And a Puzzle to Die On (The Puzzle Lady Mysteries)

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.

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