Cora considered. “Well, I got a couple of exclusives, but you can’t write ’em.”
“That figures. Please tell me it’s nothing sensational that will break my heart to sit on.”
Cora and Sherry exchanged glances.
“Well,” Cora said, “Melvin framed himself for murder and slept with the prosecutor’s wife.”
Aaron blinked.
“Kill me now.”
Also by Parnell Hall
A Puzzle to Be Named Later
Presumed Puzzled
Puzzled Indemnity
NYPD Puzzle
Arsenic and Old Puzzles
$10,000 in Small, Unmarked Puzzles
The KenKen Killings
The Puzzle Lady vs. The Sudoku Lady
Dead Man’s Puzzle
The Sudoku Puzzle Murders
You Have the Right to Remain Puzzled
Stalking the Puzzle Lady
And a Puzzle to Die On
With This Puzzle, I Thee Kill
A Puzzle in a Pear Tree
Puzzled to Death
Last Puzzle & Testament
A Clue for the Puzzle Lady
About the Author
PARNELL HALL is the coauthor 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. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Those Who’ve Clued Poe
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Also by Parnell Hall
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
THE PURLOINED PUZZLE. Copyright © 2018 by Parnell Hall. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.minotaurbooks.com
Cover design and illustration by Young Jin Lim
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-15520-7 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-250-15521-4 (ebook)
eISBN 9781250155214
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First Edition: March 2018