The KenKen Killings

November 1, 2010
At the start of Hall's tantalizing 12th mystery featuring puzzle lady Cora Felton (after 2010's The Puzzle Lady vs. the Suduko Lady), Cora can't resist cashing a check for $10,000, a supposed legacy from the late Chester T. Markowitz, who may have been someone she was briefly married to years before. "Since I quit drinking, there are parts of my life I can't remember. The eighties, for instance," she tells Sherry Carter, her cruciverbalist niece, who smells something fishy. Cora later helps Bakerhaven, Conn., police chief Dale Harper investigate the home robbery of banker Roger Randolph. While nothing was stolen, a KenKen puzzle was left behind. Meanwhile, one of Cora's many bona fide ex-husbands, Melvin Crabtree, sues her so he can stop paying her alimony. Melvin's greedy young girlfriend, Bambi, and Evelyn, his current wife, cause more problems. Hall's crisp wit makes this another far-fetched funfest for puzzle mystery fans.

November 15, 2010

KenKen, the latest rage in number puzzles, provides clues to a pair of murders.

Cora Felton, aka the Puzzle Lady, can't resist signing the check for $10,000 from the estate of one of her former husbands. She doesn't realize that the check is part of a plot by another ex-husband, Melvin Crabtree, who wants to get out of sending Cora alimony every month. Soon enough, Melvin arrives in town with a blond bimbo and a shifty lawyer, but Cora has hired ace local attorney Becky Baldwin to fight his claim. In the meantime, Chief Harper calls on Cora to solve a seemingly meaningless KenKen puzzle left at a local banker's house, where someone broke in without stealing a thing. The banker and a teller are witnesses at Cora's court hearing. When they're murdered, KenKens and crossword puzzles offer clues that point toward Melvin. Cora, who still has tender feelings for Melvin, does not point the evidence out to the police, and in fact leads Chief Harper astray while she starts her own investigation. At length, she discovers that the blond bimbo is not Melvin's latest wife, but a jealous redhead with every reason to pin a murder on him. It's up to Cora to solve all the puzzles and unmask the killer.

Feisty Cora (The Puzzle Lady vs. the Sudoku Lady, 2010, etc.) is at the top of her game in this latest entry, which includes puzzles for the reader.

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