A Puzzle to Be Named Later

November 21, 2016
In Hall’s diverting 18th Puzzle Lady mystery (after 2016’s Presumed Puzzled), Cora Felton, who secretly writes a puzzle column for her niece, is thrilled to learn that the New York Yankees’ newest pitching sensation, Matt Greystone, has chosen her hometown of Bakerhaven, Conn., as the place to recuperate from an auto accident. At a party Matt hosts shortly after he and his wife, Jackie, move to a house in Bakerhaven, Jackie discovers a gossip columnist’s corpse in the sauna. Cora, who’s a guest, soon takes over much of the subsequent investigation from police chief Dale Harper, and she redoubles her efforts after the murder of the town’s resident medium. Cora shrewdly questions everyone involved and, as usual, finds crime clues in crossword puzzles. Hall performs a sort of magic, conjuring a reasonable resolution out of the constant wash of seemingly inconsequential chatter. Series fans will enjoy solving four puzzles—one Sudoku and three crosswords—right along with Cora.

November 15, 2016
A loyal Yankees fan does everything in her power to save the wife of a promising pitcher from a murder charge.Cora Felton, the Puzzle Lady, is delighted to learn that Yankees pitcher Matt Greystone has bought a house in her little Connecticut town to recover after his arm was badly broken in a car crash. The police chief, who dislikes public speaking, is happy to be deflected from introducing him to a crowd waiting at the local fairgrounds by a call from Amanda Hoyt, the local witch, reporting a break-in. Instead, Cora steps in to do the honors, and Matt's wife, Jackie, who like most people doesn't know that Cora's niece Sherry is the crossword maven, hands Cora an untitled puzzle sent to Matt in the mail, hoping she can help her with it. The puzzle, once Sherry solves it, reveals, "YOU'LL FIND A SURPRISE IN THE FILE OF THIS GUY," a clue that might shed light on the Hoyt case. The witch, who's also a psychiatrist, refuses to reveal what's on the memory card that's been stolen. Curious Cora, who's almost caught when she breaks into Amanda's house--and file cabinet--looking for clues, is invited to a party at Matt's house; the guests range from Derek Jeter to lesser lights like Don Upton, Matt's former roommate in the minors and Jackie's former boyfriend. The party comes to a sudden halt when Jackie finds the body of snoopy gossip columnist Leon Bratz dead in the sauna. Cora gets local superlawyer Becky Baldwin to represent Jackie, who's the prime suspect. But as she uncovers more clues in her search of file cabinets belonging to the major players, she realizes that Matt himself may be in jeopardy. Cora will need all her talent for obfuscation to keep things confused until she can find the real killer. The Puzzle Lady, who seems to improve with each new adventure (Presumed Puzzled, 2016, etc.), spreads red herrings with reckless abandon this time out.

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December 1, 2016

Cora Felton, the Puzzle Lady and a die-hard Yankees fan, must save rookie pitcher Matt Greystone's career when people around him begin dying. Cora again dispenses her signature wit and humor along with solving the crime in the 18th entry in the series, following Presumed Puzzled.

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