The Barnes & Noble ReviewA killer has big plans for the holiday season in Parnell Hall's fourth delightfully cryptic cozy. Cora Felton may be known as the Puzzle Lady, because that's the role she's played on TV commercials, but truth is, she actually hates puzzles. On the other hand, she absolutely loves mysteries, and she's had some luck solving them as well. She's got a real doozy to work on this Christmas, when someone disrupts a rehearsal for the local pageant (an unconventional rendition of "The Twelve Days of Christmas"), and leaves a message in the form of an acrostic. At first, no one is sure whether to take the threat seriously. After all, the whole thing could just be a prank to pester the pageant's unpopular leading lady. Though Cora cares even less for acrostics than traditional crosswords, she can't resist this fascinatingly puzzling plot. So, when a second acrostic turns up, she gets her clever niece, Sherry, to handle the tedious job of fitting the proper words into the acrostic's numbered slots. Meanwhile, Cora sets out to discover what prompted the threats. When the game turns deadly (after someone kills the Virgin Mary in Bakerhaven's living crêche), Cora plays for keeps, matching wits with an opponent who is either very clever, totally insane, or both. And, as she puts together the clues, the Puzzle Lady learns that sometimes providing a good answer is a better solution than revealing the right one. Sue Stone