Stalking the Puzzle Lady (Puzzle Lady Mysteries)

Cora Felton may look like everyone’s favorite grandmother. But the white-haired, bespectacled Puzzle Lady swears, smokes, gambles, and is even dodgy on the subject of how many husbands she’s had. So it strikes her long-suffering niece Sherry Carter as amusing when Cora announces, “I’m tired of living a lie!”The inspiration for this sudden burst of honesty is a promotion by Granville Grains featuring the Puzzle Lady on a bus tour of televised personal appearances. Cora can’t think of anything she’d like to do less–except maybe quit smoking–than travel the supermarkets of I-95 hawking the new and improved Corn Toasties to her legions of fans. And someone else mustn’t want her to go either, because they’ve left a knife planted in her front door with a crossword puzzle attached. But when Sherry solves the puzzle she can’t decide whether the enigmatic message is a threat, a love note, or– creepier still–both.Like it or not, Cora and Sherry must take their show on the road, along with a makeshift TV crew that includes a smarmy producer with a bad hairpiece, an abrasive director, an overambitious publicist, and two overgrown child-actors with some very adult problems. Throw in a few uninvited guests, including a roly-poly munchkin who’s had an unrequited crush on Cora since high school and Sherry’s abusive ex-husband, and you don’t need to be a puzzle expert to know this trip is going to be murder! Cora Felton may look like everyones favorite grandmother. But the white-haired, bespectacled Puzzle Lady swears, smokes, gambles, and is even dodgy on the subject of how many husbands shes had. So it strikes her long-suffering niece Sherry Carter as amusing when Cora announces, Im tired of living a lie! The inspiration for this sudden burst of honesty is a promotion by Granville Grains featuring the Puzzle Lady on a bus tour of televised personal appearances. Cora cant think of anything shed like to do lessexcept maybe quit smokingthan travel the supermarkets of I-95 hawking the new and improved Corn Toasties to her legions of fans. And someone else mustnt want her to go either, because theyve left a knife planted in her front door with a crossword puzzle attached. But when Sherry solves the puzzle she cant decide whether the enigmatic message is a threat, a love note, or creepier stillboth. Like it or not, Cora and Sherry must take their show on the road, along with a makeshift TV crew that includes a smarmy producer with a bad hairpiece, an abrasive director, an overambitious publicist, and two overgrown child-actors with some very adult problems. Throw in a few uninvited guests, including a roly-poly munchkin whos had an unrequited crush on Cora since high school and Sherrys abusive ex-husband, and you dont need to be a puzzle expert to know this trip is going to be murder! Puzzle Lady Cora Felton is confronted by a stalker who is using her own crossword column to follow her every move, a situation complicated by her niece Sherry's domestic crisis involving her ex-husband and new bride. The Puzzle Lady is forced to go on a cross-country televised tour of supermarkets to promote a new breakfast cereal, and finds murder along the way