Stalking the Puzzle Lady : a Puzzle Lady mystery
(Book)

"A Bantam Book"--T.p. verso.

Cora Felton may look like everyoneś favorite grandmother. But the white-haired, bespectacled Puzzle Lady swears, smokes, gambles, and is even dodgy on the subject of how many husbands sheś had. So it strikes her long-suffering niece Sherry Carter as amusing when Cora announces, "Iḿ 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 cant́ think of anything shed́ 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 mustnt́ want her to go either, because theyv́e left a knife planted in her front door with a crossword puzzle attached. But when Sherry solves the puzzle she cant́ 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 whoś had an unrequited crush on Cora since high school and Sherryś abusive ex-husband, and you dont́ need to be a puzzle expert to know this trip is going to be murder!