Anatomy of a Crossword (Crossword Mysteries, No. 8) [Paperback]

Nero Blanc (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 6, 2004

Crossword editor Belle Graham is headed for Hollywood to work as technical consultant on a new TV series called Anatomy of a Crossword. But just a couple of days into shooting, things go awry. First, the puzzle Belle created for the show arrives from the typesetter with the clues completely changed. Then, one of the actors suddenly dies on the set. With only long-distance detective help from husband P.I. Rosco, Belle is out of her element-and on her own solving this one...

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Belle Graham, the crossword-puzzle editor who has solved five previous mysteries, is headed to Hollywood where a TV movie is being made based on a crime she previously solved. But as soon as Belle arrives, things start going wrong. The writer of the movie is killed, and others involved with the project also begin to drop. Then there's the puzzle she's supposed to construct for the film. The clues have been changed, and she keeps getting puzzles that demand answers. This is a delight for both amateur sleuths and crossword-puzzle aficionados. Six crosswords are provided (librarians note: they're ready to be filled in) with the answers at the back. Blanc (the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife team) provides a breezy mystery set against a realistic entertainment industry background. Make sure fans of Parnell Hall's Cora "The Puzzle Lady" Felton series know about Belle Graham and visa versa. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

If crosswords are your puzzle of choice, you'll be delighted to meet [Nero Blanc]. (Mystery Reader)

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Product Details

• Paperback: 324 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Trade (July 6, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425196208
• ISBN-13: 978-0425196205
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,774,471 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Red Herrings Galore -- and a couple of clunkeers, too, February 6, 2006

By 

Annag Chandler "Crane & Dragon" (Austin, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Anatomy of a Crossword (Paperback)

Why, I ask, don't the authors and/or editors of mysteries actually read the books they're publishing and weed out the irrelevancies and fix the mistakes? It should be assumed that the audience for these works is alert to all of the clues and details in the book to try to "find the killer" before s/he is unmasked. So, why then does the resolution at the end so often fail to tie up all loose ends?

Here we have the continuing characters transplanted to L.A. to the set of a TV movie based on a previous murder solved by Belle Graham and Rosco Polycrates. An unnerving string of "accidents" plagues the production -- or are they accidents? And why is someone creating new versions of Belle's key crossword puzzle?

The ending wrap-up resolves some, but by no means all, of the mysteries. Many red herrings are left to rot in the L.A. sun, including the set creator's fascination with Sara Briephs. Also, when the identity of the phantom puzzle constructor is revealed, the person COULDN'T have created some of the puzzles, since they show as key players people whom the creator didn't/couldn't/wouldn't have put in the puzzles. In the future, I'm sticking the The Puzzle Lady series, which [so far, at least] seems to be wrapping things up much more neatly.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A pleasant cozy with a clever story, July 18, 2004

By 

Debra Hamel (North Haven, CT) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Anatomy of a Crossword (Crossword Mysteries, No. 8) (Paperback)

Nero Blanc's latest crossword caper finds professional cruciverbalist Annabelle Graham in Hollywood, serving as technical advisor for a puzzle-themed TV movie (entitled "Anatomy of a Crossword") that is based on one of hercrime-solving experiences. Belle is enjoying the respite from a brutal Massachusetts winter, but she has had misgivings about the project from the get-go. Her uneasiness was triggered by the brusque behavior of a gang of Polaroid-snapping set designers who descended on Belle's native Newcastle before the filming. Now that shooting has begun, things have only gotten worse: a series of accidents is plaguing the production, and a real-life shooting claims the life of one of Anatomy's principal characters. To make matters worse, Belle receives a series of anonymously authored crossword puzzles whose answers suggest that the constructor has information about the murderer's identity.

Also hobnobbing with the Hollywood types in Anatomy of a Crossword--with the spoiled celebrities and soulless industry executives and the suspiciously jumpy screenwriter who are making the movie--are Belle's husband, private eye Rosco Polycrates, and Newcastle's grand dame Sara Briephs, who manages to land a part in the film. (When these characters are not on the scene for a part of the book, before they follow Belle to Hollywood, one misses them: the series' charm has much to do with the pleasant interactions its characters enjoy.)

Anatomy of a Crossword, like its predecessors in the series, is a pleasant cozy with a clever enough story line to keep readers guessing to the end. Mystery fans and crossword lovers should enjoy the book, the latter particularly so as readers are invited to try to solve the case along with Belle and Rosco: six crosswords--and a puzzle of a different sort--are included in the book. Familiarity with the other titles in the series is not essential, so new readers need not fear jumping into the Blanc book mid-series.

Reviewed by Debra Hamel, author of Trying Neaira: The True Story of a Courtesan's Scandalous Life in Ancient Greece

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars real puzzler, July 6, 2004

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Anatomy of a Crossword (Crossword Mysteries, No. 8) (Paperback)

Screen writer Chick Darlessen inherits the estate of his beloved uncle Bartann Welner. Besides one million dollars that the deceased won on the television show Down & Across, Chick also gains a screen play. Apparently his uncle wrote called Anatomy of a Crossword based on a homicide case that Newcastle, Massachusetts resident Belle Graham, a puzzle constructor with syndicated crosswords across the nation, solved using clues from a puzzle that led to the killer. He sells the screen play to Lew Groslier who plans to turn into a TV movie.

After coming up to Newcastle and taking pictures so that they can recreate the pertinent scenery for a Hollywood set, Belle flies to Hollywood to act as a consultant for the film. From the time she arrives in California she senses something is not right. The man supposed to play her husband, P.I. Roscoe Polycrates, is in an automobile accident; one of the actresses is injured by something falling on her; and Chick is murdered with his girlfriend arrested for the crime. Belle and Roscoe take matters into their own hands, navigating the treacherous bogs of Hollywood to catch a killer and expose the wrongdoings connected to the movie.

ANATOMY OF A CROSSWORD is a real puzzler that readers won't be able to figure out until Nero Blanc reveals the happenings. This author consistently creates an engaging cerebral who-done-it for armchair detective. This terrific latest work includes misinformation and red herrings that keep the readers attention at all times. Sprinkled throughout the book are puzzles that the audience will enjoy solving since they relate to the plot by containing clues to the mystery.

Harriet Klausner