The Secret Headquarters of Espionage (S.H.O.E.) is Mail Order Mystery’s top secret spy school, a world-class academy where elite Junior Agents learn what it takes to be a spy. Training materials include the S.H.O.E Guide for Spies, a handy little handbook full of tips and tricks for success in the secret world of espionage. Junior Spies also learn about the importance of a good disguise. We supply kids with a few moustaches to get started, of course, but these two have taken it to a whole new level.   We would also like to point out that great spy minds think alike. Check out this ..read more

We love Easter candy but we also love gifts that give kids something to do for the rest of the day once the chocolate bunny is eaten down to a lump. If your kids enjoy searching all over the house for eggs, imagine how much they'll enjoy cracking codes, contemplating clues and solving one of our Mail Order Mysteries. It might even give you the chance to sneak away for a little Easter morning nap. Order "All in One Box" and we'll send you all six installments at once so you can hand them out at your own pace. You can even make the first letter part of the Easter egg hunt. Or order&nb ..read more

Depending on where you live, Spring Break may still a few weeks away, maybe more. But here's the thing. Spring Break sneaks up on you. It seems so far away. Until it isn't.  Every year we remind ourselves: “Spring Break is coming! Make a plan or you’ll be sorry!” And then Spring Break comes around, we don’t have a plan and we are plenty sorry. So here is a plan, or at least part of a plan. Order a Mail Order Mystery. If you choose our "All in One Box" delivery option, we'll ship all six installments out now. You can stash them away and have them ready to go for your Spring Break. The ki ..read more

Most people think of our mysteries as the perfect gift for a kid. But we're going to let you in on a little secret. We hear from a LOT of parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents who love the mysteries as much as their kids.   So if you're looking to spend a bit more time this winter with a kid you love, one of our mysteries is a unique experience the whole family can enjoy together ..read more

The answer is always love. That's the main message of The Enchanted Slumber, where this beautiful illustration comes from. And while The Enchanted Slumber may be our favorite Valentine’s mystery, every one of our adventures makes a perfect Valentine's Day surprise. A Mail Order Mystery is a wonderful way to do something special for - and with - your kids. It’s a gift of imagination and intrigue, and a rare opportunity to get them off their screens, at least for a while. So brighten up those dark winter days with some mystery, adventure and something for your kids to look forwa ..read more

It's become a bit of a holiday tradition here at Mail Order Mystery. We're not doing a Black Friday or Cyber Monday sale this year. In fact, we've never done one. We create personalized experiences for kids that take time to prepare. We don’t want to compromise our commitment to creating great experiences for kids in order to jump into the feeding frenzy of sales, competing to be heard above the noise. So you won't see us artificially increasing our prices so we can look like we are offering great deals for one weekend of the year. We won't make you buy a "bundle" with a bunch ..read more

You know how some people are like “Someday I’m going to see my name in lights” or “Someday I’m going to be on that stage”? Well for us here at Mail Order Mystery, it’s “Someday we’re going to be in Wirecutter”. And guess what? We’re in Wirecutter! Dreams do come true! The New York Times Wirecutter has included Mail Order Mystery as one of their best gifts for 10-Year-Olds. In case you’re not familiar with it, Wirecutter is a product recommendation site. Looking for the best bedsheets? The best headphones, brooms, telescopes, toasters, robot vacuums? Check Wirecutter. Over the year ..read more

You likely know all about our mystery experiences, but did you know we also have a whole line of great gifts featuring the beloved characters from all five of our mysteries? If you know a kid who has done one of our mysteries or will be doing one soon, they would love a gift from our Mystery Emporium.   Maybe the kid has been to the SHOE Spy Academy in Spies, Lies and Serious Bad Guys? Our spiral notebook is perfect for keeping track of secret messages while our line of t-shirts lets everyone know you're a proud SHOE Academy alumni. And we know young spies ge ..read more

This is Marion working on a wax seal, one of the many items we craft here at Mail Order Mystery. As we get closer to the holidays we begin to think of ourselves like elves in Santa’s workshop. We are busy busy getting everything ready for the holidays: stuffing envelopes, aging pirate maps, tying keys onto strings, and, one of our favorite crafty tasks, sealing envelopes with wax just like they did in the olden days of dragons and knights. Ok, maybe they didn’t have glue guns back then, but they had heat, wax and seals and that’s everything you need. And here is Thomas showing off his excell ..read more

This is Mail Order Mystery team member Ilknur working at the crafty task of making authentic looking pirate maps for our Treasure Hunt! mystery. We still call this job “baking” because back when Mail Order Mystery first started we soaked the maps in coffee and baked them in the oven at a low temperature to get that faded, weathered look. Since then we have discovered that air drying works just as well as the oven, but nothing works better than coffee. We have tried a lot of ways to do this, but nothing beats the old school coffee soak. And we continue to confuse our new employ ..read more