Book Review: The Crossword Connection

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

The Crossword Connection     Amazon US PB Amazon US TPB Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada TPB
Nero Blanc
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Private Investigator
Series: Crossword Puzzle # 3
Berkley, Jul 2001, $12.00, 256 pp.

In Newcastle, the Massachusetts Evening Crier crossword editor Belle Graham and private investigator Roscoe Polycrates are getting married at sea quite soon. However, the final steps to matrimony have problems as the reception area is not quite ready and someone murders a homeless person, apparently leaving a crossword puzzle behind with the corpse. Belle wonders if the murder is tied into the effort to close a successful shelter located on choice realty. When a second person dies also with a crossword puzzle nearby, Roscoe thinks solving the puzzle clues will lead to resolving the two homicides. Belle thinks Roscoe suffers from premarital jitters. However, when Roscoe seemingly vanishes, Belle looks at the puzzles to ascertain whether the answers to the murders and her missing fiancé lie within them. The third Crossword mystery retains the uniqueness of its two predecessors (see TWO DOWN and THE CROSSWORD MURDERS). The story line is fresh with the puzzles serving as an intricate part of the amateur sleuth inquiry. Roscoe and Belle seem more like neighbors and the secondary cast such as Roscoe's police pal Lever adds depth. Though the crossword puzzles left at the crime scene seems a bit stretched, fans will ignore that, solve the puzzles, and ultimately the case in an enjoyable interactive who-done-it.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner