Series: Puzzle Lady Mysteries | Publication Date: August 30, 2005
When nerdy cruciverbalist Harvey Beerbaum throws a birthday bash for Cora Felton at the Bakerhaven Library, it's no surprise that the centerpiece, a huge cake decorated like a crossword puzzle, is a complete bust--until a corpse thrown from the second floor stacks hits it dead center and fills in 14 down. Cora may hate birthdays almost as much as she hates crossword puzzles--but when it comes to solving crimes, no one can hold a candle to the Puzzle Lady.
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Parnell Hall's music video, KING OF KINDLE, is on his Amazon author page! Cameos by Lawrence Block, Mary Higgins Clark, and dozens of other mystery writers. See how many you can spot. (Scroll down for video)
Parnell is the author of the Puzzle Lady crossword puzzle mysteries, set in the fictitious town of Bakerhaven, Connecticut. Cora Felton, the Puzzle Lady, has a nationally syndicated crossword puzzle column, but couldn't construct a puzzle if her life depended on it. Her niece Sherry Carter writes the column for her. The much married Miss Felton is much happier solving crime. She made her debut in 1999 in A CLUE FOR THE PUZZLE LADY, and has since romped through LAST PUZZLE & TESTAMENT, PUZZLED TO DEATH, and A PUZZLE IN A PEAR TREE, WITH THIS PUZZLE, I THEE KILL, AND A PUZZLE TO DIE ON, and STALKING THE PUZZLE LADY. Cora is herself a suspect in YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN PUZZLED.
Though poor at words, Cora proves most adept at numbers in THE SUDOKU PUZZLE MURDERS. New York Times crossword puzzle editor Will Shortz constructed the sudoku puzzles that help solve the mystery. Sudoku puzzles also play a part in DEAD MAN'S PUZZLE, and THE PUZZLE LADY VS. THE SUDOKU LADY. Cora tackles a new number puzzle in THE KENKEN KILLINGS.
As research for the Puzzle Lady books, Parnell competed in the National Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Stamford, Connecticut, where out of a field of 254 contestants he finished 250th, just ahead of the four people who failed to turn in a paper. Parnell composed the puzzles for his earlier books. He now has them created by New York Times constructor Manny Nosowsky, and edited by National Tournament winner Ellen Ripstein.
Parnell also writes the Stanley Hastings mystery novels, and the Steve Winslow courtroom dramas. His first novel, DETECTIVE, was nominated for an Edgar award by the Mystery Writers of America, and a Shamus award by the Private Eye Writers of America. His tenth Stanley Hastings novel, MOVIE, was nominated for a Shamus award for Best Private Eye Novel of 1995, and for a Lefty for the funniest mystery novel of 1995. Recently, Stanley and his wife Alice vacationed at a New England bed-and-breakfast in COZY, a takeoff on that subset of the genre; the book is full of recipes and the cat solves the crime. Stanley returned to the mean streets of Manhattan in MANSLAUGHTER, HITMAN, and CAPER. He has his first paranormal encounter in the short story DEATH OF A VAMPIRE, in the Charlaine Harris anthology, CRMIES BY MOONLIGHT.
Parnell worked for two years as a private detective in New York City. His experiences form the basis for his Stanley Hastings series. He has no courtroom experience, however, and owes his Steve Winslow series to a childhood spent reading Erle Stanley Gardner.
Parnell is an actor, who has done summer stock and regional theater, and appeared in a number of movies, including Arnold Schwarzenegger's first movie, Hercules in New York (in which he appeared clad in a leopard skin) and A New Leaf with Elaine May and Walter Matthau.
Parnell is a member of the Writers Guild of America East with several screenplays to his credit, including the underground horror movie C.H.U.D., which has been satirized on Saturday Night Live, the Simpsons, Pushing Daisies, The Dailey Show, and The Colbert Report.
Parnell's career as a professional songwriter began at the age of sixteen, when Pete Seeger sang The Literacy Test Song on the Folkways album, Gazette, Volume 2. Parnell has performed his songs at several mystery conventions, including the Edgar Awards, Magna Cum Murder, Malice Domestic, and the Bouchercon. This year he is performing The Ballad of Alferd Packard, a song celebrating Denver's most famous cannibal, at the Left Coast Crime banquet.
Parnell Hall is a former President of the Private Eye Writers of America, and a member of Sisters in Crime. He lives in New York City.
I've read all of the puzzle lady novels and have enjoyed them all, but this one is not up to par. First, the cursing has escalated both in frequency and severity. Before, it was an occasional "he-- or sh--", but now it's gone to more unexceptable ones & pops up much more often. This one is also too much about Cora. There is very little interaction w/the people who make the stories good. Her antics are way over the top & the solution is one that the reader couldn't possibly see coming. That's not all bad, I suppose, but it needs to have some line to follow & this is way out there. I'm about to start the next one, but if this style keeps up, it will be the last.
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She is known as the puzzle lady but it is really her publicity shy niece who is the puzzle constructor. Cora's favorite pastime is solving real life murder mysteries, which is why she agrees to lawyer Becky Baldwin's proposition. Becky wants Cora to find out if convicted murderer Daryl Daigue really killed seventeen year old Anita Dryer two decades ago. Depending on what Cora digs up, Becky will decide whether she wants to take the case.
Sara visits Darryl in prison; he acts like a criminal but insists that he was working at the time Anita was killed and he was covering for Ricky Gleason, the actual killer. Before leaving the prison, Warden Profack subtly warns Cora not to work on Darryl's case. Sara find that admonition suspicious and keeps digging which leads to her being followed by a private detective who is murdered at Cora's birthday party. Later, someone throws a rock through her window and she is arrested for absconding with a toy poodle that belongs to a woman who was also murdered because she had something that the killer wanted. The truth about who hired Becky and the two murders comes out when Cora has her day in court.
AND A PUZZLE TO DIE ON is a deliciously convoluted amateur sleuth mystery in which everyone connected to the case has a hidden agenda. The protagonist is in fine form as she breaks into offices and homes, steals what turn out to be significant, winds up spending a night in jail, and refuses to conform to court etiquette. Parnell Hall has written a complex who-done-it that has the requisite number of red herrings and misleading clues.
Harriet Klausner
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This review is from: And a Puzzle to Die On (Puzzle Lady Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)
Cora Felton's birthday is coming, and the citizens of Bakerhaven are going to give their most famous citizen a party whether she wants it or not. Bur Cora's focus isn't on avoiding her birthday (she doesn't celebrate any more). Instead, it's on the old case she's be hired to investigate.
Lawyer Becky Baldwin has asked Cora to look into a 20 year old murder case. Darryl Daigue was convicted of the crime but still says he's innocent. Darryl's sister has hired the lawyer to see if there is reasonable doubt about his guilt.
Cora has barely started investigating before she is told to drop the case. Considering she didn't think there was any evidence worth pursuing, that intrigues her. A little more poking around produces a suspicious accident. Then, someone starts following her. Why all this interest in a case that is so old?
Fans of this series know what to expect, and this book is more of the same. The witty banter between the character had me laughing the entire way through. Cora has given up drinking, but her smoking seemed more obnoxious, at least at the beginning. The supporting cast isn't given as much to do in this book, but I found Cora plenty entertaining on her own. There are cross word puzzles included, but they are related to a sub-plot and not a part of the mystery.
The book does have one flaw, the ending. The story is so convoluted that it is hard to keep track of everyone's motives. And the ending is especially weak. It does make sense, although I had to read the last few chapters twice to make sure I understood. It's almost like the author had so much fun constructing the mystery that he forgot he had to end it somehow.
To be honest, I had so much fun with this book I really didn't care. There were so many great moments, it's hard to complain too much about the ending. So if you are a fan of this series, plan to read this book.
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