The Chicago Sun-Times crowns Parnell Hall’s Puzzle Lady mysteries “a joy for lovers of both crosswords and frothy crime detectio...
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reviews
Feb 01, 2010
Ginger
rated it: 
Crystal checked this out from the library for me because it has three things that I'm normally interested in: Christmas, crossword puzzles, and mysteries. This is mystery detective fiction set during Christmas in which the murderer communicates through Crossword Puzzles (which appear blank in the book for you to solve!) Well, I think we can all guess this was not going to be an award winner. I'll add that the main female detective character hosts a puzzle tv show, but actually hates crossword pu
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Dec 26, 2011
Liora
rated it: 
I enjoy these Puzzle Lady mysteries even though they are a stretch in believability. This has the killer sending messages in the form of anacrostic puzzles, which are my favorite type of word puzzles. The setting is at Christmas time in a small town in New England where Cora, known as the Puzzle Lady, lives with her niece, Sherry, who is the real Puzzle Lady. I like the character of elderly, unconventional, witty Cora, but Sherry comes across as uptight, whiny and somewhat cold. There were l
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Dec 21, 2008
Wisconsin
rated it: 
I read one of this series a year. One has to suspend all belief to continue with the puzzle books, however, once I get past that and the fact the police chief actually uses Cora as an ally, I enjoy the books. Could never read two in a row. I saved this one for Dec, along with a few others, because of the Christmas theme. I usually figure out the mystery, but he writes well, although it feels like fantasy land.
Jun 02, 2010
John
rated it:
An easy to read book that kept me interested and moving along through it.
You should park your 'believeability meter' at the Table of Contents as you start your read. The police chief is lame as to be unbelieveable, for instance.
None the less, it is well written and is good, lighthearted reading material.
You should park your 'believeability meter' at the Table of Contents as you start your read. The police chief is lame as to be unbelieveable, for instance.
None the less, it is well written and is good, lighthearted reading material.
Dec 25, 2011
Kyrie
rated it:
I didn't like the plot. None of the characters made me care about them. The humor wasn't there. I had the feeling I'd come across a book in the midst of a series with little information to make me want to go back and find out what I'd missed.
Apr 11, 2010
Kate
rated it:
Not quite as funny as the previous two. Masses of red herrings and characters made it hard to follow, and the whole conceit of Cora needing to hide her inability to solve crosswords is getting stale.
Jun 16, 2010
Tweller83
rated it:
Kind of fun, thought I had read it before. Puzzles are found with dead bodies and we have to figure out the puzzles and the murderer.
Aug 08, 2010
Angela
rated it:
Quite an enjoyable tale, even if I didn't do the puzzles (there are 4 of them).
May 14, 2009
Alleycatfan
rated it:
Just didn't like this one. I think it was the Christmas play theme and the stupid love story.
Feb 11, 2012
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