A Crossworder's Holiday
by Nero Blanc
Murder never takes a holiday—as husband-and-wife sleuths Belle Graham and Rosco Polycrates discover when they tackle five crimes hidden in crossword puzzles In "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 Freddy Five Fingers. Before he croaked, he was sending tip-offs to the cops via crosswords printed in the local tabloid. Now Belle and Rosco are in Philadelphia to help the Feds figure out Freddy's final puzzle. While in the Cotswolds to visit old friends, Belle and Rosco encounter "A Ghost of Christmas Past" when they find a fragment of a puzzle that holds clues to a haunted house's secret history. And in the title story, Belle and Rosco are enjoying a quiet Christmas in Nantucket when a...