Customer Reviews

A Crossworder's Gift

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Loads of fun and the perfect gift for all my crossword puzzle fiend friends. Once again Nero Blanc takes the reader to five exotic holiday spots, as he did with last year's A CROSSWORDER'S HOLIDAY. I'm a big Nero fan, so I may be biased, but I really enjoy this series, and especially this new addition. These short stories are all within the realm of believability, which make the mysteries all the more interesting. The writing moves with a quick and entertaining flow, and the puzzles a super. There's even one in the shape of a pirates Jolly Roger.

When Digger Bonnet died on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia, the secret of his treasure stash died with him. Bell and Rosco spend a week down there. The puzzle constructor and the private detective, with a little help from a parrot, try to decipher the clues to Digger's treasure puzzle. "Holly, Jolly Roger" is a humorous brainteaser.

In "The Mystery of Wordworth House", a ghost tries to right an old wrong using Rosco and Belle to translate his message to his two granddaughters. This is a cute ghost story.

When a gambler dies, he leaves a goodly amount of his estate to an animal shelter. To find the valuables, Belle Graham is asked to create and solve a crossword puzzle that should lead to the money. "A CROSSWORDER'S GIFT" is a delightful holiday mystery.

A puzzle constructor's convention is taking place at the hotel near the Grand Canyon with Belle as the guest of honor. When one of the conventioneers is found dead, Rosco and his wife start sleuthing. "The Eraser's Edge" is one mystery that is almost impossible to solve.

In "Cross Stitch" a sewing circle gets stranded during a blizzard and the five women bond with each other. After completing a crossword, the truth about a late heiress surfaces, but to find out what it is, the reader must decipher the crossword puzzle.

Nero Blanc's holiday anthology makes the perfect gift for mystery and puzzle lovers.

Harriet Klausner

"A Crossworder's Gift" by Nero Blanc is a collection of five short stories with crossword puzzles, four of which feature crossword puzzle editor Belle Graham and P.I. partner Rosco Polycrates. The stories are bland and inoffensive, the perfect example of the stereotype of a cozy mystery, with thinly drawn characters and mysteries that are not very mysterious. Some pleasure in spending time in various vacation locations (Grand Canyon, Montreal, the Caribbean), but better mysteries can be found that accomplish that with far more style. Biggest mystery: how this series managed to reach seven books.

Cordelia Frances Biddle and Steve Zettler, under the pseudonym, Nero Blanc, have written some marvelous crossword mysteries just perfect for the Christmas season. I've been enjoying their light mysteries since reading "A Crossworder's Delight," and this collection of shorter but fun mysteries is just the right recipe for the busy holiday season when time is at a minimum.

"Holly Jolly Roger" takes place in Saint Lucia, and is filled with tropical fun at Christmas. There is a puzzle, of course, for Rosco and Belle to solve as they enjoy their surroundings. And in this story, appropriately enough, there may even be a treasure!

"A Crossworder's Gift" takes place just as the Christmas rush is beginning in Las Vegas, and "The Eraser's Edge" has our favorite couple finding mystery at the Grand Canyon, with some humorous Hitchcock references from a pal at the end.

"Cross Stitch" is probably my least favorite because it doesn't involve Rosco and Belle, but it's still an enjoyable little distraction. My personal favorite here, "Mystery at Woodsworth House," has snow and an atmosphere of winter holiday fun. Fans will love the spelling clues of lamps beneath the snow as they join the couple for their romantic holiday getaway.

Trying to do the included crosswords is fun, but the answers are in the back if you have trouble as I often do. This is a terrific time for light mystery lovers and crossword fans. A pleasant distraction for the holidays.

I read this book with great anticipation because I love crosswords and mysteries. What a horrible disappointment. The characters are poorly developed, the dialogue is not realistic at all and the worst part -- which ironically is the most important part of a mystery -- the slick, and a reader would hope, clever, unraveling of the solution is far from either.

Every one of the short stories sputters along and then the "solution" is thrown at the reader like a bag of soggy oatmeal. Clumsy and unsatisfying.

Steer clear of this fiasco. The only reason I give it more than one star is because I still like the premise -- I just wish the authors were more respectful of their readers.