Actor by Hall, Parnell
Publisher: Mysterious Pr, 1993
ISBN: 9780892965205
ID: P000500472
Flat Signed! Hardcover first edition / first printing. Fine book in fine jacket, not price clipped, Signed on the title page and is author's signature only. Minimum scuffing and edge wear. No writing or marks Comes with Certificate of Authenticity for author's signature.
Price in US $ 31.50
Summary: New York private investigator Stanley Hastings chases his dream of becoming an actor, but when he is accused of a murder backstage, he must use all of his sleuthing talents to track a killer. Reprint. "PW. NYT. "
And a Puzzle to Die On: A Puzzle Lady Mystery by Hall, Parnell
Publisher: Bantam, 2004
ISBN: 9780553802443
ID: P000500473
Flat Signed! Hardcover first edition / first printing. Fine book in fine jacket, not price clipped, Signed on the title page and is author's signature only. Minimum scuffing and edge wear. No writing or marks Comes with Certificate of Authenticity for author's signature.
Price in US $ 31.50
Summary: When nerdy cruciverbalist Harvey Beerbaum throws a birthday bash for Cora Felton at the Bakerhaven Library, it's no surprise that the centerpiece, a huge cake decorated like a crossword puzzle, is a complete bust--until a corpse thrown from the second floor stacks hits it dead center and fills in 14 down. Cora may hate birthdays almost as much as she hates crossword puzzles--but when it comes to solving crimes, no one can hold a candle to the Puzzle Lady.
Blackmail by Hall, Parnell
Publisher: Mysterious Pr, 1994
ISBN: 9780892965212
ID: P000500474
Flat Signed! Hardcover first edition / first printing. Fine book in fine jacket, not price clipped, Signed on the title page and is author's signature only. Minimum scuffing and edge wear. No writing or marks Comes with Certificate of Authenticity for author's signature.
Price in US $ 31.50
Summary: Stanley Hastings's ninth case has him delivering cash for a woman who wants certain photographs kept secret, but when a body is discovered, the hero of "Detective "scrambles to avoid blackmail and murder charges. National ad/promo.
Last Puzzle & Testament by Hall, Parnell
Publisher: Bantam, 2000
ISBN: 9780553800999
ID: P000500475
Flat Signed! Hardcover first edition / first printing. Fine book in fine jacket, not price clipped, Signed on the title page and is author's signature only. Minimum scuffing and edge wear. No writing or marks Comes with Certificate of Authenticity for author's signature.
Price in US $ 31.50
Summary: Cora Felton is the kind of dame your father might have called "a firecracker": a not-so-upstanding lady of a certain age who drinks her martinis by the shaker and delights in scandalizing not only the staid denizens of her cozy Connecticut village but also her niece Sherry, who's the private "ghost" behind Cora's public image as the Puzzle Lady. Even "People" Magazine, which has lined up an interview with Cora, believes the brazen old broad is the brains behind her phenomenally successful syndicated crossword puzzle column. Only Sherry and the ambitious young newspaper reporter who loves her know that Cora hasn't got a clue. Certainly, Emma Hurley didn't, which may explain why she left Cora in charge of sorting out her will, a puzzle wrapped in a 40-year-old enigma whose solution will earn one of Emma's heirs a vast fortune. The relatives are a motley lot, greedy and unappealing, but would any of them stoop to murder? When the bodies start piling up, it certainly looks that way, especially to Cora, who's better at judging human nature than word contests. While the answers to the crossword lead everyone else to the wrong conclusions, they point Cora and Sherry to the right ones and target a murderer in the process. The pace rollicks along nicely, the crossword's deceptively transparent, and this is a slight but charming little treat for the puzzle mavens on your Christmas list, especially those who've encountered Cora and Sherry in their first adventure, ("A Clue for the Puzzle Lady"). "--Jane Adams"
Movie by Hall, Parnell
Publisher: Mysterious Pr, 1995
ISBN: 9780892965694
ID: P000500476
Flat Signed! Hardcover first edition / first printing. Fine book in fine jacket, not price clipped, Signed on the title page and is author's signature only. Minimum scuffing and edge wear. No writing or marks Comes with Certificate of Authenticity for author's signature.
Price in US $ 31.50
Summary: Actor-turned-private-investigator Stanley Hastings gets his big chance to produce a screenplay, but accidents on the set and a dead body force Stanley to rewrite the ending to trap a killer. By the author of "Blackmail. "
A Puzzle in a Pear Tree by Hall, Parnell
Publisher: Bantam, 2002
ISBN: 9780553802429
ID: P000500477
Flat Signed! Hardcover first edition / first printing. Fine book in fine jacket, not price clipped, Signed on the title page and is author's signature only. Minimum scuffing and edge wear. No writing or marks Comes with Certificate of Authenticity for author's signature.
Price in US $ 31.50
Summary: "The Chicago Sun-Times" crowns Parnell Hall’s Puzzle Lady mysteries “a joy for lovers of both crosswords and frothy crime detection...Cora Felton is a lovable and unique sleuth.” Now the crime-solving powers of the inimitable Cora and her clever niece, Sherry Carter, are put to the ultimate test as they square off against a yuletide killer who hides within the white-and-black shadows of an acrostic....
A Puzzle In A Pear Tree
’Tis the season to be jolly, but Cora Felton, shanghaied into “The Twelve Days of Christmas” as a most reluctant maid-a-milking, has every right to feel like a grinch. When someone steals the partridge from the pear tree and replaces it with a cryptic puzzle she has no hope of solving, it’s almost more than the Puzzle Lady can bear. But then smug crossword creator Harvey Beerbaum solves the acrostic, and it turns out to be a poem promising the death of an actress. This is more like it! Could the threat be aimed at Cora and her thespian debut? Or at Sherry, one of the ladies-dancing? Or at Sherry’s nemesis, the pageant’s predatory lead, Becky Baldwin?
Cora and Sherry barely have time for a mystery, what with trimming Christmas trees and buying Christmas presents, but rehearsals go on, under police protection--until a killer strikes elsewhere in a most unexpected manner.Ordinarily Cora Felton would be delighted to have two murders to solve. But this time she finds herself vying with a visiting Scotland Yard inspector who appears to have an all-too-personal stake in solving the crimes. Cora does too when her own niece becomes a prime suspect and the murderer strikes again.
Is someone trying to shut down the Christmas pageant? Cora would be only too happy if that were the case, but she fears the secrets lie deeper. Now she is interviewing witnesses, breaking into motel rooms, finding evidence, planting evidence, and having a merry old time. In fact, she would be perfectly happy--if this wasn’t turning out to be a Christmas to die for!
Puzzled to Death by Hall, Parnell
Publisher: "Westminster, Maryland, U.S.A.: Bantam Dell Pub Group", 2001
ISBN: 0553801023
ID: S00010216
"Hardcover with jacket not price clipped, signed by author on title page, 1st ed./1st printing, complete numberline including the number 1, guaranteed to be a trade (retail) edition and not a bookclub or ex-library. Book Condition: Fine - tight square, white pages, no markings of any kind. Jacket Condition: Fine - minimum scuffing and edge wear. Comes in Mylar Jacket cover. Fine book in fine dust jacket, F/F. Book in As New Condition. Comes with Certificate of Authenticity for Author's Signature."
Price in US $ 31.50
Summary: Parnell Hall’s Puzzle Lady mysteries have been praised as “fun from the first page” (The Dallas Morning News) and “heaven for crossword puzzle fans” (Kirkus Reviews). Now Hall’s unlikely pair of crime solvers, Miss Cora Felton and her niece Sherry Carter, return to piece together an unforgettable tale of jealousy, infidelity, and murder....
Puzzled to Death
Bakerhaven, Connecticut, seems like the ideal place to host a charity crossword-puzzle tournament. After all, the town is home to noted crossword creator Harvey Beerbaum, as well as to Cora Felton, the beloved syndicated puzzle columnist known everywhere as the Puzzle Lady.
Why shouldn’t the pair co-host the festivities and crown the winner? Truth be told, Cora has a long list of reasons, but her niece Sherry insists she must accept ... or Cora’s fans may discover who secretly pens the column.
As Cora grudgingly agrees to help, Harvey announces a slew of celebrity contestants — handsome heartbreaker Paul Thornhill, voluptuous Zelda Zisk, and supremely shy Craig Carmichael — and invites the locals to challenge the veteran puzzlers head-on. But before long the town’s attention is fixated on something far more controversial than crosswords...when the body of town tart Judy Vale is discovered lying dead on her kitchen floor.
After the victim’s no-good husband is arrested for murder, the case seems solved — until Sherry’s archrival, Becky Baldwin, is hired as the defense lawyer ... and has the nerve to ask for Cora’s help in proving her client’s innocence.
While Sherry doesn’t want to lift a finger to assist the blond defense attorney, Cora quickly sees that the juicy investigation is far more exciting than any crossword tournament could ever be. Before anyone can stop her, Cora is hot on the trail of the truth, interviewing nosy neighbors, digging up dirt on Judy’s many indiscretions, and drawing out a neighbor who just may hold the key to cracking the crime.
By the time the puzzle tournament begins, alibis begin to crumble, the list of suspects keeps getting longer, and another victim lies dead. The Puzzle Lady is closer than ever to unmasking the killer — but will she solve the case before the contest comes to a lethal end? Cora is about to discover that sleuthing spells M-U-R-D-E-R — up, across, and down!
Scam by Hall, Parnell
Publisher: Mysterious Pr, 1997
ISBN: 9780892966233
ID: P000500478
Flat Signed! Hardcover first edition / first printing. Fine book in fine jacket, not price clipped, Signed on the title page and is author's signature only. Minimum scuffing and edge wear. No writing or marks Comes with Certificate of Authenticity for author's signature.
Price in US $ 31.50
Summary: Parnell Hall's "Scam" proves once and for all that murder "can" be funny--as well as mind-boggling. The charming hero of Hall's series of mysteries is Stanley Hastings, a nonviolent, slightly neurotic investigator who pays the rent by working for a New York negligence lawyer. When one of Stanley's clients claim he's being set up by one of the partners in an investment firm, the erstwhile PI doesn't take him seriously--until the bodies pile up and Stanley falls under suspicion of murder.
Hall performs miraculous feats in the course of this rollicking tale: he constructs a remarkably labyrinthine plot and manages to tie off "all" the loose ends while maintaining a madcap pace marked by hilarious crosstalk and knockabout interactions between Stanley and his cop foil that would do P. G. Wodehouse proud. For crime and comedy under one cover, "Scam" is a perfect choice.
