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Puzzle Lady #12
The KenKen Killings
The Puzzle Lady just can’t stay out of trouble. When the late Chester T. Markowitz, a man she never met, leaves $10,000 to his beloved wife, Cora Felton, the Puzzle Lady can’t help cashing the check. Quicker than you can say legal proceedings, Cora’s least favorite ex-husband, Melvin, shows up in Bakerhaven with an attorney and a young bimbo, demanding that her alimony be terminated on the grounds she remarried. When a key witness in the alimony hearing gets murdered, a KenKen puzzle is left at the scene of the crime. Is someone trying to tell Cora something? Before she can find out, she runs into more murders, more puzzles (both KenKen and crossword) and a murder weapon that seems to point to Melvin as the killer! At least it might have, if Cora hadn’t suppressed it. Does the Puzzle Lady still have feelings for the scoundrel she once married? Don’t ask. She might kill you! This twelfth in the Puzzle Lady series is sure to please fans, and make some new ones.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published January 17, 2011
17 people are currently reading
315 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
March 3, 2014
As always this book was filled with word play/bickering and puzzles. It even manages to mock itself for the conventions of the series (puzzles showing up on dead bodies). But what really got me was a major plot point that is dropped once the real story gets rolling.
Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.
Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.
May 27, 2025
Plot
The Puzzle Lady just can’t stay out of trouble. When the late Chester T. Markowitz, a man she never met, leaves $10,000 to his beloved wife, Cora Felton, the Puzzle Lady can’t help cashing the check. Quicker than you can say legal proceedings, Cora’s least favorite ex-husband, Melvin, shows up in Bakerhaven with an attorney and a young bimbo, demanding that her alimony be terminated on the grounds she remarried. When a key witness in the alimony hearing gets murdered, a KenKen puzzle is left at the scene of the crime. Is someone trying to tell Cora something? Before she can find out, she runs into more murders, more puzzles (both KenKen and crossword) and a murder weapon that seems to point to Melvin as the killer! At least it might have, if Cora hadn’t suppressed it. Does the Puzzle Lady still have feelings for the scoundrel she once married? Don’t ask. She might kill you!
My Analysis
While this book comes a bit over half in the series, it’s my first read of the Puzzle Lady and her quirky way of solving crimes.
First, the characters. Pretty surface. I don’t get any deep descriptions of most of the characters. Blonde, redhead, etc. I don’t get an age to the characters, except that Bambi is young. So, I had an issue with getting a mental picture of the main players such as Cora, Sherry, and Harper.
Second, dialogue. Quick. Back and forth. The problem here was a lack of tag lines. This is not recommended because readers like to be remined of who is speaking. Long back and forth with no beats or tags tends to confuse the readers. I was confused, for a second, a couple times. The other problem is if the writer does this while there are three or more characters in the scene. Hall jumps back and forth, then adds a third speaker, then jumps back to the first without a tag. I was able to catch up, but, a simple CHARACTER said would solve the issue.
Third, plot. Wow, what a complex, intricate little story here. It took a while after the first KenKen came into play before the next one entered. I wasn’t sure we were going to get back to that. And then add in crosswords.
The writer does a nice job of inserting the clues so the reader can play along. Most in this book are pretty simple to solve. Those that don’t come to mind right away are filled in as you fill in the easy stuff. Anyway, it’s a nice addition to the story and does well with the cozy mystery subgenre, kind of like when cooking mystery writers add in the recipes.
So, where do we go from here? I may have missed something, but there’s a big alimony case going on amid all the murders. That wasn’t solved at the end. The story wrapped up nicely, but I didn’t see where the decision of the court case was made. I thought the entire thing was a scam, and I think it was. The issue was that Cora never came out and proved it was.
A couple missing words and punctuation, but a very nice little complex mystery that was very enjoyable. I did like how Cora managed to finagle her way out of trouble (okay, stretch your imagination a little with the cops and the lawyers and have fun reading it) with her “logic” and obvious evasions.
I’ll be looking forward to more from Hall. Despite my issues mentioned above, I’ll still give this a:
Blue Belt
The Puzzle Lady just can’t stay out of trouble. When the late Chester T. Markowitz, a man she never met, leaves $10,000 to his beloved wife, Cora Felton, the Puzzle Lady can’t help cashing the check. Quicker than you can say legal proceedings, Cora’s least favorite ex-husband, Melvin, shows up in Bakerhaven with an attorney and a young bimbo, demanding that her alimony be terminated on the grounds she remarried. When a key witness in the alimony hearing gets murdered, a KenKen puzzle is left at the scene of the crime. Is someone trying to tell Cora something? Before she can find out, she runs into more murders, more puzzles (both KenKen and crossword) and a murder weapon that seems to point to Melvin as the killer! At least it might have, if Cora hadn’t suppressed it. Does the Puzzle Lady still have feelings for the scoundrel she once married? Don’t ask. She might kill you!
My Analysis
While this book comes a bit over half in the series, it’s my first read of the Puzzle Lady and her quirky way of solving crimes.
First, the characters. Pretty surface. I don’t get any deep descriptions of most of the characters. Blonde, redhead, etc. I don’t get an age to the characters, except that Bambi is young. So, I had an issue with getting a mental picture of the main players such as Cora, Sherry, and Harper.
Second, dialogue. Quick. Back and forth. The problem here was a lack of tag lines. This is not recommended because readers like to be remined of who is speaking. Long back and forth with no beats or tags tends to confuse the readers. I was confused, for a second, a couple times. The other problem is if the writer does this while there are three or more characters in the scene. Hall jumps back and forth, then adds a third speaker, then jumps back to the first without a tag. I was able to catch up, but, a simple CHARACTER said would solve the issue.
Third, plot. Wow, what a complex, intricate little story here. It took a while after the first KenKen came into play before the next one entered. I wasn’t sure we were going to get back to that. And then add in crosswords.
The writer does a nice job of inserting the clues so the reader can play along. Most in this book are pretty simple to solve. Those that don’t come to mind right away are filled in as you fill in the easy stuff. Anyway, it’s a nice addition to the story and does well with the cozy mystery subgenre, kind of like when cooking mystery writers add in the recipes.
So, where do we go from here? I may have missed something, but there’s a big alimony case going on amid all the murders. That wasn’t solved at the end. The story wrapped up nicely, but I didn’t see where the decision of the court case was made. I thought the entire thing was a scam, and I think it was. The issue was that Cora never came out and proved it was.
A couple missing words and punctuation, but a very nice little complex mystery that was very enjoyable. I did like how Cora managed to finagle her way out of trouble (okay, stretch your imagination a little with the cops and the lawyers and have fun reading it) with her “logic” and obvious evasions.
I’ll be looking forward to more from Hall. Despite my issues mentioned above, I’ll still give this a:
Blue Belt
March 15, 2019
"The Puzzle Lady, Cora Felton, is surprised to learn she's inherited $10,000. Of course she doesn't even remember the man who was supposedly one of her former husbands. Turns out it's an elaborate scam cooked up by Melvin Crabtree, Cora's fifth husband, to get out of paying her alimony. But it's more than a numbers game when a banker connected to the case is shot to death, and a KenKen math puzzle is found next to the body.
"With the puzzles coming fast and furious, Cora sifts through clues -- up, down, and across -- while battling shyster lawyers, jaded judges and her scheming snake of an ex. Then another murder interrupts her day in court. And no matter how many different ways she adds, subtracts, divides or multiplies, the total tallies up to one scorned killer banking on revenge."
~~back cover
There certainly is no shortage of suspects in this zany mystery. And our Cora is still her crafty, thumb-her-nose at rules and throw-caution-to-the-wind force to be reckoned with. There are a couple of unexpected developments in people's lives in this book, so if you've been following the "cast," you'll be intrigued to find out how those little subplots go.
These are all fast, funny, easy reads and quite enjoyable.
"With the puzzles coming fast and furious, Cora sifts through clues -- up, down, and across -- while battling shyster lawyers, jaded judges and her scheming snake of an ex. Then another murder interrupts her day in court. And no matter how many different ways she adds, subtracts, divides or multiplies, the total tallies up to one scorned killer banking on revenge."
~~back cover
There certainly is no shortage of suspects in this zany mystery. And our Cora is still her crafty, thumb-her-nose at rules and throw-caution-to-the-wind force to be reckoned with. There are a couple of unexpected developments in people's lives in this book, so if you've been following the "cast," you'll be intrigued to find out how those little subplots go.
These are all fast, funny, easy reads and quite enjoyable.
April 4, 2020
A quick, lighthearted (despite being a murder mystery) read - finished it in a few hours, as a nice break from books that take more thought. I had never heard of the series before, but I do like crossword puzzles. I didn't bother doing the KenKen puzzles (I much prefer word puzzles to number puzzles), but I did the three crosswords (writing the answers in grid format on a blank sheet of paper). Cora may not be the most sympathetic character, but she is interesting and the banter between her and just about everyone else is kind of fun to read. Nothing deep, no references to literature or philosophy (as my favorite mystery series has), and probably not very realistic in a lot of ways, but it's was what I wanted today.
August 21, 2018
Hilarious and entertaining.
April 7, 2019
This series is just fun! Not deep, not thoughtful...it’s like literary junk food and perfectly divine once in a while.
August 18, 2019
Yet another fun, funny, romp. It was a very quick read. It would be a great TV series. Loved it.
May 10, 2024
Cute story. A little unrealistic and the main character drove me a bit nuts, and the quick back and forth conversations were sometimes hard to follow. But overall a good read.
April 22, 2025
Cora Felton, the puzzle lady, has gone and done it again. She cashed a shady 'inheritance' check. Has been served notice of a lawsuit by her ex-husband over alimony. Now the witnesses against her in the alimony trial are dropping like flies, with puzzles accompanying the bodies. They are two-fold; a KenKen and a crossword are found that together point to something pertaining to the case. The puzzles incriminate Cora, her ex, and even point to locations of key pieces of evidence once solved. Is someone calling out Cora, are they to frame a party or parties for murder, or is it the basis for a more diabolical plot than anyone thought?
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February 25, 2021I am not a fan of the puzzle lady book's. I struggled to get through it!
May 13, 2012
According to the dust jacket, RT Book Reviews described one of the Puzzle Lady books as "Grouch Marx meets Jessica Fletcher." Frankly, there's no better description that I could find were I to hunt for years! The books in this series are quick, happy, hilarious reads with good mysteries, good puzzles, and dialog snappier than a fresh thick-cut potato chip. (My friends will understand readily why I make a food comparison. The rest of you, just deal with it.)
I must make a plug for Hall's delightful means of saying something without saying it. To wit: "Cora inquired if Chief Harper was an amorous individual of limited intelligence." Sometimes, you just have to put a book aside and ROTFL for a moment. ^_^
I must make a plug for Hall's delightful means of saying something without saying it. To wit: "Cora inquired if Chief Harper was an amorous individual of limited intelligence." Sometimes, you just have to put a book aside and ROTFL for a moment. ^_^
February 11, 2016
One of the Puzzle Lady's (Cora Felton) ex-husbands is in town trying to discredit her in order to sever her alimony payments. Along with him is his current girlfriend Bambi and following him is his current wife.
The banker testifying against Cora is found dead as is the bank teller who also testified.... Meanwhile Kenken & related crossword puzzles are turning up...all pointing to various suspects.
With her quick wit & smart mouth Cora manages to save her alimony payments and unmask the murderer.
This is Not great literature or even great writing...just a fast, easy & enjoyable read.
The banker testifying against Cora is found dead as is the bank teller who also testified.... Meanwhile Kenken & related crossword puzzles are turning up...all pointing to various suspects.
With her quick wit & smart mouth Cora manages to save her alimony payments and unmask the murderer.
This is Not great literature or even great writing...just a fast, easy & enjoyable read.
March 25, 2011
If you are looking for a quick fun read, the Puzzle lady series always is a good choice. A crossword puzzler compiler hides from her ex-husband by using her aunt's photo above her puzzles. Her aunt couldn't solve a crossword to save her life, and is constantly getting into trouble. Over the series the aunt becomes recognized for solving another kind of puzzle - murders. The characters are great and it's always a fun read. There are crosswords or other puzzles throughout the book to help the characters and you solve the mystery.
April 23, 2011
Cora Felton, the Puzzle Lady, is so eager to inherit money from Chester T. Markowitz that she agrees that he's her ex-husband. Unfortunately, the whole inheritance is a scam instituted by Melvin, her real, most recent, ex-husband, designed to end her alimony payments. When Melvin's witnesses start dying, a series of puzzles seems to point at--Melvin. Cora is sure that she doesn't care for Melvin, but she doesn't want to see him in prison where he can't pay her alimony. So she sets out to prove that he's not guilty, for once in his miserable life.
February 2, 2015
I've read several of the Puzzle Lady mysteries. The stories are quick to read since the sentences are all fairly short and somewhat lighthearted, even while they are talking about murders. There is always a puzzle that is connected with them that provides clues about the killer. From this series, I learned about different types of sudoku puzzles. In this one, they include a new-to-me puzzle, the kenken. It is going to take me some practice to learn how to solve them, but you don't need to learn in order to read and enjoy the books.
February 18, 2011
This barely rates a two out of five stars. My biggest problem is Cora. She's incredibly annoying and shallow and so it's hard to feel bad that she gets herself in quite the legal pickle.
I did find out what a KenKen puzzle was and since I hate math and numbers, I'll be avoiding those in the future. I likely won't be reading this series in the future, either.
I did find out what a KenKen puzzle was and since I hate math and numbers, I'll be avoiding those in the future. I likely won't be reading this series in the future, either.
August 18, 2011
Loved it! It really kepts me guessing until the end. I also loved the puzzles that are scattered throughout the book. I wish I had photocopied the puzzles before I went on vacation with this book so that I could have tried them myself. This book is great for anyone who liked mystery and/or puzzles.
November 5, 2010
These are always fun, quick reads. The word play can be exasperating at times but I do appreciate Parnell Hall's talent for this sort of thing (although I do prefer his Stanley Hastings series).
The KenKen Killings is one of the better entries in this series.
The KenKen Killings is one of the better entries in this series.
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July 29, 2011This is the last book in this series that I will read--the Puzzle Lady is very irritating, and in this one it was just the straw that broke the camel's back. She is silly and difficult, and this time it was just too much
August 12, 2013
This may be the worst book I have ever read. Inconsistent, unpleasant characters; weak writing; gimmicky puzzles that are not well linked to the action or characters. How this series got to #12 is beyond me!
July 18, 2015
I picked this up because I adore puzzles! The puzzles in the book get 5 stars. However, the content and word choice of the author won't have me reading again. I had truly hoped this would be a great new find, but I cannot in good conscience recommend this series.
July 8, 2016
I loved the introduction of the Ken-kens but I had never solved one so it took me longer to work through the puzzles in this book. I found it to a wonderful addition to the different style of puzzles.
February 7, 2011
I figured out "whodunnit" about halfway through. :(
February 9, 2011
Really 3 1/2 stars but better than a 3 especially since I disliked his last puzzle daly mystery and he seems to be back on track with this onbe.
February 19, 2011
Its a good airplane, beach read. Cora's actually not my favorite character in the series I missed Sherri and Aaron.
March 30, 2011
The bickering between the aunt and niece drives me crazy. The language in offensive, but I do enjoy the puzzles and of course the mystery.
June 10, 2011
I always enjoy a "puzzle lady" book. They are so easy and simple to read. I love the characters, as well.
August 30, 2011
Loved the puzzles....tolerated the mystery.
September 27, 2011
another entertaining mystery by Parnell Hall - I ♥ Cora Felton AKA the Puzzle Lady and I ♥ Parnell Hall. He has a talent for writing believable, entertaining dialog.
November 1, 2011
These Puzzle Lady books are always entertaining.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews