"STALKING THE PUZZLE LADY' by Parnell Hall (B)

Mystery author Parnell Hall has branched out into other areas besides his mainstay gumshoe, Stanley Hastings. One of his more popular literary creations is Cora Felton, a grandmotherly type famous for being the "Puzzle Lady," as in crossword puzzles. Cora may be grandmotherly, but don't let her gray-haired mien fool you. This "lady" smokes, drinks, curses, and gambles. Furthermore, she has probably had more husbands than can be counted on one hand, not that she will admit to it. Think of Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury in "Murder, She Wrote") with bite and bile.

It seems that Parnell Hall can always be counted on to provide witty and entertaining dialogue in his lighthearted detective novels. The actual mystery is often superseded by the bright characterizations and the extraordinarily well-crafted dialogue. Those who may desire tense situations and much more than a hint of gore in their detective reading might be advised to look elsewhere, but if you love dialogue that reads like the breeze, then here is the author for you.

While I like Cora Felton and this particular mystery, I do have a problem with the setup for this series. You see, Cora is not really the crossword "Puzzle Lady." Her niece, Sherry Carter is, and she has somehow persuaded her aunt to be the front person for her puzzling endeavors. Presumably this is to hide her career from her ex-husband, Dennis Pride, but no one who knows them well is really fooled by this charade.

Sherry passes herself off as a shy introvert who wishes to avoid the public eye. Not that crossword puzzle designers are ever in the public eye. Other than the puzzle master for the New York Times, I have never seen a crossword puzzle creator on television. I am sure that these experts have their own little coterie of fans, but it must be a pretty high brow, low key, cerebral bunch of people. Why Sherry wishes to avoid this is beyond me. Like I say, I am having a lot of trouble buying into this premise.

I hasten to assure you that you do not have to be a fan of crossword puzzles to enjoy this story, the seventh in the "Puzzle Lady Mystery" series. I don't happen to do them myself, and I still enjoyed reading "Stalking the Puzzle Lady." Yes, there are crossword puzzles in this story, but they are used as clues, as props for the story. They are offered both empty and then filled out so that the clues are right there on the page for you. However, if you do enjoy solving crossword puzzles, then reading this book will offer that added benefit.

Granville Grains has called the Puzzle Lady's publisher to see if she can be hired to go on a road trip from her New England home down I-95 and make stops along the way to promote their Corn Toasties cereal. Her publisher loves the idea, but Cora is less than thrilled to be a commercial hack for something she doesn't even eat. Besides, she is tired of masquerading as the Puzzle Lady.

Much to her aunt's chagrin, Sherry loves the idea, but Cora is even less enthusiastic when she hears that Sherry's new boyfriend will be coming along. Aaron Grant just happens to be a reporter for the local newspaper and Cora is convinced that he has been sent by his publisher to capture the Puzzle Lady in an embarrassing moment for all of their neighbors.

While Lance and Ginger, two professional actors who look young enough to pass for teenagers, will play the part of a "Mikey" who loves his Corn Toasties at each stop, the idea is to catch local kids in a natural moment enjoying the cereal in filmed spots that can later be used for commercials.

Lance and Ginger keep pretty much to themselves, but the same cannot be said about Quentin Burns, the officious producer for the advertising agency. Quentin hovers about and manages to make himself highly annoying. Fortunately, Cora finds a sympathetic soul in the person of the film director, Daphne Decker, another woman like Cora who swears like a sailor and enjoys sneaking out behind the trailer for a smoke.

As the road trip photo shoot gets underway, minor occurrences start to happen that suggest that this trip might provide an opportunity for someone to harm the Puzzle Lady. A huge knife and an angry crossword puzzle find their way to Cora's front door. An old high school classmate starts stalking her at every stop of the Granville Grains bus tour. A wallet is stolen, and then Sherry's ex shows up even though she has a restraining order out against him. The confusion continues to mount even though the trip has hardly started. It will be all downhill from there. 2005, Bantam Dell, 304 pages.