Puzzle Lady

The Puzzle Lady embarks on another adventure involving one classic movie and featuring new puzzles by Will Shortz When an elderly boarder at a Bakerhaven bed-and-breakfast drops dead during afternoon tea, there's nothing particularly suspicious about it-except for the Sudoku in his jacket pocket. But when a second body turns up in the window seat and an autopsy shows both men were poisoned with elderberry wine, the Puzzle Lady suspects she's dealing with a cold-blooded killer who for some reason is copying the Cary Grant movie Arsenic and Old Lace, in which two old ladies who run a boarding house poison elderly widowers and bury them in the basement. More murders, more puzzles, and a grave dug in the cellar seem to cement the theory. Ordinarily, Cora would eat a case like this for breakfast, but for once she can't figure it out. And she's not sure if the clues don't add up, or if the much-married Puzzle Lady is just distracted by being involved in her first romantic entanglement in years. Arsenic and Old Puzzles is filled with laughs, mayhem, and fun new puzzles by Will Shortz. Mystery and puzzle fans will find much to enjoy in this latest treat from Parnell Hall.

When young attorney Becky Balwin hires Cora Felton to accompany her to New York City to meet a new client in his penthouse apartment, the Puzzle Lady jumps at the chance. Cora is just coming off a bad breakup, and finding out that Chief Harper testified at a parole hearing for a killer she helped put away has her feeling old. But, when she and Becky arrive at the apartment, they find the man is dead. There's a puzzle on his chest, and a prowler is searching the bedroom. Cora pulls her gun and gets off a shot as the intruder ducks out the window. The NYPD now think Cora is the murderer. Getting her off should be a breeze for Becky, but when the fatal bullet is too badly damaged to identify, Cora is lucky to get out on bail. Meanwhile, a diabolical killer is leaving puzzle clues. If only they were just Sudoku puzzles-Cora can't solve the crosswords without the help of her niece, Sherry, who's back in Bakerhaven taking care of her toddler. In order to clear her name, Cora must match wits with a gruff NYPD homicide sergeant who is quite attractive, except for the fact that he suspects her of murder. NYPD Puzzle is a clever mystery, boasting madcap hijinks as well as fun puzzles. Mystery readers will thoroughly enjoy this latest from acclaimed author Parnell Hall.

The new novel in the ever-popular mystery series finds the Puzzle Lady on the set of a movie about her own life-and when the first dead body shows up on set, it comes with a crossword puzzle. It's murder on the movie set! It was no surprise when Cora Felton's ex-husband's sensational tell-all memoir, Confessions of a Trophy Husband: My Life with the Puzzle Lady, was optioned for the movies, but it certainly raised eyebrows when the Puzzle Lady herself signed on as an associate producer. Cora explained gamely that she hoped to have some control over the project. The truth was, she needed the money. Some of the more salacious details of the steamy bestseller had not sat well with Granville Grains, the breakfast cereal company for whom the Puzzle Lady appeared in national TV ads for schoolchildren, and they suspended the campaign. Sales of her popular Sudoku books also sagged, leaving Cora and her niece, Sherry, who actually constructs the crosswords, to live on the modest income from the Puzzle Lady crossword puzzle column. Now Cora is filming her life story on location in New York City, and things couldn't be worse. She doesn't like the script, she doesn't like the director, and she absolutely hates the actress who is playing her in the movie. It's almost a relief when the first dead body shows up on the set. If only it didn't come with a crossword puzzle…