Este é The Westing Game , de Ellen Raskin, publicado em 1978 e vencedor da Medalha Newberry. Eu não acho que isso realmente se qualifique como fantasia ou ficção científica (a menos que você considere a fabricação de bombas irrealistas como SF).
Por Wikipédia:
Sunset Towers is a new apartment building on Lake Michigan, north of Milwaukee and just down the shore from the mansion owned by reclusive self-made millionaire Samuel W. Westing. (Despite the name, Sunset Towers faces east – into the sunrise.)
As the story opens, a man named Barney Northrup is selling apartments to a carefully selected group of tenants. It soon emerges that most of the tenants – regardless of age or occupation – are named as heirs in Westing's will. The will is structured as a puzzle, with the 16 heirs challenged to find the solution. Each of the eight pairs, assigned seemingly at random, is given $10,000 cash and a different set of baffling clues. The pair that solves the mystery will inherit Westing's entire $200 million fortune and control of his company.
Westing, Northrup, McSouthers e Eastman acabam sendo o mesmo industrial (não morto).