Anatomy of a Crossword

Nero Blanc's latest crossword caper finds professional cruciverbalist Annabelle Graham in Hollywood, serving as technical advisor for a puzzle-themed TV movie (entitled "Anatomy of a Crossword") that is based on one of hercrime-solving experiences. Belle is enjoying the respite from a brutal Massachusetts winter, but she has had misgivings about the project from the get-go. Her uneasiness was triggered by the brusque behavior of a gang of Polaroid-snapping set designers who descended on Belle's native Newcastle before the filming. Now that shooting has begun, things have only gotten worse: a series of accidents is plaguing the production, and a real-life shooting claims the life of one of Anatomy's principal characters. To make matters worse, Belle receives a series of anonymously authored crossword puzzles whose answers suggest that the constructor has information about the murderer's identity. Also hobnobbing with the Hollywood types in Anatomy of a Crossword--with the spoiled celebrities and soulless industry executives and the suspiciously jumpy screenwriter who are making the movie--are Belle's husband, private eye Rosco Polycrates, and Newcastle's grand dame Sara Briephs, who manages to land a part in the film. (When these characters are not on the scene for a part of the book, before they follow Belle to Hollywood, one misses them: the series' charm has much to do with the pleasant interactions its characters enjoy.) Anatomy of a Crossword, like its predecessors in the series, is a pleasant cozy with a clever enough story line to keep readers guessing to the end. Mystery fans and crossword lovers should enjoy the book, the latter particularly so as readers are invited to try to solve the case along with Belle and Rosco: six crosswords--and a puzzle of a different sort--are included in the book. Familiarity with the other titles in the series is not essential, so new readers need not fear jumping into the Blanc book mid-series. Reviewed by Debra Hamel, author of Trying Neaira: The True Story of a Courtesan's Scandalous Life in Ancient Greece

Screen writer Chick Darlessen inherits the estate of his beloved uncle Bartann Welner. Besides one million dollars that the deceased won on the television show Down & Across, Chick also gains a screen play. Apparently his uncle wrote called Anatomy of a Crossword based on a homicide case that Newcastle, Massachusetts resident Belle Graham, a puzzle constructor with syndicated crosswords across the nation, solved using clues from a puzzle that led to the killer. He sells the screen play to Lew Groslier who plans to turn into a TV movie.After coming up to Newcastle and taking pictures so that they can recreate the pertinent scenery for a Hollywood set, Belle flies to Hollywood to act as a consultant for the film. From the time she arrives in California she senses something is not right. The man supposed to play her husband, P.I. Roscoe Polycrates, is in an automobile accident; one of the actresses is injured by something falling on her; and Chick is murdered with his girlfriend arrested for the crime. Belle and Roscoe take matters into their own hands, navigating the treacherous bogs of Hollywood to catch a killer and expose the wrongdoings connected to the movie.ANATOMY OF A CROSSWORD is a real puzzler that readers won't be able to figure out until Nero Blanc reveals the happenings. This author consistently creates an engaging cerebral who-done-it for armchair detective. This terrific latest work includes misinformation and red herrings that keep the readers attention at all times. Sprinkled throughout the book are puzzles that the audience will enjoy solving since they relate to the plot by containing clues to the mystery.Harriet Klausner