I have read all the puzzle lady books, I'm just not sure why. They're all terrible. This newest one is a convoluted mess, there are no clues to help you figure out who did it, and when you do find out at the end, it's just some random peripheral character with the weakest of motivations. The book...
I really enjoy the puzzle lady series. They are light, rapid reads, ideal when in need of something which is quick and doesn't require paying serious attention to the plot or characters. I also greatly enjoy the fact that most of the story moves along with conversations, not paragraphs of descr...
In Hall’s mystery novel, Cora Felton is an amateur sleuth who loves to help her local police department solve crimes involving crossword puzzles. While “The Puzzle Lady” waits for her new baby grand-niece, her lawyer, Becky, asks her to drop off a blackmail payment unaware that the request would...
It would not be a Puzzle Lady Mystery unless Cora Felton gets herself into a most outrageous situation. And in this latest entry in the series, she outdoes herself. It begins when her attorney, Becky Baldwin, asks Cora to accompany her to meet a new client in his bachelor apartment in New York ...
Miss Cora Felton is an eccentric old lady with a syndicated puzzle column, an irresistible urge to poke into unsettling events, and a niece who’s determined to keep her out of trouble. When the body of an unknown teenage girl turns up in the cemetery in the quiet town of Bakerhaven, Police Chief...
When Benny Southstreet, a small-time hustler with a big-time gift for constructing crosswords, accuses Cora of stealing one of his creations, it’s clearly a case of mistaken identity…until Cora’s own attorney files a plagiarism suit against her. To add to the enigma, when Benny is found dead, the...
The Chicago Sun-Times crowns Parnell Hall’s Puzzle Lady mysteries “a joy for lovers of both crosswords and frothy crime detection...Cora Felton is a lovable and unique sleuth.” Now the crime-solving powers of the inimitable Cora and her clever niece, Sherry Carter, are put to the ultimate test as...
Wealthy widow Emma Hurley died with only her servants at her side—but after she passes away, her greedy heirs crawl out of the woodwork to stake a claim in Emma’s fortune. To their surprise, Emma was not content to leave behind a simple will. Instead, her final testament includes a clever puzzle…...
Bakerhaven, Connecticut, seems like the ideal place to host a charity crossword-puzzle tournament—after all, the town is home to Cora Felton, the beloved puzzle columnist known as the Puzzle Lady. A slew of celebrity contestants are on the way. And the locals have been invited to challenge the ve...
Private eye Stanley Hastings doesn't want for idiosyncrasies, as fans of this long-running "unconventional" and "very funny" (says the New York Times) mystery series know. For instance, he doesn't carry a gun. So he seems a particularly improbable choice, among all of New York City's private inve...
When nerdy cruciverbalist Harvey Beerbaum throws a birthday bash for Cora Felton at the Bakerhaven Library, it's no surprise that the centerpiece, a huge cake decorated like a crossword puzzle, is a complete bust--until a corpse thrown from the second floor stacks hits it dead center and fills in...
His face was red, making his scar even more pronounced. He drew back, tilted up his chin. “I do not understand.” “I”m sorry,” Chief Harper said.”We need to ask you a few questions.” “Why?” “Your name has come up in connection with the murder of this private investigator.” “My name?” “Yes.” “How? ...
She hopped up, pulled on a robe, closed the bedroom door behind her, and hurried through the house. Chief Harper stood on the stoop. “What the hell is it with everybody, you can’t even answer your phone?” “I turned off my phone.” “What?” “The ring. I turned off the ring. So I wouldn’t be woken up...
“YOU FINESSED ADA INTO keeping you away from the doorman?” “That’s right.” “By pretending you wanted to see him?” “I wasn’t pretending. I do want to see him.” “Yes, but not under your right name in front of the ADA. That would complicate things.” “No kidding.” “So, you pulled off a bit of reverse...
A new trend. Grieving chic.She didn't notice me. Though why should she? She breezed right up to the mourning mother, knelt down beside her. Hugged her, exchanged a few words. Then moved on, signed the guest book. Right under my name. Which meant nothing to her. Unless she didn't read it. Why shou...
“I need a smoke.” “Not in here.” “You need my help.” “Go outside.” “If I go out there, those vultures will tear me apart.” “Chew some gum.” Cora fed a st...
