A Clue for the Puzzle Lady (Puzzle Lady Mysteries (Paperback))

Rating:
Summary: A Clue for the Puzzle Lady
Review: I found this book quite slow-paced. The beginning chapters held my interest at first but as the mystery of the murders started to unfold, they unfolded so slowly that it was hard to keep focus on exactly what the characters were getting at. I found myself skipping pages of the same hum-drum conversations as the pages seemed to simply be fulfilling an editor's page requirement - no value-added scenes or conversations. The Puzzle Lady was really funny portraying a woman more interested in her next drink than truly trying to solve a murder. The niece was ok but could have developed more of a spine with the ex-husband. I did and what was good for me would have been good for the niece. The reporter was annoying but I suppose that's par for the course although I didn't see where he was actually needed in the story. Overall, I wouldn't read this book again.

Rating:
Summary: Decent plot can't compensate for under-developed characters.
Review: I heartily agree with the reviewer who described this book as an "outline" for a great mystery. Mystery fans will find this book extremely formulaic and simplistic. The familiar and uninteresting characters were most disappointing to me: the little old lady who's not what she seems, the wise-cracking reporter, the bumbling but well-intentioned police chief, the intelligent young woman trying to put her past behind her, idiot teenagers. The fact that the little old woman is an alcoholic is not amusing or charming, though the author thinks it is.

The plot is contrived to introduce the whole crossword puzzle theme to the series and to introduce all the characters to us. It holds up well enough, but can't compensate for the weak characters (including the killer).

Readers looking for an interesting old lady would do well to try Heron Carvic's Miss Seeton series instead.

Rating:
Summary: A disappointment
Review: I thought the book, A Clue For the Puzzle Lady was one of the best books I have ever read. This book was filled with excitement, romance, comedy, and mystery. My favorite character had to be Aunt Cora with her many characteristics. I thought it was amusing how she tried so hard to get her niece, Sherry and the town reporter together. All through the book I kept guessing who killed those two women. In the end my guess was wrong. I would recommend this book for people who are interested in murder mysteries. I hope you enjoy the book!!

Rating:
Summary: Pretty slow read
Review: I'm a huge murder mystery fan, so I was excited to read this book. The premise sounded good, but a few chapters into the book I wasn't hooked. I read all the way to the half way point of the book and just couldn't finish it.

There were pages where nothing happened. But the most annoying part to me was how the author keeps referring to the main character and other characters by their entire names throughout the book (well, as much of it as I read) I think an introduction of the characters full names once is enough. I don't need to read how 'Cora Felton' did this and 'Cora Felton' did that. I think that is what turned me off the most. Every time I would read an entire name, I would mentally roll my eyes. I wouldn't recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Nifty,Funny, Unique, and Stylish Mystery!
Review: If you're looking for a clever and amusing page turner, with crazy twists, and unusual characters, set in a contemporary Connecticut town, look no further! Though crossword buffs may be slightly disappointed, anyone else will surely enjoy this clever and well done romp! With a hard drinking aunt, her sassy good looking niece, and a group of characters that seem almost like you're met most of them, you can't go wrong! Plus some nice scenes in the cemetary, at the local pub, and driving around town! It may not be great literature, but it's surely top drawer, and amusing, detective fiction!

Rating:
Summary: A pleasant cozy
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Contrived
Review: The concept here - a woman who develops crossword puzzles is helping to solve a murder mystery that appears to involve crossword-type clues - is novel, and it certainly got me to take a look at the book. However, it takes a clever writer to carry off a concept like that and in this book the writer never stops telling the reader what a clever writer he is. Now, granted he introduces an unusual sleuth - a fat, middle aged lush - but that's about all that is new here, except for the crossword angle.

There's an attractive young woman who feels threatened and, guess what? she finds romance with a young man who appears not to like her. A goodly handful of suspects are dragged to the reader's attention and there's a new twist every couple of pages in case you should be getting bored. The setting is small town New England. All the usual stuff.

On the positive side the writer has a light touch and can be quite amusing, although this is not consistent and there are times when observations seem cruel rather than revealing. At the end the Police Chief, who had seemed like a pretty decent guy, was made to look like an idiot, and I'm still wondering why the writer chose to do this. On the negative side the writer foreshadows future action by dropping gentle hints that land like a horseshoe on your head.

I was not engaged in this story nor drawn to the setting or the characters. This book is not a keeper.