Solving puzzles can be murder when a PI and a crossword editor join forces to catch a killer in the first novel of Nero Blanc's fiendishly clever crossword mystery seriesPlayboy Thompson C. Briephs has just been found strangled in his bed. The police believe the Newcastle Herald crossword editor, a scion of a blue-blooded New England family, died from kinky sex gone wrong. But cop-turned–private investigator Rosco Polycrates thinks there's a six-letter word...

Four holiday whodunits in one—the perfect present for puzzle fans! "Light-hearted capers . . . Each as frothy as a cup of good eggnog" ( The Wall Street Journal).Together, crossword editor and amateur sleuth Belle Graham and her private detective husband, Rosco Polycrates, are "a great investigative team in the tradition of Nick and Nora" ( Bookbrowse). In this holiday-themed collection—featuring two story anthologies and two novels by national be...

Murder never takes a holiday—as husband-and-wife sleuths Belle Graham and Rosco Polycrates discover when they tackle five crimes hidden in crossword puzzlesIn "The Proof of the Pudding," Belle and Rosco interrupt their Vermont holiday to solve a crossword that's a recipe for murder. Pennsylvania Dutch Country is the setting for "A Partridge in a Pear Tree" as Rosco helps a college buddy crack a case of foul play concealed in a puzzle. "Mum's the Word" for mobster Fr...

Fans of Nick and Nora, meet Rosco and Belle: a crossword-loving couple who read the clues and fill in the blanks to find killers. Puzzles included!The residents of the bucolic Massachusetts hamlet are up in arms. A developer has bought the sprawling Quigley homestead, and his construction crew is causing a ruckus digging up the land. The noise stops abruptly when a female skeleton is found buried in the garden.Hired to find out who killed Jane Doe—and why—cop...

Crosswords get the Hollywood treatment in this mystery featuring PI Rosco Polycrates and master puzzle solver Belle GrahamJamaica Nevisson—or Cassandra Lovett, as she's known to the adoring fans of her daytime soap—has vanished without a trace. She and her pal Genie Pepper went pleasure yachting off Nantucket, only to end up lost at sea. So far, only the charred hull of the boat has turned up. Called in by Pepper's husband, Massachusetts detective Rosco Polycrates a...

What's an eight-letter word for killjoy? Find out in this devilishly clever crossword mystery featuring husband-and-wife sleuth team Belle Graham and Rosco PolycratesBelle Graham hears it first from the gossip columnist for the Evening Crier, where Belle is resident crossword editor. Fire has destroyed one of the stables at King Wenstarin Farms, the multimillion-dollar corporation owned by the notorious Collins clan, and the barn manager lies in a ...

Murder is a family affair when crossword editor Belle Graham's dad dies under suspicious circumstancesNewlyweds Rosco Polycrates and Belle Graham are settling into life with a new puppy in their charming New England townhouse when Belle's estranged father sets out to visit them. Except renowned anthropologist Theodore A. Graham never makes it off the train.According to the coroner, he died of a heart attack aboard the Amtrak to Newcastle. Now Belle is flying ...

PI Rosco Polycrates and crossword editor Belle Graham are about to tie the knot, but a nasty case of multiple murders could give them cold feetA homeless man has been found in an alley, clobbered to death. The crime seems pretty cut and dried—vagrants fighting over turf—until the Newcastle Police Department uncovers a connection to a local shelter in danger of being taken over by greedy developers. Is the dead John Doe a victim of some sinister plot? And what became...

Santa comes to town, but crossword editor Belle Graham and her PI husband, Rosco Polycrates, may find this holiday more naughty than niceWith Christmas approaching, Belle Graham and her husband, Rosco Polycrates, are getting into the holiday spirit. While Belle does her part creating a Noel crossword contest, Rosco dons red suit and snowy beard to collect toys for the town's annual children's drive. But his good will starts to dim when he and two Newcastle Police De...

Someone's trying to write characters out of the script in this suspenseful crossword puzzler featuring PI Rosco Polycrates and crossword editor Belle GrahamBelle Graham is mired in New England's snowy, late-January gloom when Hollywood comes calling. Seduced by visions of relaxing poolside in sunny Los Angeles, she heads to Hollywood to create a puzzle for a TV movie based on a crime she and her husband, Rosco Polycrates, recently cracked. The hook is that the show ...

Murder moves into the neighborhood in this witty and suspenseful crossword mystery featuring husband-and-wife sleuth team Belle Graham and Rosco PolycratesBelle Graham and her canine bodyguards, Kit and Gabby, are enjoying their daily outing in the local dog park with new friends Karen Tacete, her daughter Lily, and their dog Bear. But Karen's picture-perfect life shatters when her husband, Dan, fails to return home. He's barely been declared officially missing when...

Nero Blanc's bestselling mystery series continues in a holiday tale featuring Belle Graham, Rosco Polycrates, and dessert recipes with ingredients that are clues to the crossword puzzlesThe Holiday Decoration Competition is in full swing at Newcastle's historic Paul Revere Inn. As the rivalry heats up, crossword editor Belle Graham unearths an abandoned treasure: a book of dessert recipes written in the form of crosswords handed down from mother to daughter.W...