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ANATOMY OF A CROSSWORD
by Nero Blanc
Berkley, July 2004
324 pages
$13.00
ISBN: 0425196208


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Winter in Newcastle, Massachusetts, can be very cold and gray and crossword puzzle writer Annabelle Graham finds all the bad weather depressing. Just when she thought she couldn't take it anymore she receives a phone call from Hollywood offering her a job as a creative consultant for a new puzzle-themed television movie.

Belle isn't sure if she wants to take the job, especially after the movie's set designers visit town. The group is rude and condescending to everyone while taking pictures of Newcastle, but she decides to take the position after her friends and her husband Rosco convince her that she needs a respite from the New England weather.

When filming for the movie begins, things go from bad to worse. Some of the actors have had accidents that will stop them from appearing in the movie, and soon someone is murdered.

Then things get really strange when Belle starts receiving crossword puzzles that supplies clues to the identity of the murderer.

Belle's husband, private investigator, Rosco Polycrates, arrives in Hollywood a few days after Belle. He accompanies Newcastle's very own leading citizen Sara Briephs, who has been hired to play a part in the movie. The three are shortly involved in solving all the problems that are plaguing the movie set.

Once again author Nero Blanc has written a wonderful little cozy and this time he brings small-town life into the big city. ANATOMY OF A CROSSWORD has many of the regular cast of characters from Newcastle, even though most of them only appear for a short time at the beginning of the book. When Belle, Rosco, and Sara arrive in Hollywood, we're introduced to some odd, yet interesting new characters. There are temperamental actors, moody directors, jumpy screenwriters, not to mention a murderer, and all of them bring fun into the story line. I only wish the whole of Newcastle could have been a part of this Hollywood tale so we could see how the two different types of people react to each other.

Like all of the other books in this Belle Graham series, crossword puzzle lovers are given six puzzles to solve, with the answers at the end of the book, just in case you need to take a fast glance at the solution.

If crossword puzzles and cozies are your passion, you can't go wrong with a Belle Graham mystery! Pull out a pencil with a good eraser and cozy up to this quaint series and enjoy.

Reviewed by Sharon Katz, August 2004

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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