Puzzle Lady Mystery Books in Order

Start Here: The Recommended Reading Path

For the Puzzle Lady Mystery series, the best reading path is simple: read the books in order of their publication. Because the series timeline moves forward chronologically, reading them in order allows you to watch the relationships develop, see recurring characters evolve, and follow the running joke of Cora Felton’s secret partnership with her niece. Starting with the first book is highly recommended to fully appreciate the central premise.

The Complete Publication Order

Below is the complete list of the Puzzle Lady mysteries in the order they were published, spanning twenty novels and one notable short story:

1. A Clue for the Puzzle Lady (1999): Cora Felton is introduced as the public face of a crossword column, but when a local murder features a cryptic crossword clue, she is forced to sleuth in real life to keep her secret safe.
2. Last Puzzle & Testament (2000): An eccentric wealthy resident dies, leaving a puzzle-driven contest to decide his heir. Cora is hired to referee, but contestants start turning up dead.
3. Puzzled to Death (2001): A local charity crossword tournament turns into a crime scene when three separate murders are linked to the competition.
4. A Puzzle in a Pear Tree (2002): A festive holiday mystery where Bakerhaven's production of 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' gets hijacked by a killer sending puzzle clues.
5. With This Puzzle, I Thee Kill (2003): Cora Felton is drafted to write a puzzle for a high-profile local wedding, only for the ceremony to be derailed by a brutal murder.
6. And a Puzzle to Die On (2004): A puzzle construction rivalry turns fatal when a local puzzle maker is poisoned, leaving Cora to sift through a grid of suspects.
7. Stalking the Puzzle Lady (2005): Cora goes on a promotional tour that quickly turns hazardous when a stalker leaves cryptic puzzles on her trail.
8. You Have the Right to Remain Puzzled (2006): Cora faces a legal nightmare when a crossword puzzle published under her name is used to frame her for murder.
9. The Sudoku Puzzle Murders (2008): The series shifts focus to include the sudoku craze, forcing Cora to tackle grid-based number puzzles while hunting a killer.
10. Dead Man's Puzzle (2009): A hit-and-run victim leaves behind a cryptic crossword puzzle, sending Cora into a search for a hidden motive.
11. The Puzzle Lady vs. The Sudoku Lady (2009/2010): Cora faces competition from a rival public figure known as 'The Sudoku Lady' in a duel of wits that turns deadly.
12. The KenKen Killings (2011): Incorporating the KenKen grid puzzle format, Cora is drawn into a homicide case where the clues are mathematical.
13. $10,000 in Small, Unmarked Puzzles (2012): A kidnapping case calls for ransom paid not in cash, but in rare, unpublished puzzles, complicating the rescue effort.
14. Arsenic and Old Puzzles (2013): Cora is called in when a pair of elderly sisters are poisoned, and a series of classic crosswords holds the key to the motive.
15. Lethal Luncheon (2013): A standalone short story (originally featured in the 2004 anthology Death Dines In) where Cora is scheduled to give a lecture at a charity lunch, but a guest's sudden poisoning gives her the perfect excuse to investigate instead.
16. NYPD Puzzle (2014): Cora takes her crime-solving skills to New York City to assist the police with a high-stakes, puzzle-themed killer.
17. Puzzled Indemnity (2015): Insurance fraud and murder mix when Cora investigates a suspicious death linked to a puzzle contest.
18. Presumed Puzzled (2016): An courtroom-adjacent mystery where Cora must navigate legal maneuverings and puzzle clues to clear a suspect.
19. A Puzzle to Be Named Later (2017): A publisher's promotional gimmick involving a blank crossword grid leads to real-world danger for Cora and Sherry.
20. The Purloined Puzzle (2018): Cora is dragged into a mystery involving her fifth ex-husband and a stolen puzzle draft that carries a lethal warning.
21. Lights! Camera! Puzzles! (2019): The final novel in the series sees a movie crew arriving in Bakerhaven to adapt Cora's life story, which goes off-script when a body is discovered on set.

What to Know Before You Start

The defining hook of the Puzzle Lady Mystery series is that Cora Felton is a complete fraud when it comes to puzzles. Although she is nationally famous as the 'Puzzle Lady' and acts as the public face of a syndicated newspaper column, she cannot solve a simple crossword to save her life. The true creative genius behind the puzzles is her quiet, long-suffering niece, Sherry Carter. Cora is actually a smoking, drinking, twice-divorced (well, five-times-divorced) grandmother who would rather play poker than solve a word puzzle. This comedic dynamic drives the series: Cora must constantly meddle in local police investigations to solve murders, all while pretending to decode puzzle clues that Sherry secretly translates for her behind the scenes.

How the Puzzles Work: An Interactive Twist

Author Parnell Hall designed the books to be interactive. Each novel contains actual, solvable crossword puzzles, sudoku grids, or KenKen challenges printed directly in the text. Readers can stop and solve the puzzles along with the characters, using them as real clues to deduce the identity of the killer. To ensure the puzzles were of professional quality, Hall collaborated with legendary crossword constructor Manny Nosowsky for the crosswords, and New York Times crossword editor Will Shortz for the sudoku elements. However, you do not need to be a puzzle expert to enjoy the books; the narrative always explains the solutions as the story progresses.

The Puzzle Lady on Screen

In addition to the books, the series has successfully transitioned to television. The series was adapted under the title Murder Most Puzzling when it premiered in the United Kingdom on Channel 5 in June 2025. It was subsequently broadcast in the United States on PBS in February 2026 under its original name, The Puzzle Lady. The television adaptation stars Phyllis Logan (well-known for her role in Downton Abbey) as Cora Felton and Charlotte Hope as Sherry Carter. The TV series moves the setting from the fictional Connecticut town of Bakerhaven to a quiet English village called Bakerbury, but retains the core comedic relationship and the puzzle-solving focus of the novels.

Practical Reader Advice

Because the main characters' personal lives progress from book to book, readers will get the most enjoyment by starting with the first novel, A Clue for the Puzzle Lady. Reading out of order is possible, as the individual murder mysteries are self-contained, but you will miss the gradual changes in Sherry's romantic life, Cora's ongoing battles with her ex-husbands, and the changing puzzle formats that reflect real-world trends (such as the sudden arrival of Sudoku in the late 2000s). The short story Lethal Luncheon is entirely optional and can be read at any point after the first few novels, as it functions as a fun, self-contained side story.