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Puzzle Lady #6
And a Puzzle to Die On
When nerdy cruciverbalist Harvey Beerbaum throws a birthday bash for Cora Felton at the Bakerhaven Library, it's no surprise that the centerpiece, a huge cake decorated like a crossword puzzle, is a complete bust--until a corpse thrown from the second floor stacks hits it dead center and fills in 14 down. Cora may hate birthdays almost as much as she hates crossword puzzles--but when it comes to solving crimes, no one can hold a candle to the Puzzle Lady.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published August 30, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
January 20, 2017
Despite the birthday cupcake on the cover, I did not connect the title to the phrase "and one to grow on," but rather to "hill to die on," so I found the title awkward and annoying, but aside from that, I enjoyed the book. I started it at about 8:15, waiting for a bus, and finished it around 1PM on an airplane, reading it straight through; it was just right for that.
I'd read one Puzzle Lady book before, and as it was years ago, I don't remember it very well, but I think I liked this one better and found Cora funnier and more engaging. Cora the Recovering Alcoholic is way more fun than Cora the Alcoholic. (I have trouble finding anything fun in that.)
(Edit) I forgot to mention the little detail that amused me the most: At one point, someone describes a very unlikely thing as being likelier than the Red Sox winning the World Series.
The book was published in November 2004. (Goodreads says October, but i thought my copy said November.) It is set in late October.
I know it was written before the Red Sox won the World Series, but the timing, it is fantastic.
I'd read one Puzzle Lady book before, and as it was years ago, I don't remember it very well, but I think I liked this one better and found Cora funnier and more engaging. Cora the Recovering Alcoholic is way more fun than Cora the Alcoholic. (I have trouble finding anything fun in that.)
(Edit) I forgot to mention the little detail that amused me the most: At one point, someone describes a very unlikely thing as being likelier than the Red Sox winning the World Series.
The book was published in November 2004. (Goodreads says October, but i thought my copy said November.) It is set in late October.
I know it was written before the Red Sox won the World Series, but the timing, it is fantastic.
December 15, 2019
Another fine entry in the Puzzle Lady series.
Snapy prose, a complicated mystery, a couple of murders, and of course, crossword puzzles (but they aren't the only puzzle in this book). Cora is in fine form and her mind is sharp as ever. This is a series you want to stick with, and fortunately there are lots more in the series to enjoy.
Snapy prose, a complicated mystery, a couple of murders, and of course, crossword puzzles (but they aren't the only puzzle in this book). Cora is in fine form and her mind is sharp as ever. This is a series you want to stick with, and fortunately there are lots more in the series to enjoy.
August 15, 2021
While I love the character of Cora and her crew, this particular mystery was so confusing and convoluted it made my head hurt even while it was being explained.
There were too many people involved in a scheme that made no sense from the beginning, compounded with a second scheme that contradicted the first and also made no sense.
The summation of the case was like someone took a dozen eggs and threw them in the air and attempted to catch one, so your focus was on the 11 other eggs splattering on the ground only to find that the one that got caught broke in the hand of the person trying to catch it.
Did that make any sense? Cause this mystery didn't.
While I appreciate that the puzzle clues were not tied into the mystery itself (as a change of pace) it felt very seperate and almost like an afterthought in order to keep the puzzle lady connection.
Regardless of you are reading in order or not - skip this one.
There were too many people involved in a scheme that made no sense from the beginning, compounded with a second scheme that contradicted the first and also made no sense.
The summation of the case was like someone took a dozen eggs and threw them in the air and attempted to catch one, so your focus was on the 11 other eggs splattering on the ground only to find that the one that got caught broke in the hand of the person trying to catch it.
Did that make any sense? Cause this mystery didn't.
While I appreciate that the puzzle clues were not tied into the mystery itself (as a change of pace) it felt very seperate and almost like an afterthought in order to keep the puzzle lady connection.
Regardless of you are reading in order or not - skip this one.
November 30, 2017
When the best things about the book are the actual word puzzles sprinkled throughout you know you're in trouble.
As a word puzzle fan I had high hopes for this, but it just didn't deliver on any level. The plot was so convoluted that even the reveal had me crossing my eyes. The "dramatic" courtroom scene was ridiculously unrealistic. I wanted to skim - but couldn't because I knew I would miss something important. And I really did not like the heroine Cora at all. I think I was supposed to find her endearingly feisty and eccentric. All I saw was rude, coarse, obnoxious, and apparently totally unfazed about breaking any and all laws she found temporarily inconvenient. I'll never know if this was just a weak entry in the series as I never intend to read another one.
My recommendation? Skip it!
As a word puzzle fan I had high hopes for this, but it just didn't deliver on any level. The plot was so convoluted that even the reveal had me crossing my eyes. The "dramatic" courtroom scene was ridiculously unrealistic. I wanted to skim - but couldn't because I knew I would miss something important. And I really did not like the heroine Cora at all. I think I was supposed to find her endearingly feisty and eccentric. All I saw was rude, coarse, obnoxious, and apparently totally unfazed about breaking any and all laws she found temporarily inconvenient. I'll never know if this was just a weak entry in the series as I never intend to read another one.
My recommendation? Skip it!
March 22, 2014
Read this for my mystery book club. It was mildly amusing, but I wouldn't deliberately seek out another title in this series. I learned a new word: cruciverbalist. That is someone who makes crossword puzzles.
March 15, 2016
Sorry: Love crosswords but can't abide smart
alecks...or alices. This is "Murder She Wrote" with a gimmick. I quit on it because
the main character is so predictably obnoxious. (Blurb calls it 'frothy', so I'm
probably a curmudgeon.)
alecks...or alices. This is "Murder She Wrote" with a gimmick. I quit on it because
the main character is so predictably obnoxious. (Blurb calls it 'frothy', so I'm
probably a curmudgeon.)
January 21, 2014
Crazy, convoluted storyline~~~~
Read
February 9, 2015Didn't like the end because I didn't think we had enough info to actually determine who the killer really was. However, I liked the Puzzle Lady's typical banter.
March 2, 2019
"Cora Felton, the eccentric Puzzle Lady, is up to her old tricks again. Along with her brainy niece Sherry, the unlikely crime-solving duo match wits with a killer hiding behind an unsolved puzzle twenty years old.
"Lately the biggest mystery is how many candles to put on the cake of Bakerhaven's favorite puzzle lady. That is until Cora's birthday wish is granted: a juicy case filled with sex, scandal, and mayhem. Too bad it's two decades old -- and already solved. Darryl Daigue is serving a life sentence for one of the most heinous murders in town history. But his story leaves room for doubt ... and might even point to the real killer.
"Enlisting the help of her reluctant niece Sherry, Cora delves into a case as ominous as the crosswords arriving in her daily e-mail. When her #1 suspect turns up dead and another corpse quickly follows, Cora's certain the clues spell murder any way you look at them. Someone is clearly willing to kill -- and keep killing --to stop her from solving this murderous conundrum. Can Sherry keep her feisty aunt alive to see her next birthday?"
~~back cover
And Cora is nothing if not feisty. (And nuts?):
If that's not chutzpah, I don't know what is!
"Lately the biggest mystery is how many candles to put on the cake of Bakerhaven's favorite puzzle lady. That is until Cora's birthday wish is granted: a juicy case filled with sex, scandal, and mayhem. Too bad it's two decades old -- and already solved. Darryl Daigue is serving a life sentence for one of the most heinous murders in town history. But his story leaves room for doubt ... and might even point to the real killer.
"Enlisting the help of her reluctant niece Sherry, Cora delves into a case as ominous as the crosswords arriving in her daily e-mail. When her #1 suspect turns up dead and another corpse quickly follows, Cora's certain the clues spell murder any way you look at them. Someone is clearly willing to kill -- and keep killing --to stop her from solving this murderous conundrum. Can Sherry keep her feisty aunt alive to see her next birthday?"
~~back cover
And Cora is nothing if not feisty. (And nuts?):
"Half a block away from the house, Cora cut her lights, pulled to the curb, and got out. She walked up next to the black sedan, rapped on the window.
A flat-faced man with a broken nose and cauliflower ears looked surprised as hell to see her.
'You throw a stone through my window?' Cora asked.
The squahed-in face gawked.
'Naw, I didn't think so. You got your job.' Cora pointed to the house. 'Just a hint. She's in pajamas and robe and she's not going out. If you're getting paid by the hour. don't let me rain on your parade. But I promise you, nothing's happening tonight.'
Cora beamed at the discomfited private eye, and walked back to her car."
If that's not chutzpah, I don't know what is!
January 27, 2026
I did not read the earlier books in this series, so I found myself a bit lost in some of the character relationships in the book because of my unfamiliarity. That said, Cora Felton is a fun character, but the whole plot and mystery seemed a little convoluted. Cora is looking into the murder of Anita Dryer that had happened twenty years earlier. Darryl Daigue was convicted of the murder, and Becky Baldwin has been asked to review the case by Daigue's sister to see if there is any possibility of appeal. Cora finds herself being told to leave the case alone repeatedly and then several people drop dead. There was a fairly complicated reveal at the end. Overall, I liked Cora, but did not love the way the mystery developed.
October 26, 2020
Cora Felton, aka the Puzzle Lady, solves yet another crime. Not much to be said there. She is a lady (of a certain age) that we might like to age into becoming. She lives her life without caring what others think, she drives fast, breaks into homes, drinks her fair share of liquor, and pretty much annoys the local police on her way to solving the crime. The reader is left to decide that it's just so much fiction, but wouldn't we all like to throw caution to the wind and do as we damn well pleased?
Just a light-hearted gallop through the Connecticut countryside.
Just a light-hearted gallop through the Connecticut countryside.
November 21, 2022
4.5 stars.
This is my favorite installment so far. It's not quite as drop-dead funny as some of the previous books, but there are still many funny moments and the courtroom scene towards the end is just so much fun to read.
Also, it made such a difference to have professional constructors building the crossword puzzles -- I particularly enjoyed the third crossword's theme! The one downside is that the crosswords are within the text of the book, as are the solutions, so you have to pause reading to do the crosswords if you're interested in solving them on your own before the answers are revealed.
I also liked that Cora doesn't get drunk at all in this book.
This is my favorite installment so far. It's not quite as drop-dead funny as some of the previous books, but there are still many funny moments and the courtroom scene towards the end is just so much fun to read.
Also, it made such a difference to have professional constructors building the crossword puzzles -- I particularly enjoyed the third crossword's theme! The one downside is that the crosswords are within the text of the book, as are the solutions, so you have to pause reading to do the crosswords if you're interested in solving them on your own before the answers are revealed.
I also liked that Cora doesn't get drunk at all in this book.
June 13, 2019
This was a fun mystery overall, Cora the Puzzle Lady got to run amok more than usual. She even had a judge enthralled by her antics of zero-legal knowledge just orneriness in battling a simple charge and preliminary hearing!
I wasn't so happy with the resolution itself, which was explained twice. But I am super looking forward to reading the next book. I need more Sherry and her beau and their (lover's) verbal sparring.
I wasn't so happy with the resolution itself, which was explained twice. But I am super looking forward to reading the next book. I need more Sherry and her beau and their (lover's) verbal sparring.
January 20, 2020
Bingo! I'm obviously not reading these in order, but it doesn't seem to matter. I have hit the jackpot on this one--number six in the series. I laughed so loud my husband came thundering into the room to find out what was wrong with me. Cora is my new grown-up reading heroine. This one is my favorite so far and I will hang onto it to read again when I need a good belly laugh. Stephanie Plum, you have company.
June 5, 2022
Once again Cora is insanely bizarre and on point. Perhaps the best part of the book was when Cora was in court. I could not stop laughing at the insanity of it all. Some may have complained about this being unrealistic, yet hear we are in 2022 and have just witnessed the Depp vs Heard case 🤣
These are my go to books when I need some joy and mood lifting!
These are my go to books when I need some joy and mood lifting!
October 8, 2019
Lettura relax, con cruciverba da risolvere.
May 7, 2020
Worth it
May 25, 2020
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Light easy read.
March 7, 2021
Sassy, fun and quick witted.
July 19, 2023
Twists and turns in this one. I enjoyed it...it was a quick read. The puzzles were merely as a side show not part of the main story like the previous ones.
November 7, 2024
I'm done with Cora and her ridiculous attitude and the way she treats her niece. Thank God this is the last book I have in this series. She is an absolutely insufferable character.
April 2, 2025
Well written but didn’t like characters so won’t read any more in this series.
May 14, 2026
This was a fairly easy read. I enjoyed the main character, Cora. In typical mystery fashion, the author held out until the very end to reveal the truth.
February 6, 2009
My mother gave me this book recently for no particular reason, and I promise you I would never have read it otherwise.
There's not much to say about it. It's a mystery, in a series where the gimmick is that an elderly lady is famous in her small town for being "The Puzzle Lady" - a successful crossword constructor. But the real constructor is the Puzzle Lady's niece, and the elderly lady is just a young-acting grandma with a sharp mind and a smart mouth and a penchant for solving crimes.
The book is peppered with real crossword and anacrostic puzzles to be solved. I'm sure someone is geeking out on this somewhere. I confess even I enjoyed the concept, and completing the puzzles. The mystery itself however left me completely cold. The plot is too convoluted to be engrossing - in the end when the reveal comes it's tedious and barely makes sense. Then the denouement drags on for an extraneous boring chapter. I also didn't care about any of the characters, and didn't like the Puzzle Lade herself very much. She seems like a receptacle for a lot of worn-out cliches and a lot of jokes I never found to be funny the first time around let alone the fiftieth. She's an old lady but likes to drink and party and act young and - gasp! - talks about sex! She doesn't understand those new-fangled internets - but she's still smart, young lady. She's been married 7 or 8 times ... yawn. There was also a painful amount of lawyers (and other people) overusing the legal doublespeak to confuse opponents... and each other... and the reader.... and a completely inane court scene that was beyond unrealistic. And perhaps most obnoxiously, here and there were sort of almost-but-not-at-all "touching" moments where a character hints at a past alcohol problem, or a lost love, or ... something not explained enough for the reader to reallyt care about.
I feel strangely guilty panning a book that was a gift, from my mother no less who knows I like crossword puzzles and was only being thoughtful. But there it is. People who suck down 3 mystery paperbacks a day may like this book more than I did, because I'm assuming their tastes are less discerning. They'll especially like it if they also like puzzles. The only thing I can say in this book's favor is that I'm sure that if ever one book in the series should go meta and turn the tables on the Puzzle Lady and her niece to where the puzzles in the book are giving clues to the mystery itself... that could be cool and will no doubt be a high point in the series. (I suspect it would either be used as the first book in the series, or as the major turning point/last book.) But even so, I would predict that it *could* be a lot cooler than it will most likely prove to be in execution.
There's not much to say about it. It's a mystery, in a series where the gimmick is that an elderly lady is famous in her small town for being "The Puzzle Lady" - a successful crossword constructor. But the real constructor is the Puzzle Lady's niece, and the elderly lady is just a young-acting grandma with a sharp mind and a smart mouth and a penchant for solving crimes.
The book is peppered with real crossword and anacrostic puzzles to be solved. I'm sure someone is geeking out on this somewhere. I confess even I enjoyed the concept, and completing the puzzles. The mystery itself however left me completely cold. The plot is too convoluted to be engrossing - in the end when the reveal comes it's tedious and barely makes sense. Then the denouement drags on for an extraneous boring chapter. I also didn't care about any of the characters, and didn't like the Puzzle Lade herself very much. She seems like a receptacle for a lot of worn-out cliches and a lot of jokes I never found to be funny the first time around let alone the fiftieth. She's an old lady but likes to drink and party and act young and - gasp! - talks about sex! She doesn't understand those new-fangled internets - but she's still smart, young lady. She's been married 7 or 8 times ... yawn. There was also a painful amount of lawyers (and other people) overusing the legal doublespeak to confuse opponents... and each other... and the reader.... and a completely inane court scene that was beyond unrealistic. And perhaps most obnoxiously, here and there were sort of almost-but-not-at-all "touching" moments where a character hints at a past alcohol problem, or a lost love, or ... something not explained enough for the reader to reallyt care about.
I feel strangely guilty panning a book that was a gift, from my mother no less who knows I like crossword puzzles and was only being thoughtful. But there it is. People who suck down 3 mystery paperbacks a day may like this book more than I did, because I'm assuming their tastes are less discerning. They'll especially like it if they also like puzzles. The only thing I can say in this book's favor is that I'm sure that if ever one book in the series should go meta and turn the tables on the Puzzle Lady and her niece to where the puzzles in the book are giving clues to the mystery itself... that could be cool and will no doubt be a high point in the series. (I suspect it would either be used as the first book in the series, or as the major turning point/last book.) But even so, I would predict that it *could* be a lot cooler than it will most likely prove to be in execution.
March 20, 2014
Puzzle Lady Cora Felton is hiding from her birthday by digging into a 20 year old murder. Why is someone interested in the case now? Is the real killer behind bars? The plot contains plenty of twists, but I felt the ending was overly convoluted. There was plenty of word play, which is why I read the series, so I loved that. Those who read for the cross word puzzles might be disappointed to learn they are unrelated to the mail plot. Personally, that didn't bother me.
Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.
Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.
May 22, 2016
Normally detective characters are (sometimes) pushy and determinedly track down clues with ways that may or may not be the most legal. But is there anyone's house this lady didn't break into?
I found the main character, Cora, to be a bit frustrating. She kept going about her own way doing what she wanted no matter what anyone else said (even her lawyer).
Sure finally at the end things maybe sorta fell into place but this wasn't my favorite story for sure.
I found the main character, Cora, to be a bit frustrating. She kept going about her own way doing what she wanted no matter what anyone else said (even her lawyer).
Sure finally at the end things maybe sorta fell into place but this wasn't my favorite story for sure.
March 10, 2020
Super Cozy Mystery.
Cora's niece Sherry gives her birthday present that leads the puzzle lady on a path of a 20 year old murder. A lot of the clues have gone cold while some of the witnesses seem to be already dead or have dissappeared over the years.
Mixed in are adultery and intrigue on top of 2 NEW murders.
Recommended !!!
Cora's niece Sherry gives her birthday present that leads the puzzle lady on a path of a 20 year old murder. A lot of the clues have gone cold while some of the witnesses seem to be already dead or have dissappeared over the years.
Mixed in are adultery and intrigue on top of 2 NEW murders.
Recommended !!!
December 24, 2015
Admirable entry in Hall's series featuring a feisty elder who is having a birthday she doesn't care to recognize even though she receives crossword puzzles from famous puzzle writers giving her clues to solve the latest mystery. Fun read.
October 26, 2008
Yeah. Quirky. Not a bad story, but the gimmick of crosswords all the way through not really my cup of tea. I particularly liked the feisty and almost-coarse main character. Nice touch!
January 20, 2009
Another fun read about the antics of Cora Felton! I love Cora Felton - she is a great (and surprisingly believable) character. She reminds me of my great-grandmother.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews