Give each entry in your solo murder mystery journal two short headings: What I found and What I think it means. Write the clue under the first heading and your guess under the second. Keep any suspect sheet supplied by your game beside the journal, and update it when the rules tell you to.
Here is a page you can try before you buy a game. You need a notebook and a pen. The example is a made-up writing exercise for this guide; it is not a scene or clue from The Crimson Parlour.
To see The Crimson Parlour next to our other games, browse the solo journaling RPGs.
Try a clue and a guess on one page
Use this fictional starting point: someone has left a wet coat beside the study door. A guest says they have spent the whole evening by the fire.
Write these headings on a blank page, then add your own answers. Leave space beneath the guess for a later note.
Entry: The coat by the study.
What I found: A wet coat lay on the chair by the study door. One sleeve had been tucked out of sight.
What I was told: The guest said they had stayed by the fire all evening.
What I think it means: Perhaps the guest went outside. I do not yet know who owns the coat.
Still to ask: Whose coat is it?
Stop when you have written one guess and one open question. That is the end of this exercise. The coat alone does not establish who left it there, when it got wet or whether its owner committed a crime.
If you want to add to the scene, invent a reply from the guest. Keep it under “What I was told” so you can still see which details came from the scene and which came from a character.
Let the game decide who is cleared
When you use this page layout with a published game, follow that game’s rules for clues and suspects. A suspicious detail you add while writing should not change a card result.
The Crimson Parlour shows why this matters. Its rules count a person as innocent when you find one of their cards. The murderer’s cards are sealed in an envelope at setup, so those cards cannot turn up during the search.
A character can still have a secret after they have been cleared. Keep that secret in your story, but leave the cleared result on the game’s suspect sheet. In The Crimson Parlour, that sheet is called the Register.
There is an exception to watch for: an ace ends the night without clearing anyone. Follow the ace’s instructions in the game book. Do not cross out a face merely because you turned a card.
Make your notes easy to find again
Number each journal page as you use it. When a person appears again, add a note such as “Earlier entry: page 4.” This works in a bound notebook; you can leave the pages where they are.
Keep the game’s required records in their stated places. Use your journal’s extra notes for details you want to return to: a name, a remark, a room or an unanswered question.
If a new clue changes your guess, date a new note beneath the old one. For the coat exercise, you might write: “I now know the coat belongs to the gardener. My first guess about the guest needs another reason.” This is an invented continuation, not a game result.
To add paper scraps, leave the headings and page numbers uncovered. Put a small scrap beside the entry, or draw a border around the clue. Read the words once more before you glue anything down.
Read your notes before the ending
When your game asks for a final choice, turn back to your notes. Which details came from the game? Which were statements by characters? Which were your own guesses?
Write your choice using the game’s ending instructions. In The Crimson Parlour, you write the accusation before you look through the unused cards or choose to open the sealed envelope. Your journal records why you chose that name.
Choose a mystery to put in your journal
The Crimson Parlour standalone game is a solo journaling murder mystery set in a snowed-in Victorian house. It uses playing cards and a journal, with thirteen nights in its story.
The standalone purchase is a digital download of the game and printable components. Bring a printer, a deck of playing cards, a journal, a pen, scissors, glue and your own paper scraps. The matching decorative papers and ephemera are sold in a separate bundle.
For the paper side, see our guide to making a junk journal for a solo game. You can also start with the notebook you used for the coat exercise.