Customer Reviews

Dead Man's Puzzle: A Puzzle Lady Mystery

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Once again Mr. Hall has supplied his readers with a fun and fast paced mystery featuring "The Puzzle Lady" Cora Felton and the gang. The mystery was fun with Dennis there to mess things up. When Cora has no help from Sherry since she is on her honeymoon, there is fun in seeing how Cora deals with the puzzles that are found. And her secret is discovered....sort of.
A good fast read and one of the stronger ones in the series. Recommended for fans of the series definitely. The puzzles are pretty good too.

This is the latest book in a series, and I enjoy the books. The strength of the books is the dialogue which is just great and really funny. The characters are well drawn too. There are both crossword puzzles and sudoku in the book if you are willing to stop and solve them. The weakness in all the books is the plot which very much makes you suspend belief. I suspect one can't do a really good plot without changing the premise. Still, I will continue to buy the books and chuckle through them. For some odd reason, no stars appear when I want to rate the book, I have tried to "guestimate" where four star would go, but the form refuses to accept anything but two.

With Sherry out of town on her honeymoon, Cora is hoping for a quiet two weeks. Unfortunately for her, the town hermit died in his rather run down shack. Chief Harper is more than ready to call it natural causes except for one thing, the crossword puzzle found at the scene. While Cora does some fast tap dancing to get the puzzle solved for the chief, the cause of death is determined to be murder. Can Cora solve it without finding any more puzzles?

The last couple of books had really begun to feel formulaic to me. With Sherry being out of town, this one felt fresh and new to me. Yes, all the regular characters appear to a certain extent, but their interactions were different enough I didn't feel like I had read it again. Plus the solution to the case was brilliant. The use of the puzzles was a bit of a stretch, but since that is the premise of the series, I'll go with it. Speaking of them, there are three new crossword puzzles and one new Sudoku involved here.

With another book coming soon, I am hopeful this is a sign of many more good puzzles to come for Cora.

Bakerhaven, Connecticut police chief Dale Harper asks crossword columnist Cora "the Puzzle Lady" Felton to solve a crossword puzzle found at the death bed of nonagenarian cancer victim Herbert Overmeyer. However Cora is the front as her reticent niece Sherry Carter is the real Puzzle Lady, but she and her husband Aaron Grant are away on their African honeymoon.

Needing help, Cora asks her friend corpulent puzzle maker Harvey Beerbaum to assist her. As he solves the puzzle, which seems to offer no help to the death, the autopsy reveals Herbert died from arsenic poisoning. Dale and Cora go to a remote cabin where they find a gun that ties Herbert to a five decade old Alabama convenience store robbery. Sherry's former husband Dennis investigates in an effort to get his ex back, but his mouth on TV may have led to the murder of Herbert's next door neighbor. A third related homicide also occurs.

Besides the usual fun crosswords and sudoku puzzles, the latest Puzzle Lady whodunit is one of the strongest entries in recent years as Cora seeks alternative solutions. The story line is action-packed, but driven by feisty Cora who teams up with Dale to investigate the first homicide that has ties to a crime fifty years ago and leads to more murders (complements of Dennis). Readers will enjoy puzzling through the mystery and newcomers will seek to solve previous cases (see THE SUDOKU PUZZLE MURDERS).

Harriet Klausner