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CROSSWORD CONNECTION, THE
by Nero Blanc
Berkley Prime Crime, August 2002
256 pages
$5.99
ISBN: 0425185796


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Crossword puzzle creator Belle Graham works for the Newcastle, Massachusetts Evening Crier newspaper. Her mind is more on her upcoming wedding to P.I. Rosco Polycrates than on puzzles. A homeless man is found murdered lying in a bed of newspapers near a bin of recycled papers. That the paper he was lying on was open to the comics/crossword page doesn't at first seem important until a woman is found dead in similar circumstances. Rosco is working on the case indirectly in that he has been hired to find the first victim's dog. He is concerned about Belle when a rose box is delivered to her without roses but with a crossword puzzle that when solved seems to threaten her.

Meanwhile there are all the wedding details to be taken care of. They are getting married on a boat, and to get a marriage license the wedding must take place at certain coordinates. Rosco's sister insists on giving a reception at her house despite the fact that her kitchen remodeling might not be done in time. The most serious hitch in the plans occurs, however, when Rosco disappears.

The Crossword Connection is the fifth in the series by husband and wife writing team Steve Zettler and Cordelia Frances Biddle, writing as Nero Blanc. The plot has a lot of tension but also a few holes. The characters are well-drawn, not ony the main two but such characters as Al Lever, policeman and good friend to Rosco and Belle. The book has the added bonus of six crossword puzzles to solve, though if they prove too difficult the answers are in the back of the book. In all, The Crossword Connection is a fun book.

Reviewed by Mary A. Axford, August 2002

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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