The Voss and Pike Casefiles: Case One

Curtain Call at the Lantern

A Sociology Noir gamebook covering socialisation and the creation of social identity. Nobody in Saltmarsh is quite who they say they are. Someone has been killed. Your job is to discover Whodidit. And learn some Sociology. Not necessarily in that order.

How to play

You are Ada Voss, a former sociology lecturer turned private investigator, with a rookie sidekick named Jonah Pike at your elbow. Each page is one numbered scene. Read it, then choose. Every choice takes you to a different page, and you never see what is on the pages you did not choose. Play honestly: the story only works if you follow your choices.

Your Case Notebook (the button at the bottom right) holds twelve clues, labelled A to L, and a few flags. When a page gives you a clue or flag, press Record in notebook. The notebook keeps a count for you and remembers your progress in this browser.
You can visit the suspects in any order. Some paths shut doors. Most choices are about how you treat people, not about knowing the "right" theory.
There are 9 endings. Only one solves the case in the fullest way. Most of the others teach you something about how sociology works, or fails to.
When you reach an ending, a recap and comprehension questions open up.

Begin at section 1