Lights! Camera! Puzzles! A Puzzle Lady Mystery

At the start of Hall’s enjoyable 20th mystery featuring Bakerhaven, Conn., crossword puzzle creator Cora Felton (after 2018’s The Purloined Puzzle), Cora is less than thrilled to learn that her ex-husband, Melvin Crabtree, has sold his tell-all memoir, Confessions of a Trophy Husband: My Life with the Puzzle Lady, to Hollywood and is styling himself as executive producer. To keep an eye on the project, Cora heads to New York City for the filming and is immediately embroiled in murder when a sandbag lands on the head of gofer Karen Hart. The subsequent murders of Karen’s fellow gofer Melinda Fisher, actor Fred Roberts, and Karen’s boyfriend, Patrick Monahan, as well as an attempted assault on director Sandy Delfin and an unsolved crossword puzzle, complicate the case for Cora and Sergeant Crowley, her former lover. Cora and the film’s shrewd leading lady, Angela Broadbent, team up to scan the cast and crew for possible suspects. Hall’s sly swipes at the movie business enhance this lively tale that keeps readers guessing about the culprit to the end. [em](Apr.) [/em]