The Purloined Puzzle

January 1, 2018
Clever banter elevates Edgar–finalist Hall’s 19th mystery featuring Bakerhaven, Conn., puzzle lady Cora Felton (after 2017’s A Puzzle to Be Named Later). When 16-year-old Peggy Dawson approaches Cora with a crossword puzzle that the girl thinks is important to solve, Cora foists her off on Harvey Beerbaum, a crossword expert. After the puzzle disappears, Harvey refers Peggy to police chief Dale Harper. Naturally, the puzzle, when found, connects to a murder—that of stabbing victim Fred Winkler—as does a bloody knife found by Peggy’s brother, Johnny, in his room. The police settle on Johnny as a suspect in Winkler’s death, but then find an even better one: Cora’s ex-husband, Melvin Crabtree, whose planned tell-all book, Confessions of a Trophy Husband: My Life with the Puzzle Lady, threatens Cora’s secret—that she’s the public face for the crossword puzzles created by her niece Sherry Grant. A barrage of insults, put-downs, confusions, and double entendres will keep fans of light humorous mysteries happily turning the pages.

January 1, 2018
It takes both a crossword puzzle and a sudoku to provide the clues that solve several murders.Although Cora Felton excels at solving sudokus, she doesn't have anything like the crossword-puzzle savvy that would justify the lucrative career she's built as the Puzzle Lady. In fact, few people know that her niece, Sherry, actually creates and solves the puzzles. When teen Peggy Dawson begs Cora to solve a mysterious crossword that some unknown person has sent to her, Cora enlists her friend Harvey Beerbaum, a real cruciverbalist, to help--but when they all get to the girl's house, the puzzle has vanished. Peggy goes to local police chief Dale Harper and harasses him until he agrees to find her puzzle. Harper sends deputy Dan Finley, who drags Cora along. Peggy's brother, Johnny, refuses to let them search his room but soon phones the police to report that he's found not the puzzle but a bloodstained knife. The corpse who probably bloodied the knife is that of a construction worker staying in a motel near his job site. Cora's happy days turn to dross when she spots Melvin Crabtree, the ex she loves to hate, claiming to be back in town to work with the realtor who employs Johnny Dawson, presumably on another of Melvin's fake real estate scams. Johnny, arrested by the police, hires Cora's clever lawyer friend Becky Baldwin, who quickly springs her client when Cora gets the coroner to admit that the time of death meant the knife couldn't have been the murder weapon. Turning on a dime, the police then arrest Melvin. More puzzles appear, including a sudoku that hints that Johnny is guilty. Once Cora learns that Melvin has a book contract to write an expose about his life with the Puzzle Lady, she realizes that she must not only clear him, but do so in a way that forces him to keep her secret.Using Hall's trademark humor and panache, the Puzzle Lady (A Puzzle to Be Named Later, 2017, etc.) finds yet another clever way to get herself out of yet another tricky situation.

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October 1, 2017

Asked to solve a crossword puzzle by nasty little teen Peggy Dawson, puzzle impresario Cora Felton is happy to learn that someone has filched the puzzle but deeply shocked to find a bloody knife in its place. Then there's the body in the street and the knowledge that the guy she likes the least among her ex-husbands might have bought the murder weapon. Tough days for Peggy; with crossword and Sudoku puzzles.

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