A Guide to the Wonders and Puzzles, Monsters and Codes from all over the world
Everybody loves a good mystery and sometimes the questions can be more interesting than the answers.
Will Pearson investigates twenty unique mysteries with their broad spectrum of strangeness. Some, like the sudden disappearance of the sailing ship Mary Celeste's passengers and crew have gained universal currency. Was the Wow! Signal a radio transmission form deep space, or was it the ambient resonating frequency of a passing comet? Cryptids like Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster teeter on the boundaries of probable and improbable, hoax and reality, fact and fiction.
Whether it be the intrigue of lost civilisations, like Goblekli Tepe in Turkey, sensationalist interest in The Zodiac Killer, or the elusive Shugborough Code that neither Dickens nor Darwin could crack, each unsolved mystery presents a challenge in its own way.
Occasionally, it can feel as if there's a conspiracy at work - one in which scientists, journalists and 'professional explainers' want to put an end to anything and everything mysterious in life. Thankfully, not everything can be nailed down, sucked dry of its secrets and turned into a factoid.
Mysteries do still exist - and continue to tease us.
Sceptic or believer, the fun lies in probing them.
About the Author
Will Pearson left home aged 15 and joined the Royal Navy. After seven years and two world tours, he won a scholarship to Ruskin workers' education college, and from there went on to read French at Oriel College, Oxford.
After various careers, Will turned his hand to writing. His first book, the best-selling Tornado Down was followed by a string of other non-fiction titles both ghosted and in his own name. Will lives in London with his wife and two children.
