$10,000 in Small, Unmarked Puzzles is another delightful entry in Parnell Hall's entertaining Puzzle Lady series, featuring new puzzles by Will Shortz that help readers solve the mystery! When young attorney Becky Baldwin hires Cora Felton to make a blackmail payment drop, it couldn't go worse: she stumbles over a corpse and a puzzle, and someone steals the money. Becky won't tell her who the client is, but the most likely suspect is Cora's least favorite ex-husband, Melvin, who claims he's being framed by a psychopath with a grudge. Soon Cora finds herself in a no-win situation. Solving the murder will either put Melvin's neck in the noose, or incur the wrath of a cunning, cold-blooded killer who delights in playing deadly mind games and may be targeting her niece Sherry and Sherry's new baby girl. "Groucho Marx meets Jessica Fletcher!" -- RT Book Reviews Cora Felton, the Puzzle Lady, is in a tizzy as she drives her niece, Sherry, and her husband to the Bakerhaven, Connecticut, hospital to have their first baby. There is good reason for the tizzy. Sherry, as fans of this series’ know, is the real genius behind Cora’s crossword puzzles, and if Sherry can’t write them, will Cora be outed as a fraud? Complicating matters further, the town’s lawyer, Becky Baldwin, seeks Cora’s assistance with a blackmail case. Following the first clue, which comes in the form of a Sudoku (Cora knows her Sudoku better than she does her crosswords), the Puzzle Lady sets off to do the drop of $10,000 in blackmail money. Simple task, it would seem, until Cora finds a body in the Dumpster. What follows is a farcical romp involving after-hours hospital visits to get Sherry’s assistance with crossword-puzzle clues, snatching the Sudoku and crossword clues before the police find them, and dealing with the arrival of an ex-husband, judicial threats, and nighttime wanderings through a cemetery. Great fun for series fans, who will be pleased to know that mother and daughter are doing well. --Karen Muller “One of the Puzzle Lady's finest hours, faster paced than most, with the obligatory puzzles to help solve the case.” ― Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Fun, two words, 11 letters: P-A-R-N-E-L-L H-A-L-L. Hall, a master of the comic mystery, brings back Cora Felton, the Puzzle Lady....Cora faces numerous situations, including blackmail, murder, the return of an ex-husband–and her niece and nephew-in-law's new baby. Add Hall's wit and razor-sharp dialogue, and '10,000 in Small Unmarked Puzzles' is another winner in an amusing series.” ― Richmond Times-Dispatch “Great fun for series fans.” ― Booklist Parnell Hall is the co-author of the New York Times bestselling Teddy Fay thrillers. He is the author of the Puzzle Lady mysteries, the Stanley Hastings private eye novels, and the Steve Winslow courtroom thrillers. He is a Shamus Award winner, and has been nominated for the Edgar and the Lefty. He lives in New York City. $10,000 in Small, Unmarked Puzzles A Puzzle Lady Mystery By Parnell Hall Minotaur Books Copyright © 2012 Parnell Hall All right reserved. ISBN: 9780312602475 Chapter 1   “Just keep calm,” Cora said as she piloted the Toyota around the curve. “Keep calm?” Sherry said from the backseat. “You’re the one driving like a maniac.” “Don’t distract her,” Aaron said. He had his arm around Sherry and was squeezing her hand. “Distract her from what?” Sherry said. “Skidding off the road?” “Hold on,” Cora said. “I’ll get you there.” Cora was driving Sherry to the hospital. Sherry had just gone into labor, which seemed to panic the expectant great-aunt more than it did the expectant mother. Cora had fallen all over herself bustling Sherry into the car. Aaron had been lucky not to be left behind. The expectant parents were headed for the new hospital, a two-story structure of stone and steel built in 1978. The old hospital had closed in 1984, so there was only a six-year span during which Bakerhaven had two hospitals. Nonetheless, the residents still referred to the hospital by the mall as the new hospital. “How are the contractions?” Cora asked. “Wonderful,” Sherry said. “I have a deep, abiding love for all of you. Do you have any more dumb questions?” “I’ll think of some. Aaron, did you bring her something to bite on?” “Bite on?” “Like in the movies when they’re digging out the bullet without anesthesia.” “I’m fine,” Sherry said. “Cora. I need you to focus. The Puzzle Lady column.” “What about it?” “You have to turn in the puzzles so people think you write the damn thing.” “They’re not going to be impressed if I turn them in wrong.” “It’s not a problem. I’m your secretary. I send out the crossword puzzles you create. I’m on maternity leave, so you have to send them out yourself. You’re somewhat spooked by the technology. You hope you get everything right.” “You can say that again.” “No, I don’t mean it. That’s the part you’re playing. It’s your excuse for any problem with the puzzles that you can’t deal w