Diorama’s ‘The Vandermist Dossier’ — A Review.

Our friends at Puzzelpost are broadening their horizon and bringing their wonderful series of at-home mysteries to an international audience. Under the new name of Diorama they are now offering the English version of their astonishing debut: The Vandermist Dossier

Good reason for us to revisit this old favourite.

The Vandermist Dossier offers a magnificently balanced experience that is challenging, entertaining and rewarding. It has been skilfully translated into English, yet still retains its charmingly Dutch atmosphere.

Starting with Helena Vandermist’s request to help her locate her long lost sister, it puts us in the position of private investigators looking into an old missing persons case. Refreshingly, Diorama is in no rush to tell its story, instead letting it unfold slowly and giving us time to get attached. The dossier itself, filled with evidence, correspondences and other documents, forms our gateway to the Dutch sleepy town of Listenburg in the mid 1970’s. But do not let the setting fool you into thinking this is a small story, for it hints to larger international mystery to be explored in the rest of the series.

The wonderfully crafted materials have an authentic feel and breathe real life into the setting and the puzzles all have their place within the narrative. This gives the whole experience a level of realism rarely seen in home mysteries.

The Vandermist Dossier is an amazing experience for anyone who loves old school mystery, ingenious puzzles and a story well told. It is obvious that a great deal of love and experience went into its creation.

It’s live on Kickstarter right now, so you can actually help make it a reality. Sherlocked is proud to be backer #1.