Puzzle Lady Mysteries (eBook)
10 primary works • 11 total works
Book 9
Cora Felton, the Puzzle Lady, (who actually couldn't solve a crossword puzzle to save her life), is surprisingly good at sudoku, so it's no problem when a Japanese publisher asks her to write a sudoku book. But when two Japanese publishers show up in Bakerhaven to vie for her services, Cora is a little confused.Which one did she actually sign with? Which one has the stunning Geisha girl wife? And which one is about to be arrested for murder? The two men are arch enemies, and will go to great lengths to ace each other out. But would they stoop to murder?Someone is littering the town with sudoku, crossword puzzles, and dead private eyes.It's up to Cora, with the help of her niece, Sherry, to solve the puzzle, the sudoku, and the murder, before the killer strikes again.Parnell Hall delivers another entertaining, puzzle-packed adventure with his delightfully untraditional sleuth.
Book 10
Sherry is off on her honeymoon when Chief Harper comes to Cora Felton, asking her to solve a crossword puzzle found on the body of Old Man Overmeyer. Small problem. Cora is the Milli Vanilli of cruciverbalists. Her niece, Sherry, writes the crossword puzzle column for her. Cora pokes into Overmeyer's death, hoping to prove he died of natural causes. She learns the cranky hermit was the sole surviving member of a forty-year-old stock pooling agreement, and before she can say 'capital gain'; the town is full of heirs. Complicating things is Sherry's ex-husband, Dennis, who is playing detective in the hopes of impressing his ex-wife. With Sherry out of town, her restraining order against him is moot, and he is taking full advantage of the fact. Parnell Hall delivers another stellar, puzzle-packed entry in this entertaining series.
Book 11
It's the battle of the century when Minami, the Sudoku Lady, shows up in Bakerhaven to meet Cora Felton, the Puzzle Lady, whose sudoku books have just edged Minami off of the Japanese bestseller list. Before the rivals have a chance to square off, a killer strikes, and a sudoku puzzle is found at the scene of the murder. Now it's a fight to the finish to see who can unmask the killer. The Puzzle Lady is eager to undo her Japanese counterpart. At least until the poor woman is arrested for murder and Cora realizes she's accidentally framed her for the crime. As if that weren't frustrating enough, the publicity of her arrest drives Minami's sales through the roof! Now it's up to Cora to clear her rival's name, get her off the bestseller list, and trap the real killer. Only, she better do it fast, before the cops find out what Cora did, and she winds up facing more jail time than Minami.
Book 12
The Puzzle Lady just can't stay out of trouble. When the late Chester T. Markowitz, a man she never met, leaves $10,000 to his beloved wife, Cora Felton, the Puzzle Lady can't help cashing the check. Quicker than you can say legal proceedings, Cora's least favourite ex-husband, Melvin, shows up in Bakerhaven with an attorney and a young bimbo, demanding that her alimony be terminated on the grounds she remarried. When a key witness in the alimony hearing gets murdered, a KenKen puzzle is left at the scene of the crime. Is someone trying to tell Cora something? Before she can find out, she runs into more murders, more puzzles (both KenKen and crossword) and a murder weapon that seems to point to Melvin as the killer! At least it might have, if Cora hadn't suppressed it. Does the Puzzle Lady still have feelings for the scoundrel she once married? Don't ask. She might kill you! This twelfth in the "Puzzle Lady" series is sure to please fans, and make some new ones.
Book 13
When young attorney Becky Baldwin hires Cora Felton to make a blackmail payment drop, it couldn't go worse: she stumbles over a corpse and a puzzle, and someone steals the money. Becky won't tell her who the client is, but the most likely suspect is Cora's least favourite ex-husband, Melvin, who claims he's being framed by a psychopath with a grudge. Soon Cora finds herself in a no-win situation. Solving the murder will either put Melvin's neck in the noose, or incur the wrath of a cunning, cold-blooded killer who delights in playing deadly mind games and may be targeting her niece Sherry and Sherry's new baby girl.
Book 14
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.
Book 14
"It's been a cold, lonely winter for Cora Felton. Long distance has cooled the Puzzle Lady's on-again-off-again affair with Sergeant Crowley, and the only case Chief Harper has for her to investigate is a routine liquor store robbery. So when her attorney friend Becky asks her to explore the possibility that her client Brittney's philandering husband is planning to murder her for the insurance money, Cora jumps at the chance. She brings in her loathsome ex-husband Marvin to play blackmailer and prove the affair. But when Brittany's husband is killed by a car bomb right outside the Bakerhaven police station, and it turns out she had insurance on him, the police arrest her for murder. To save Becky's clueless client from the clutches of the law, Cora will manipulate a TV reporter, cast suspicion on an innocent man, crack crossword and Sudoku clues, solve the liquor store robbery, and enlist the aid of both Sergeant Crowley and his girlfriend in this outragous new entry in the Puzzle Lady Mystery series featuring Sudoku by Will Shortz"--Provided by publisher.
Book 15
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.
Book 17
Book 18
"The Puzzle Lady couldn't be happier. Matt Greystone, the rookie sensation who just signed a huge contract with the Yankees after coming to the team as the player to be named later in a trade with the Diamondbacks, winning 17 games as a starting pitcher, was coming to town to rehab from an arm injury. A diehard Yankee fan, Cora was delighted when Matt invited her to a weekend pool party. On the plus side, she got to meet Derek Jeter. On the minus side, she had to solve a puzzle (that was also named later) and a couple of the guests got killed"--
