Stalking the Puzzle Lady

In addition to being the public face of niece Sherry's Puzzle Lady columns, Cora Felton also advertises breakfast cereal Corn Toasties. With the new and improved variety about to hit stores, Cora has been tapped to do a multiple city regional promotional tour to come up with enough material for a new national ad campaign. While she hates the idea, she must go along with it. The rent must be paid. But before she can even leave, a crossword puzzle appears at her door with a knife through it. When Sherry solves it, it looks like either a threat or a love note, they can't decide which. Very few people know that Sherry writes the columns, but when someone from her past shows up, she might be the target. Just as the tour is hitting the road, the first body shows up. Who left the note? And which lady is in danger next? When I started this book, I was worried that we wouldn't see that much of the many series regulars I love. I needed have worried. The author managed to get almost everyone in on the act. As always, the interactions and witty word play made me laugh out loud many times. Cora is certainly getting into the word play as well. I have often complained about the weak endings, and this holds true yet again. I did figure out what was going to happen a few pages before Cora did, but that didn't mean I found the ending boring. It was certainly suspenseful. If you want a light mystery that is a fast read, this series is for you. There's nothing deep here, but it's enjoyable while you read it.

All things considered, one would not anticipate much of a demand for a series of mysteries in which the creator(s) of crossword puzzles endlessly stumble over puzzle-obsessed murderers. Nevertheless, there is not only one such a series in print, but two! And maybe, for all I know, a half-dozen more are lurking out there in the bush, as well. "Stalking the Puzzle Lady" is member of much the better of the two series. Author Parnell Hall first came to my attention with a 1987 novel called "Detective," the first of a series featuring Stanley Hastings, a fairly ordinary Joe, fairly happily married, who is an underemployed, underpaid, unaspiring private detective struggling to write his first, long-delayed mystery novel. Much of the charm of the Hastings series was the author's obvious glee in placing his distinctly un-hard-boiled private eye into good, old, traditional hard-boiled plots, then leaving the harassed and often frightened Hastings to wriggle out as best he might. From 1988 to 1992, Hall also published five books featuring somebody named Steve Winslow. I remember good reviews for the Hastings books, but for the life of me I can't recall a thing about the Winslow series--or even if I ever found one to read. PI Stanley Hastings always struck me as all right guy but he was never really good hero-material, not the solid core for a lengthy series that could hope to extract much money from MY pockets. I am not privy to Hall's sales figures, of course, but it was my impression that the Hastings books were more likely to attract praise from connoisseurs than burst onto anybody's bestseller list. That is why I suspect that about 1998, Hall or his agent or his publisher took a long, hard look at the mystery-buying public. And, I think, from that long, hard look, the Puzzle Lady series was born, for it is aimed not merely at one but at two distinct segments of the female demographic. Instead of the conventional cozy mystery team of heroine and sidekick, the Puzzle Lady series has what amounts to two heroines. One of them is a cozy mystery staple, a young woman beginning to achieve success and financial reward in an unusual profession. She has found a moderately attractive young man and their courtship can be (and has been) stretched from book to book to book, providing some handy continuity for the series. The other heroine is an elder relative with whom she shares a home, a woman who appears to be everyone's favorite grandmother, but whose character seems to be made of equal portions of Miss Marple, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Tugboat Annie and Ma Barker. The gimmick of the series is that the younger woman, Sherry, is a successful creator of crossword puzzles who does not look the part, while the older, Cora despises the things, but looks exactly like the sort of person to create brain-twisters. In the tried-and-true tradition of "I've got the brains, you've got the looks, let's make money," the two exchange roles to make Cora the public f

It is a tradition for me to read a Puzzle Lady book every year. This one I enjoyed. Sometimes I read the Puzzle Lady mysteries and I hope that the media finds out that she isn't really the puzzle lady, and that her niece is the true puzzle lady. Then the books would be titled Old Fiesty Lady and the Puzzle Lady solve mysteries, and I would still read them. I like how each year the author writes the Puzzle Lady books with modern themes, such as using the web to Google a name and get information etc....

Cora Felton, the puzzle lady, is on tour promoting Granville Grains' Corn Toasties cereal. They're doing televised personal appearances at supermarkets off I-95. Not her favorite thing. Right before leaving, a crossword puzzle is pinned to her door with a knife. Cora's niece Sherry decides to accompany Cora to keep an eye on her and keep her safe. An old acquaintance of Cora's appears at one of the stores. This isn't someone she wants to spend time with, so she doesn't. Then he shows up at another store. Sherry's abusive ex-husband shows up on the tour as well. Then a woman on the tour is found dead. The people believe it was an accident. Cora and Sherry believe it was murder. Cora and Sherry set out to solve the murder, but can they find the murderer without putting themselves or anyone else in danger. I always enjoy books in this series. Cora is so abrasive, but yet likable. Sherry is quiet and always keeping an eye on Cora. They make such a great team. The reporter that Sherry is dating always assists them and complements their detecting skills so well. The TV crew in this book really add to the story with all their quirks. The fact that they're stuck at a motel while on tour but yet outsiders can come in and out helps keep the reader guessing on who the murderer is. I highly recommend this book. [...]

Sherry Carter is pleased that her outgoing Aunt Cora "the Puzzle Lady" Felton takes the credit for constructing the crossword puzzles because she is so shy while her aunt is the poster girl of extroverts. Cora wants to resign because she doesn't want to go on tour as the spokesperson for the new and improved Granville Grains Corn Toasties. The only reason she agrees to do it is because she needs the money, having lost heavily due to poor investments. Cora doesn't know that someone is in the shadows, watching every move she makes while sending her crossword puzzles. When the sender gets impatient that Cora fails to make contact with him, he kills a young actress who is posing as one of the older children that is in the crowds at each stop. Cora is uneasy because her high school friend Freddy Fosterfield is turning up everywhere she goes; while Sherry who is on tour with her aunt is being hassled by her abusive ex-husband Dennis. When the publicity person on the tour is murdered, suspicion falls on Dennis but Sherry believes he is innocent of the two killings and tries to prove it. This angers her lover Aaron and irritates Cora but neither as much as an irate killer. The latest Puzzle Lady mystery is an exciting amateur sleuth tale in which Cora unwittingly is trapped in a cat and mouse game with a murderer who starts out as an infatuated person and evolves into a cold-blooded killing machine. Parnell Hall focuses on the violence of stalkers who are obsessed by a celebrity and shows why it is a hard crime to solve. This entertaining crime caper also has the usual numerous humorous moments and puzzles to solve that lead to clues. Harriet Klausner