystery for a reader who enjoys a good file, a fair clue, and something worth keeping. The card below is a screen-only preview, while the working gift route opens a secure $74 Stripe checkout.

    Gift route ready

    Pay $74 once through secure Stripe checkout. After payment, the buyer adds the final gift details. The recipient receives a secure invitation email, creates or signs into a managed Letter Mysteries account, and chooses Month 1 on or after 1 October 2026. The recipient pays nothing.

    A private preview

    Set the card details

    Use these fields to see a screen-only card preview with a recipient and sender. They stay in this browser and do not carry into checkout. After payment, the buyer enters the final recipient details for the secure invitation email.

    One paid-in-full route · Gift edition

    Send an Alderwick gift

    Pay once for the complete six-month digital season. Stripe opens a secure checkout. After payment, the buyer enters the recipient details, then the recipient receives a secure invitation email and chooses a Month 1 date on or after 1 October 2026. The recipient pays nothing.

    Secure Stripe checkout · digital delivery only · no shipping · six monthly despatches

    Watch a short on-screen opening. It does not send the gift or save these preview names.

    Opens your browser print dialogue. The printed card is a preview, not the final gift invitation.

    Preview the opening on screen. Nothing is sent or saved.

    Letter MysteriesCase One / Alderwick

    Issue 001 / Gift

    A private case file for

    The Last Trainto Alderwick

    A six-month digital case, delivered as one complete despatch per month from the recipient-selected Month 1 date. Month 1 arrives first, and later letters and the final proof stay sealed until their scheduled month.

    Prepared for

    The next Investigator

    From

    A thoughtful friend

    First despatch

    Chosen by recipient
    • Month 1 begins on or after 1 October 2026, chosen by the recipient
    • One complete digital despatch arrives each month
    • All six materials arrive in order, with the final proof sealed until Month 6

    Gift edition

    Recipient pays nothingSecure invitation and managed access follow payment
    Month 1 date · Chosen by recipientGift purchase · $74 paid once

    Screen preview only · Final gift details are entered after payment.

    The Alderwick gift edition is digital and print-at-home, with no shipping. One $74 payment through Stripe covers six monthly despatches. The recipient receives a secure invitation email, creates or signs into a managed account, and chooses Month 1 on or after 1 October 2026. The name fields above are preview-only, and final recipient details are entered after payment.

    Final platform notice

    The last train is still in the yard

    The Last Train to Alderwick is Season One, the first Letter Mysteries case. It opens on 1 October 2026, with the first sealed letter ready for the Investigator who wants the truth more than a tidy timetable.

    Read the excerptReview the timetable