And a Puzzle to Die On Read online

  Raves for Parnell Hall’s

  Puzzle Lady Mysteries

  AND A PUZZLE TO DIE ON

  “This is a wonderful addition to the Puzzle Lady series—and surprisingly, it’s not light.… This installment raises the bar for this series and is a wonderful, involving read.”

  —Romantic Times, four stars

  “This is an entertaining entry in the series.”

  —Mystery Lovers Bookshop News

  WITH THIS PUZZLE, I THEE KILL

  “Amusing, adventurous murder mystery hides clues in cryptograms.… Hall skillfully delivers a delightfully different host of suspects. All in all, it’s an amusing romp through a murder mystery of the lighter style.”

  —Charleston Post & Courier

  “Mystery fans who are also crossword puzzle experts will welcome Parnell Hall’s With This Puzzle, I Thee Kill.”

  —San Diego Union-Tribune

  “The funniest, smartest Puzzle Lady book so far … Great clues, great cryptograms, great fun.”

  —Toronto Globe and Mail

  “Cora is a wonderful—and funny—curmudgeon. The writing is smooth and the plot moves along nicely.… The puzzles are a small fraction of the fun in these books.”

  —Mystery News

  “An enjoyable, easy read, and for a puzzle-lover, ideal.”

  —Old Book Barn Gazette

  “Hall’s gift for dialogue is never better than in the exchanges between Sherry and Cora.… The pace is brisk, slowed only by the deciphering of the cryptograms.… A treat.”

  —Drood Review of Mystery

  A PUZZLE IN A PEAR TREE

  “Ideal for the puzzle fan as well as the mystery fan, this frothy, funny and ingenious fourth ‘Puzzle Lady’ novel has enough plot twists for the most avid mystery reader.”

  —Dallas Morning News

  “Crossworders will relish A Puzzle in a Pear Tree.”

  —Denver Post

  “All will enjoy Hall’s nimble wordplay.”

  —Booked & Printed

  “The fun for fans of this series consists of the nexus between the plot and the puzzle.… Hall’s books involve the reader in the action the way few others do.”

  —Richmond Times-Dispatch

  “An ingenious series of lighthearted, humorous mysteries.”

  —Winston-Salem Journal

  “Wonderfully funny. Parnell Hall has such a flair for making a mystery funny that reading his books is always a pleasure.”

  —Romantic Times Book Club, Top Pick

  “The brash and loveable Cora Felton is back with another mystery.… If you haven’t read one of the author’s whodunits this might be a good time to start.”

  —Abilene Reporter-News

  “Hall is a pure entertainer.… As one of the few active practitioners of the elaborate Golden Age—style detective novel, Hall should be cherished.”

  —Weekly Standard

  PUZZLED TO DEATH

  “A thoroughly entertaining tale.”

  —Chicago Sun-Times

  “Fun.”

  —Chicago Tribune

  “Funny, obnoxious, and deadly.”

  —Rendezvous

  “A fun meringue of a novel … the kind of mystery not often seen these days.”

  —San Jose (CA) Mercury News

  “Quirky … Cora is funny, irreverent … light reading with a twist.”

  —Mystery News

  “The third in a series that we suspect will just keep getting bigger. Not only is the device a natural … but Cora Felton is an appealing character … quick as a cobra with her wit.… Almost as much fun as doing the Sunday Times puzzle.”

  —American Way

  LAST PUZZLE & TESTAMENT

  “Cora is emerging as a lovable and unique sleuth. [She’s] no sweet-natured Jessica Fletcher or wise-as-an-owl Miss Marple.… This series is a joy for lovers of both crosswords and frothy crime detection.”

  —Chicago Sun-Times

  “[Last Puzzle & Testament] has its merry way with the cozy concept of the small-town spinster-sleuth.”

  —Los Angeles Times

  “Fun from the first page.”

  —Dallas Morning News

  “Takes a sweet-faced grandmother on the gumshoe spree of a lifetime.”

  —Washington Post Book World

  “The author proves himself very adept at constructing the puzzles that are at the core of his mystery. The reader gets a chance to solve the puzzles before the protagonists do, which adds to the fun.”

  —Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

  “A decidedy different pair of detectives.”

  —Creative Logic

  “This novel’s puzzles within puzzles will charm and so will its attractive cast.”

  —Booklist

  “Laced with witty dialogue and enough twists to satisfy the most demanding of mystery fans.”

  —Greenburg (PA) Tribune-Review

  A CLUE FOR THE PUZZLE LADY

  “Some puzzles are real killers … devious and delightful.”

  —Chicago Sun-Times

  “A twisting plot, an intriguing puzzle, and a surprisingly satisfying romance. This one is hard to beat.”

  —Janet Evanovich

  “Deft … clever … fun.”

  —Booklist

  “The real lure here is the mystery, whose ingenuity takes quite unexpected forms en route to the final unmasking. Heaven for crossword fans, who’ll rejoice over the solve-as-you-go puzzle!”

  —Kirkus Reviews

  “Cora Felton is a delightfully different sort of sleuth—hardly the decorous, tea-sipping village spinster. In truth, she’s a hoot. I hope her niece can keep her out of too much trouble so that we can all savor future adventures of the Puzzle Lady.”

  —Joan Hess

  “In addition to his trademark zippy, witty dialogue, Hall provides a dandy puzzle, congenial secondary characters, plenty of laughs, and a true original in Cora Felton, the Puzzle Lady.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “A Clue for the Puzzle Lady is fresh, funny, and ingeniously devised. It kept me guessing right down to the end—just like a good crossword!”

  —Will Shortz, Crossword Editor, New York Times

  “Parnell Hall’s superb new series dazzles like the Fourth of July, cracking with fun, wordplay, more twists than a maze, and a clever, vulnerable, wild woman sleuth—Cora Felton, the Puzzle Lady, sheer delight!”

  —Carolyn Hart

  “A fresh series with an engaging sleuthing duo … a lighthearted romp.”

  —Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine

  “A fun and entertaining story to challenge all mystery readers … A great premise … lively characters, an intriguing plot and a well-written story.”

  —Rendezvous

  “[An] homage to the very entertaining, breezy mind-game mysteries of the 1930s and ’40s. Enjoy the show!”

  —Los Angeles Times

  “A witty, airy, and busy detective story … filled with love triangles, false leads, and danger.”

  —Dallas Morning News

  AND A PUZZLE TO DIE ON

  A Bantam Book

  PUBLISHING HISTORY

  Bantam hardcover edition published November 2004

  Bantam mass market edition / September 2005

  Published by

  Bantam Dell

  A Division of Random House, Inc.

  New York, New York

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved

  Copyright © 2004 b
y Parnell Hall

  Puzzles edited by Ellen Ripstein

  Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2004045094

  Bantam Books and the rooster colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

  eISBN: 978-0-553-90188-7

  Published simultaneously in Canada

  www.bantamdell.com

  v3.1

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Dedication

  Excerpt from Stalking the Puzzle Lady

  Other Books by This Author

  About the Author

  OTHER PEOPLE’S PUZZLES

  I want to thank Nancy Salomon, Manny Nosowsky, Cathy Millhauser, and Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon for constructing the puzzles that appear in this book. The ease with which these experts provided what was needed was amazing. I could not have done this book without them.

  I want to thank New York Times crossword puzzle editor Will Shortz for mustering the troops. Excellent suggestions all, Will!

  Last, but not least, I want to thank my puzzle editor, Ellen Ripstein, who has saved me time and again from the folly of my own feeble constructions. I am delighted for once to be able to assign her the easier task of editing the puzzles of people who actually know what they are doing. what they are doing.

  “Is it a milestone?” Iris Cooper asked. The Bakerhaven First Selectman pulled her sweater around her shoulder with one hand while balancing her coffee and muffin in the other. It was late October, Connecticut foliage season was giving up the ghost, and early winter winds were whipping mini tornadoes of dead leaves along the street.

  Sherry Carter, ambushed on her way into Cushman’s Bake Shop, shrugged evasively. Sherry wore a baby-blue turtleneck and suede jacket, new for fall. “Cora says at her age they’re all milestones.”

  “You mean she won’t say?” Harvey Beerbaum asked. The expression on the portly cruciverbalist’s face indicated that such behavior was inexplicable, if not downright subversive.

  Sherry smiled. “There are two things my aunt refuses to remember. One is birthdays. The other is wedding anniversaries.”

  “Of course, when you have as many wedding anniversaries as Cora, that’s understandable,” Iris Cooper said. No one quite knew how many former husbands Cora had.

  “But she only has one birthday,” Harvey persisted peevishly. “How old was she last year?”

  “What a question!” Iris Cooper exclaimed. “It’s not polite to ask a woman’s age!”

  “You asked if it was a milestone,” Harvey pointed out.

  “That’s entirely different. Milestones are important. They need to be noted, celebrated, commiserated with over.” Iris frowned. “Is that correct usage? I wish Cora were here to tell me.”

  Sherry Carter suppressed a smile. If the truth be known, her aunt Cora wouldn’t know a grammatical mistake if it stood up on its hind legs, stuck its thumbs in its ears, waggled its fingers, and said, “Nyah, nyah, you ain’t got no culture, does you, Miss Puzzle Penning Person?” Sherry actually wrote the nationally syndicated crossword puzzle column her aunt got credit for. Cora merely supplied the sweet-faced, white-haired, grandmotherly picture that accompanied it.

  Harvey and Iris didn’t know that.

  “Come on,” Harvey insisted. “What are we going to do?”

  “What do you mean?” Sherry said.

  “Well, we have to have a party.”

  “Cora doesn’t want a party.”

  “Nonsense. Everyone wants a party. Isn’t that right, Iris? Cora is our town’s most famous citizen. She should certainly be celebrated.”

  “Who should be celebrated?” Aaron Grant said, strolling up. The young reporter had clearly overslept. His shirt was unbuttoned and his tie was untied. He had shaved, but his curly dark hair was dry and uncombed, indicating he hadn’t showered.

  Sherry’s face lit up when she saw him. “Ah, just in time. Aaron, will you please help me explain Cora wouldn’t want us to make a fuss.”

  “Make a fuss about what?”

  “It’s her birthday,” Harvey Beerbaum said.

  “Really?” Aaron said. “We should do something.”

  Sherry groaned at this unexpected sabotage. “No, we shouldn’t. Cora wouldn’t want us to do anything. She’s a very private person.”

  “Very private people do not do TV commercials,” Iris pointed out. “Come on, Sherry. Cora’s had a hard time of it lately. I bet her spirits could use a lift.”

  “Cora’s just fine,” Sherry retorted. “She was going to get married, it didn’t work out. If I told you how many times Cora thought she was going to get married and it didn’t work out …”

  “Nearly as many as the times it did?” Aaron asked mischievously.

  Chief Harper came out of the bakery carrying a coffee and a cranberry muffin. He’d already nibbled the top off the muffin, and looked somewhat sheepish about it.

  “Eating on the run, Chief?” Aaron asked.

  Harper flushed. “Aaron Grant, if you put that in the paper …”

  “Oh, I think we’ll come up with something better, even on a slow news day.”

  “You could write about Cora’s party,” Iris Cooper suggested.

  Chief Harper frowned. “Party? What party?”

  “It’s Cora’s birthday,” Iris informed him.

  “Really,” Chief Harper said. “Is it a milestone?”

  “See?” Iris Cooper told Harvey. “That’s the way to ask.”

  “Why? It doesn’t get an answer.”

  “No. But it’s the proper form of the question. I thought you were a wordsmith, Harvey.”

  “Pooh.” It was one of the prissy man’s strongest epithets. For a second he considered apologizing.

  “What’s this about a party?” Chief Harper was clearly torn between wanting to finish the conversation and wanting to get to the police station to eat his muffin. The good man seemed just on the verge of jamming the pastry into his mouth.

  “We’re planning a party for Cora,” Harvey Beerbaum told him. “To celebrate her birthday, whichever one it may be.”

  “I’m telling you,” Sherry said, “you can throw a party, but Cora isn’t going to come.”

  Harvey Beerbaum was undaunted. “All right, then. We’ll throw a surprise party.”

  “What?” Iris Cooper said.

  “Certainly,” Harvey said. “That’s precisely the thing to do. Plan a secret party as a big surprise.”

  “Cora likes surpri
ses less than she likes birthdays,” Sherry Carter warned.

  Harvey Beerbaum was having too much fun to notice. “Oh, this will be delightful. We’ll do it in secret. Cora will be the only one in town who doesn’t know we’re planning it. Then, on the night of her birthday … When is her birthday?”

  “Next Thursday.”

  “So soon?”

  “Sorry it’s such short notice. Usually I start discussing Cora’s birthday a good month or two before the event.”

  The irony went right over Harvey’s head. “Then we’ll have to move fast.” His eyes widened at the sight of a jack-o’-lantern in the window of Cushman’s Bake Shop. “Good lord. Is that …”

  “What?”

  “Halloween? No, that’s Wednesday. Too bad. It would have been a nice theme.”

  “Nice theme?” Iris Cooper said. “Why, Harvey Beerbaum. I suppose you’d like me to come dressed as a witch?”

  “Not Halloween.” Harvey tugged at his collar uncomfortably, noticing for the first time the First Selectman’s nose was rather pointed and she was rather thin.

  “Harvey, this is a bad idea,” Sherry said.

  “Oh, nonsense.” Harvey was not to be stopped. “So, the party’s Thursday, November first. That’s all that matters. We can work out the details later. The important thing is, no one tells Cora.”

  “Harvey’s planning a party,” Sherry called as she entered the front door. Sherry was surprised Cora hadn’t come out to meet her. Even Cora couldn’t sleep through the entire afternoon. Sherry wondered if anything was wrong. “Hello?” she called again.

  Sherry needn’t have worried. Cora came bustling into the living room, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, clutching her drawstring purse. “Oh, it’s you,” she said. “I heard the door.”

  Cora’s cornflower-blue eyes were wide. Her cheeks were flushed. She seemed rather agitated, almost flustered.

  “Aunt Cora. Are you all right?”

  “Of course I’m all right. Why wouldn’t I be all right?”

  That brought Sherry up short. The reason for Cora Felton not being all right was usually alcohol. Cora had been on the wagon for some time. Still, there was always the danger of a relapse.

  “So, what have you been doing?” Sherry asked.

  That flustered Cora even more. “Doing? How can I do anything when you drive off, leave me without a car?”

  “Where did you want to go?”