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The Chicago Sun-Times crowns Parnell Hall's Puzzle Lady mysteries "a joy for lovers of both crosswords and frothy crime detection...Cora Felton is a lovable and unique sleuth." Now the crime-solving powers of the inimitable Cora and her clever niece, Sherry Carter, are put to the ultimate test as they square off against a yuletide killer who hides within the white-and-black shadows of an acrostic....A Puzzle In A Pear Tree
'Tis the season to be jolly, but Cora Felton, shanghaied into "The show more Twelve Days of Christmas" as a most reluctant maid-a-milking, has every right to feel like a grinch. When someone steals the partridge from the pear tree and replaces it with a cryptic puzzle she has no hope of solving, it's almost more than the Puzzle Lady can bear. But then smug crossword creator Harvey Beerbaum solves the acrostic, and it turns out to be a poem promising the death of an actress. This is more like it! Could the threat be aimed at Cora and her thespian debut? Or at Sherry, one of the ladies-dancing? Or at Sherry's nemesis, the pageant's predatory lead, Becky Baldwin?
Cora and Sherry barely have time for a mystery, what with trimming Christmas trees and buying Christmas presents, but rehearsals go on, under police protection--until a killer strikes elsewhere in a most unexpected manner.Ordinarily Cora Felton would be delighted to have two murders to solve. But this time she finds herself vying with a visiting Scotland Yard inspector who appears to have an all-too-personal stake in solving the crimes. Cora does too when her own niece becomes a prime suspect and the murderer strikes again.
Is someone trying to shut down the Christmas pageant? Cora would be only too happy if that were the case, but she fears the secrets lie deeper. Now she is interviewing witnesses, breaking into motel rooms, finding evidence, planting evidence, and having a merry old time. In fact, she would be perfectly happy--if this wasn't turning out to be a Christmas to die for!
From the Hardcover edition.
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Member Reviews
I enjoy these Puzzle Lady mysteries even though they are a stretch in believability. This has the killer sending messages in the form of anacrostic puzzles, which are my favorite type of word puzzles. The setting is at Christmas time in a small town in New England where Cora, known as the Puzzle Lady, lives with her niece, Sherry, who is the real Puzzle Lady. I like the character of elderly, unconventional, witty Cora, but Sherry comes across as uptight, whiny and somewhat cold. There were lots of twists and turns in the mystery itself, and the motive for the final resolution was strange, but I enjoyed the ride and all the quirky characters.
Okay, I must confess I LOVE it when there are endings within other 'possible' endings. Sorry, but you gotta read the book to understand the above statement. No spoilers here.
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Author Information
62+ Works 3,873 Members
Parnell Hall is a part-time actor, a former private detective, singer/songwriter, and full-time writer of novels and screenplays. He writes the Stanley Hastings Mystery series, the Steve Winslow courtroom drama series, and the Puzzle Lady Mystery series. He also writes under the pseudonym J. P. Hailey. He wrote the screenplay to the 1984 movie show more C.H.U.D. Hall co-authored New York Times bestseller Smooth Operator with Stuart Woods. (Bowker Author Biography) Parnell Hall has been nominated for the Edgar, the Shamus, and the Lefty Awards for his mysteries. Bantam will publish his third Puzzle Lady mystery, Puzzled to Death, in Fall 2001. He lives in New York City. (Publisher Provided) show less
Series
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- A Puzzle in a Pear Tree
- Original publication date
- 2002
- People/Characters
- Cora Felton; Sherry Carter; Harvey Beerbaum; Becky Baldwin
- Important places
- Bakerhaven, Connecticut, USA (fictitious town)
- Dedication
- For Don, who suggested the live Nativity.
- First words
- "No, no, no," Rupert Winston cried, silencing the piano and vaulting up onto the stage with all the spry grace of a much younger man.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)As the cameras rolled, she smiled her trademark Puzzle Lady smile and marched along in the snow, heartily mouthing the words.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 218
- Popularity
- 148,919
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.57)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 4
- ASINs
- 3
