When Benny Southstreet, a small-time hustler with a big-time gift for constructing crosswords, accuses Cora of stealing one of his creations, it’s clearly a case of mistaken identity…until Cora’s own attorney files a plagiarism suit against her. To add to the enigma, when Benny is found dead, the police charge Cora with his murder!
At the heart of the matter is the not-so-little white lie Cora has been living for years: assuming...

The new crime thriller in the ever-funny and charming Stanley Hastings mystery series, featuring the only detective in New York City who doesn't carry a gun. Stanley Hastings finally felt like a real PI, staking out a New Jersey motel to get evidence on a woman's cheating husband. It should have been a piece of cake. Only the husband wasn't cheating, someone killed him, and the cops are trying to pin the murder on the man apprehended at the scene,...

Stanley Hastings on safari? I don't think so. Neither did Stanley, until Alice's small inheritance-coupled with scrimping on a few luxuries like food and rent-allowed them to book a group trip to Zambia. Now the New York PI is hiking with lions, canoeing with hippos, and having close encounters with elephants and giraffes. It's a dangerous safari. The leader is a reckless, gun-ho, great white hunter who delights in leaping from the jeep with a hearty,...

When young attorney Becky Balwin hires Cora Felton to accompany her to New York City to meet a new client in his penthouse apartment, the Puzzle Lady jumps at the chance. Cora is just coming off a bad breakup, and finding out that Chief Harper testified at a parole hearing for a killer she helped put away has her feeling old. But, when she and Becky arrive at the apartment, they find the man is dead. There's a puzzle on his chest, and a prowler is...

It's murder on the movie set! It's no surprise when Cora Felton's ex-husband's sensational tell-all memoir, Confessions of a Trophy Husband: My Life with the Puzzle Lady, is optioned for the movies, but it certainly raises eyebrows when the Puzzle Lady herself signed on as an associate producer. Cora explains gamely that she hoped to have some control over the project. The truth is that she needs the money. Now Cora is filming her life story on location...

Puzzle Lady Cora Felton is confronted by a stalker who is using her own crossword column to follow her every move, a situation complicated by her niece Sherry's domestic crisis involving her ex-husband and new bride.

It's no surprise when Cora Felton's ex-husband's sensational menoir, Confessions of a Trophy Husband: My Life with the Puzzle Lady, is optioned for the movies, but it certainly raises eyebrows when the Puzzle Lady herself signs on as an associate producer. Cora explains gamely that she hopes to have some control over the project. The truth is she needs the money. Now Cora is filming her life story on location in New York City, and things couldn't...

When 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 name her client, but the most likely suspect is Cora's least favorite ex-husband, Melvin, who claims he's being framed by a psychopath. Cora is in a no-win situation. Solving the murder will either put Melvin's neck in a noose, or incur the wrath of a cold-blooded killer....