Hall, Parnell: A Clue for the Puzzle Lady

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Sherry Carter and her photogenic aunt Cora--a.k.a. the Puzzle Lady, the eponymous mistress of a syndicated newspaper column for puzzle lovers--are new to Bakerhaven, Connecticut, but they've moved in just in time. The small town's police force is not accustomed to murder investigations, and when a young woman turns up dead in the cemetery with what appears to be a crossword clue in her pocket, the police chief naturally turns to the town's resident cruciverbalist for expert opinion. He gets more than he bargains for, as the bibulous Cora is eager to investigate the case herself.

Parnell Hall's A Clue for the Puzzle Lady, the first in a series of Puzzle Lady mysteries, is well worth the read. The cozy novel offers a decent mystery that should keep readers guessing (assuming they don't make the mistake of completing the crossword puzzle that accompanies the text prior to reading the book!), as well as a number of likeable secondary characters and, most importantly, an unusual and comic relationship between the book's protagonists, the "Puzzle Lady" and her often exasperated and always linguistically adept niece.