$10,000 in Small, Unmarked Puzzles: A Puzzle Lady Mystery (Puzzle Lady Mysteries) by Parnell Hall

Puzzle Lady #13

by Parnell Hall

"Groucho Marx meets Jessica Fletcher!"--RT Book Reviews

When young attorney Becky Baldwin hires Cora Felton to make a blackmail payment drop, it couldn't go worse: she stumbles over a corpse and a puzzle, and someone steals the money. Becky
won't tell her who the client is, but the most likely suspect is Cora's least favorite ex-husband, Melvin, who claims he's being framed by a psychopath with a grudge. Soon Cora finds herself in a no-win situation. Solving the murder will either put Melvin's neck in the noose, or incur the wrath of a cunning, cold-blooded killer who delights in playing deadly mind games and may be targeting her niece Sherry and Sherry's new baby girl.

$10,000 in Small, Unmarked Puzzles is another delightful entry in Parnell Hall's entertaining Puzzle Lady series, featuring new puzzles by Will Shortz that help readers solve the mystery!

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Cozy, Humor, Mystery Thriller

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Mo · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 1/2 stars

I picked up this book “blind” after unexpectedly popping into the library while out with my sister. It sounded good from the book blurb, and I somehow thought it would be similar to a Murder Mystery Dinner game. I thought if I solved the puzzles, I could reason out the mystery. I was wrong on so many levels.

As soon as I started to read this novel, it felt like a series book to me. There were constant references to prior occurrences, and it seemed the assumption had been made that I knew all this background information. Nowhere on the book jacket did it mention that this book was part of a series. I immediately looked it up on GoodReads, and sure enough, found out it was #13 in the “Puzzle Lady” series. Darn it, I HATE reading books out of order!

But I continued reading, and soon came to the first puzzle, a Sudoku. I carefully prepared a grid, copied over the numbers (remember, it was a library book, so I couldn’t write in it), and completed the puzzle. I stared at it for a few minutes, trying to see if I could pick up on anything of importance. I could not. I turned to the next page of the novel, and there was the completed Sudoku with a explanation about one of the numbers being the important one, and telling you which one. WHY DID I BOTHER TO INTERUPT THE FLOW OF MY READING TO DO THE SUDOKU IF IT DIDN’T MATTER WHETHER OR NOT I DID IT? The same applies to all of the crossword puzzles included in the book. Complete them if you want, but it doesn’t matter a bit.

This novel was completely inane. The main character Cora felt like Dorothy Parker on steroids, and most of the other characters sounded like The Marx Brothers doing some kind of homage to ‘Who’s On First’. The story was bad, the writing was worse, the characters were HORRID and the entire book stunk.

NOTE TO SELF: I MUST get over my determination to finish reading any and all hardcopy books once I’ve started them. I seem to be able to abandon eBooks with no trouble, but I cannot bring myself to abandon an actual open-and-in-my-lap-made-of-real-paper book.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Cora Felton loves helping her small town's police solve crimes involving crosswords -- even though she's really better at sudoku! Still, 'The Puzzle Lady' can't wait for some time out to care for her new baby grand-niece. Unfortunately, Cora's lawyer, Becky, has a 'little' favor to ask her most trusted friend. And dropping off a blackmail payment for Becky's mysterious client leads Cora Straight to a corpse.

"... along with two puzzles like nothing she's ever seen -- and clues that point to Cora's rogue of an ex-husband. Cora doesn't believe Melvin capable of murder. But each puzzle she solves turns up murder victims Melvin knew all too well, making him police suspect Number One. Now Cora must choose her next moves carefully to find the truth -- even as a clever killer prepares to cross her and her family out for good."
~~back cover

Another clever, intricate Puzzle Lady plot. It was fun to meet Melvin -- Cora has referred to him so many times, it was nice to "put a face with the name" as it were. Cora gets spunkier and a better detective with every book.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Main character, Cora, is known as a famous puzzle lady with a newspaper column. Truth is revealed that Cora is great at number puzzles but the crossword puzzles are really the work of her niece Sherry. In this book (number 13 in the series) that fact is mentioned but doesn't really make a difference in the story. The general premise is that every time a murder takes place, the victim is found with a puzzle that is to be a clue to the killer. The reader's ability to solve the puzzles is not a required factor.

Most notable about the book was the rapid fire dialogue, usually filled with sarcasm. I like the quote from RT Book Reviews: "Groucho Marx meets Jessica Fletcher." The rhythm of the conversations did remind me of a Marx Brothers routine. Cora is more gruff and corrosive however than Jessica. Interestingly, the fast flowing witty banter is the reason I will not be reading another entry from the series for a while. By the end of the book I was weary of the format.

[Jody Walsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun enjoyable whodunit, that includes crossword puzzles and sodukos to solve the murders. The puzzle lady is the last person anyone would suspect to be a detective but her deductive reasoning skills as well as her bumbling antics work to get here to aide her in solving not one but 3 murders! As a will Shortz fan I enjoy the puzzles and how cleverly the clues assist in the solving of the crimes.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mystery complete with crossword puzzles and sudukos to solve -- what could be more fun. This time Cora, aka The Puzzle Lady, is hired by the town attorney to make a blackmail payoff. Her niece Sherry (the real Puzzle Lady) goes into premature labor and why is one of Cora's ex-husbands hanging around town?

[Carly · Rating 2 out of 5]

This has to be some of the worst “men writing women” that I’ve ever seen— that being said it was so comically ridiculous that I kept reading.

I do love the concept of a murder mystery that INCLUDES the puzzles (in this case sudoku and crossword) that when solved further the plot. I’m a sucker for escape-room type shit so I’m glad I picked this up for a silly read.

[Anthony Yvonnica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again, as I have written 12 times previous, I love this series. It is cute, far-fetched, funny, unrealistic, but wonderfully refreshing. Cora is the complete opposite of Jessica Fletcher, but I can picture Cora in my mind and I wish this were a series on television. It would be a huge hit.

[Nupur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably my favorite puzzle lady book until now.

[Allison Heredia · Rating 1 out of 5]

haven’t read a book in a while that was so lame. could thing it was short

[Squeaky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have not read any of these in a long time. This one was OK. They would be better if I would actually do the puzzles, though!

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

(8)
That cantankerous puzzle lady, Cora!, May 24, 2012
By Ellen Rappaport (Florida)
This review is from: $10,000 in Small, Unmarked Puzzles: A Puzzle Lady Mystery (Puzzle Lady Mysteries) (Hardcover)
I was waiting for my chance to get this latest installment of the Puzzle Lady series. I've read all of them and will continue to because of the fun and the zinger endings. This was no exception.

Cora is off to a riotous start as she drives pell mell to the hospital and why? ...Sherry, Cora's niece, is having the baby before the delivery date. Aaron, Sherry's husband, is along for the ride and all are a bit worried about the baby being delivered in good health. So what else could go wrong? With Cora almost anything and everything.

Becky Baldwin, the towns' most beautiful and only attorney, hired Cora to make a drop of $10,000 to a deserted gas station. It appears this is to pay off a blackmailer. Cora wants to know why and who is being black mailed. Just when she attempts to drop the money in a dumpster she finds a body in it. Cora also finds something else. could it be a puzzle &/or a soduko? These puzzles are the beginning of a chase to find the guilty party. Cora attempts to place the bag of money in an old gas pump...

And so the adventure begins. Puzzles and soduko's leading the way. Who pops up in the thick of it but Cora's philandering ex-husband, Melvin. Is Melvin the one being black mailed? One thing is for sure...Melvin hasn't changed his ways where women are concerned.

Now Cora finds that someone has it in for Melvin. Melvin is being framed for this murder by a faceless psychopath. But why? Cora intends to find out.

While Becky and Cora continue on their search to prove Melvin is innocent of the charges against him, Cora banters back and forth with Cheif Harper. The Chief's frustration with Cora grows as Cora's frustration with getting to the bottom of the blackmailing scheme grows.

It almost appears to be a lose lose situation until the light goes on in Cora's thinking and she rushes to outsmart the real murderer/blackmailer before another murder is committed.

I enjoy this fun series and the characters in it. But be prepared, if that's possible, for the zinger. You'll know it when you get to it.

A great series for any lover of cozies.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cora Felton, the Puzzle Lady, is in a tizzy. As the book opens, Cora is driving her niece, Sherry, to the local hospital where she will have her first child, a girl. Before Sherry can have the baby, the town’s attorney, Becky Baldwin, hires Cora to make a blackmail payment drop, but she will not tell Cora anything about the blackmail. In making the blackmail drop, she stumbles over a corpse and a puzzle, and someone steals the money. When she attempts to make a second blackmail drop at a local cemetary, she finds a second dead body and her ex-husband with the blackmail money. However, the police are also there. Soon Cora finds herself in a no-win situation, as she attempts to solve the puzzle of the dead bodies and the blackmail. Are they related or not? Solving the murder will either put her ex-husband’s neck in the noose or incur the wrath of a cold-blooded killer who targets her niece Sherry and Sherry's new baby girl. Can Cora solve the puzzle in time or will this one stump her?

[Kimberly Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pfffffffffft!

Cora is asked by her on-off again attorney, Becky Baldwin, to deliver a $10,000 blackmail payment. When Cora gets to the dumpster, there is a dead body with a cross-word-puzzle and sudoku. Instead of making the drop, Cora hides the money...but when she & Becky go back for the hidden money, it is gone.

Becky is hiding something, part of which turns out to be on of Cora's most obnoxious ex-husbands, Melvin..... However, he's not the one being blackmailed, Melvin is being threatened by a highly jealous psychotic small-time crook.

In the middle of all this Cora's niece, Sherry, is in the hospital having just prematurely given birth to her first child.

The end was a nice twist.... fast & easy to read, HOWEVER (you knew this was coming) the continual smart-ass repetitive banter between Cora & the rest of the characters wore me out. So much so, that I skimmed a good portion of the dialog.

Hall needs to give us more action and less sassy-assed lip service. After the first dialog it is so No Longer Funny Nor Entertaining!

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe I am getting tired of this series, but this one didn't seem as good as the others. A bit frazzled... would be my description.

"Groucho Marx meets Jessica Fletcher!"--RT Book Reviews When young attorney Becky Baldwin hires Cora Felton to make a blackmail payment drop, it couldn’t go worse: she stumbles over a corpse and a puzzle, and someone steals the money. Becky
won’t tell her who the client is, but the most likely suspect is Cora’s least favorite ex-husband, Melvin, who claims he’s being framed by a psychopath with a grudge. Soon Cora finds herself in a no-win situation. Solving the murder will either put Melvin’s neck in the noose, or incur the wrath of a cunning, cold-blooded killer who delights in playing deadly mind games and may be targeting her niece Sherry and Sherry’s new baby girl. This next in the entertaining series features new puzzles by Will Shortz that help readers solve the mystery!

[Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cora Felton is the Puzzle Lady, even though she has no clue how to create (or solve, for that matter) crossword puzzles. She's a whiz, though, at sudoku. Both types figure prominently in this crazy outing. At least three dead bodies, a new bsby (born a month premature), niece Sherry in the hospital, nephew Aaron on somebody's hit list, as is ex-husband Melvin Crabtree, who's trying desperatly diligently to get a date with his lawyer, Cora's friend Becky Baldwin, who is also Cora's lawyer and part-time employer. When Becky asks Cora to deliver $10,000 in blackmail money, things start going south, quickly. Then Melvin gets involved and things get downright bizarre. All turns out well, though, because of Cora's trusty draw-string puse and her teeny tiny gun. Quick read, lots of fun.

[Cynthia K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like when I can jump into a series without feeling lost. Sure, I think it would be best to start at the beginning of the Puzzle Lady series. Cora is certainly a feisty character. I can't wait to go back to book one and meet her there.
Hall obviously loves words and wordplay, and he includes crossword puzzles and sudoku into the plot of this book. I'm guessing he does the same in the earlier books. Since I borrowed my copy from the library, I couldn't try to solve the puzzles, so I'm glad the solutions are eventually provided.
This was a great, quick summer read with humor and colorful characters.

[Debbie Heaton · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Hall’s mystery novel, Cora Felton is an amateur sleuth who loves to help her local police department solve crimes involving crossword puzzles. While “The Puzzle Lady” waits for her new baby grand-niece, her lawyer, Becky, asks her to drop off a blackmail payment unaware that the request would lead Cora straight to a corpse—plus two puzzles that lead directly to her ex-husband. Cora doubts Melvin is capable of murder but with each clue, the finger is pointed in his direction. Forced to choose, Cora must find the truth before someone else falls victim to a clever killer.

A clever and creative addition to the A Puzzle Lady Mystery series.

[Vicki Gooding · Rating 4 out of 5]

In some ways, the book is not really very realistic at all, but enjoyable. This may be #13, but is the first I've read. The Puzzle lady is an amateur sleuth who enjoys sudoku, but is normally called on for help when crossword puzzles are involved as well. A friend of hers who is an attorney asks her to drop off a blackmail payment. Thus begins an incredible story involving dead corpses wherever she shows up, a mysterious client, an ex-husband discovered talking with her trusted friend, and some crazy twists. The story line weaved around the puzzles is new and different, and I found it to be a very fun read.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sherry is finally having her baby, but it is premature, and Cora Felton, the famous Puzzle Lady (and Sherry's aunt), is distracted because local lawyer, Becky Baldwin, needs her to deliver a packet of ransom money. Of course there's a dead body. Of course there are puzzles attached. And the case is only complicated by the appearance of one of Cora's many exes. As Abbot and Costello would say, "Who's on first?" And if you enjoy that kind of double talk dialog, you don't want to miss this one. Cora is in fine fettle.

[Harvey · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Cora Felton, the Puzzle Lady, can be clever, witty, and exasperating. Hall has proven to be a master of wordplay humor throughout his career. (I especially am a fan of his Stanley Hastings series).

In this one the plot lines are muddy, the puzzles are not well connected to the story, and not much is accomplished. Maybe I'm just getting tired of this formula (or maybe author Hall is).

[Earl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unlucky 13? I've been reading Parnell Hall's Puzzle Lady series for years now. They're always fun and quick. I love crosswords and tolerate Sudoku. And the books are full of witty dialogue. "$10,000 in Small, Unmarked Puzzles" for some reason didn't appeal to me. The characters were unlikable. The plot, predictable. I'm hesitant to say the series is getting stale but it needs more interesting and original premises.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cora Felton, the Puzzle Lady who can't really solve puzzles, is waiting for the birth of her new grandniece when local lawyer Becky Baldwin demands her help. Becky wants Cora to deliver a blackmail payment for an unnamed client, but Cora finds more than a deserted gas station when she gets to the drop-off point. Cora can't tell the local police anything, because she doesn't know anything, but everything goes really wrong when Cora's most disliked ex-husband shows up in town.

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book very much. The witty dialogue was a wonderful surprise. the only thing is I need to read this series from the beg. so that I can understand the relationships between the characters. He has a way of surprsing you with his writing style-- so I had to keep re-reading just to make sure I didn't miss anything. Will be reading the series in time!

Puzzles and suduko were hard-- I couldn't actually solve them.

[Mark Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cora is asked to make the drop for a blackmail payment. But instead of an empty dumpster, she finds a dead body seconds before the police show up. As always the story is very funny, but it also had the usual too quick wrap up.

Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Cora Felton series continues. There weren't many new characters in this book so you knew the "who-done-it" would be easy to figure out. Don't start the series with this book or else you would have no idea what is going on in the first 50 pages. On a side note, the puzzles themselves seemed much harder in this book than recent Puzzle Lady stories.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of the better Puzzle Lady books. Enjoyed it much more than the last several before it. Still somewhat predictable but the "Who's on First" type of dialogue between Cora and and others is amusing and the puzzles are fun.

[Leslie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked this up because I loved puzzles, but it didn't do it for me. Maybe it would have helped if I knew the characters. But I didn't. And they seemed to think that their dialogue was very witty. And it wasn't. Don't think I'll follow up on this series.

[Brenda Sharp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved that Cora's ex, Melvin was in trouble. He is such a terrible person and I love how Cora just does a complete freak out and is not herself whenever he is near. I thought that portrayal of how ex's behave was hilarious.

[Deborah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoy this series. This one wasn't as strong as some of the others. Still a fun easy read.

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think it is time to wrap up this series. The mysteries have been in decline, and there hasn't been much character development either.