Parnell Hall

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Parnell Hall's Latest Book

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  • Bibliography:
    53 Books (3 Series)
  • First Book:
    June 1987
  • Latest Book:
    July 2020
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Full Series List in Order

A Puzzle Lady Mystery

1 - A Clue for the Puzzle Lady (Nov-1999)
2 - Last Puzzle & Testament (Sep-2000)
3 - Puzzled to Death (Oct-2001)
4 - A Puzzle in a Pear Tree (Nov-2002)
5 - With This Puzzle, I Thee Kill (Dec-2003)
6 - And a Puzzle to Die On (Oct-2004)
7 - Stalking the Puzzle Lady (Oct-2005)
8 - You Have the Right to Remain Puzzled (Nov-2006)
9 - The Sudoku Puzzle Murders (Apr-2008)
10 - Dead Man's Puzzle (Apr-2009)
11 - The Puzzle Lady vs. The Sudoku Lady (Feb-2010)
12 - The KenKen Killings (Jan-2011)
13 - $10,000 in Small, Unmarked Puzzles (Feb-2012)
14 - Arsenic and Old Puzzles (Jan-2013)
15 - NYPD Puzzle (Jan-2014)
16 - Puzzled Indemnity (Jan-2015)
17 - Presumed Puzzled (Jan-2016)
18 - A Puzzle to Be Named Later (Jan-2017)
19 - The Purloined Puzzle (Mar-2018)
20 - Lights! Camera! Puzzles! (Apr-2019)

A Stanley Hastings Novel of Suspense

1 - Detective (Jun-1987)
2 - Murder (Feb-1988)
3 - Favor (Sep-1988)
4 - Strangler (May-1989)
5 - Client (Apr-1990)
6 - Juror (Dec-1990)
7 - Shot (May-1991)
8 - Actor (May-1993)
9 - Blackmail (Mar-1994)
10 - Movie (Mar-1995)
11 - Trial (Apr-1997)
12 - Scam (Apr-1997)
13 - Suspense (Jan-1998)
14 - Cozy (Jul-2001)
14 - Manslaughter (Jan-2003)
15 - Hitman (Jul-2007)
16 - Caper (Jul-2010)
17 - Stakeout (Jan-2013)
17.5 - Clicker Training (Apr-2013)
18 - Safari (Nov-2014)
19 - A Fool for a Client (Oct-2015)

A Steve Winslow Mystery

2 - The Anonymous Client (Apr-2011)
3 - The Underground Man (Apr-2011)
4 - The Naked Typist (May-2011)
5 - The Wrong Gun (May-2011)
6 - The Innocent Woman (May-2011)

Book List in Order: 53 titles

  • Detective

    A Stanley Hastings Novel of Suspense - 1

    In the heat of a mysterious murder, Stanley has his long-awaited chance to prove himself as a real detective … but what price will he have to pay to do this? To solve this case Stanley must descend into a modern-day inferno that consists of drugs ...

  • Murder

    A Stanley Hastings Novel of Suspense - 2

    Stanley Hastings, the NY Private Investigator, is back in the swing of investigation. Playing it safe and toning down his investigations, however, doesn't work for him because he seems to be a trouble magnet. He becomes involved with an apparently in...

  • Favor

    A Stanley Hastings Novel of Suspense - 3

    Good old Stanley, always willing to do a favor. Stanley Hastings, the worst private detective in New York--maybe in the known universe--enters the big league. When asked to investigate Sergeant MacAullif's son-in-law, Stanley gets himself into troubl...

  • Strangler

    A Stanley Hastings Novel of Suspense - 4

    Stanley Hastings, is still signing up clients for a law firm in New York. Lately, however, unknown hands have strangled several prospects before Stanley can get a signature. Things look bad for Stanley and/or the law firm until Stanley, bucking the f...

  • Client

    A Stanley Hastings Novel of Suspense - 5

    "What's wrong with me?" is the thought that crosses Stanley Hastings's mind when he gets his first paying client. Stanley has absolutely no interest in being a P.I., but hey, he needs to pay the bills. The novice P.I.'s first victim . um . client is ...

  • Juror

    A Stanley Hastings Novel of Suspense - 6

    Hall's (Client ) latest addition to the Stanley Hastings series featuring the somewhat inconsequential private detective who specializes in negligence cases, finds Hastings reluctantly serving as a juror in a numbingly boring trial. Fellow juror and ...

  • Shot

    A Stanley Hastings Novel of Suspense - 7

    Stanley Hastings, who usually chases ambulances for negligence lawyer Richard Rosenberg, finally has his own client: mousy Melissa Ford, who wants him to look into her boyfriend David Melrose's background. In just one day's work, Stanley finds out so...

  • Actor

    A Stanley Hastings Novel of Suspense - 8

    Stanley Hastings never gave up his day job. Being private eye for an ambulance-chasing New Yor lawyer specializing in accident claims has become hi career. He carries a .35 (millimeter camera to photograph cracks in the sidewalk) instead of a .38. He...

  • Blackmail

    A Stanley Hastings Novel of Suspense - 9

    She had shoulder-length blond hair and a perfectly symmetrical face, wide-eyed and innocent as a newborn babe. Her name was Marlena, and, against his better judgment, private detective Stanley Hastings agreed to act as a go-between between the "babe"...



  • Movie

    A Stanley Hastings Novel of Suspense - 10

    IT STARTED OFF AS A MURDER MYSTERY/COURTROOM DRAMA. BY THE TIME THE CAMERAS ROLLED IT WAS HANDS OF HAVOC, FLESH OF FIRE, FEATURING KUNG FU FIGHTING, A BEVY OF BIMBOS, AND, LO AND BEHOLD, A CAMEO OF A CORPSE. Talk about film noir. Stanley Hastings'...

  • Scam

    A Stanley Hastings Novel of Suspense - 12

    The good news is Stanley Hastings has a real, paying client. The bad news is his client, Cranston Pritchert, cant seem to tell him anything more than that he’s being set up. And after some initial sleuthing to try to unravel the alleged set-up, all...

  • Trial

    A Stanley Hastings Novel of Suspense - 11

    Hall's latest one-word title describes the further adventures of Manhattan investigator Stanley Hastings. Attorney Richard Rosenberg, the personal injury specialist who usually employs Stanley, has him investigate the alibi of his latest client, a ri...

  • Suspense

    A Stanley Hastings Novel of Suspense - 13

    ``I don't deal in danger,'' Stanley Hastings aptly tells his latest client. But Maxine Winnington, who obviously hasn't seen Stanley's r‚sum‚, hires him anyway to identify the person who's been harassing her with anonymous threatening phone calls...

  • A Clue for the Puzzle Lady

    A Puzzle Lady Mystery - 1

    Cruciverbalists, rejoice! Pick up a pencil and get ready to solve a puzzling murder--and an actual crossword puzzle--in this sparkling debut of a unique amateur detective: Miss Cora Felton, an eccentric old lady with a syndicated puzzle column, an ir...

  • Last Puzzle & Testament

    A Puzzle Lady Mystery - 2

    It's no mystery why readers love the Puzzle Lady, Miss Cora Felton, the eccentric amateur detective who keeps everyone guessing as she keeps herself in the thick of trouble. Find out why critics agree that "Cora is emerging as a lovable and unique sl...

  • Cozy

    A Stanley Hastings Novel of Suspense - 14

    Reluctant investigator Stanley Hastings is stranded at the Blue Frog Ponds Inn, a trendy New England bed-and-breakfast, where he is vacationing with his wife, Alice. Their cheerless room with its paper-thin walls, no TV, and a blue cartoon frog on th...

  • Puzzled to Death

    A Puzzle Lady Mystery - 3

    Miss Cora Felton, the eccentric amateur detective better known as the Puzzle Lady, likes nothing better than to solve a good mystery -- and this time she's got a killer on her hands. What isn't puzzling is why critics agree that "Cora is emerging as ...

  • A Puzzle in a Pear Tree

    A Puzzle Lady Mystery - 4

    'Tis the season to be jolly, but Cora Felton, shanghaied into "The Twelve Days of Christmas" as a most reluctant maid-a-milking, has every right to feel like a grinch. When someone steals the partridge from the pear tree and replaces it with a crypti...

  • Manslaughter

    A Stanley Hastings Novel of Suspense - 14

    Having survived a murderously uncomfortable New England holiday in the much-praised Cozy, private eye Stanley Hastings returns to more familiar New York urban turf with his twisted logic and droll style effectually intact. With Joe Balfour -- a clien...



  • With This Puzzle, I Thee Kill

    A Puzzle Lady Mystery - 5

    Crime, cryptograms, and killer conundrums abound for the Puzzle Lady in the fourth installment of the series USA Today raves is "a fun series for mystery fans and cruciverbalists!" It looks like wedding bells again for the much-married Cora Felton...

  • And a Puzzle to Die On

    A Puzzle Lady Mystery - 6

    Cora Felton, the eccentric Puzzle Lady, is up to her old tricks again. Along with her brainy niece Sherry, the unlikely crime-solving duo match wits with a killer hiding behind an Lately, the biggest mystery is how many candles to put on the cake ...

  • Lethal Luncheon

    in Death Dines In

    CLAUDIA BISHOP AND DEAN JAMES invite you to dine in. There's murder on the menu... Main Course: Sixteen short stories Side Dishes: Sixteen all -- new recipes and author interviews Sink your teeth into these delicacies from today's masters of ...

  • Line Reading

    in Show Business Is Murder

    Lights...Camera...Murder! Behind the velvet ropes and closed curtains, buried in the back lots, you'll find the darker side of the spotlight. It's where stars are created overnight, and burn out just cis quickly. Where deals are made to be broken,...

  • Stalking the Puzzle Lady

    A Puzzle Lady Mystery - 7

    Cora Felton may look like everyone's favorite grandmother. But when Bakerhaven's beloved Puzzle Lady grudgingly hits the road as part of a television promotion for new and improved Corn Toasties, everyone's got a surprise in store--including a derang...

  • You Have the Right to Remain Puzzled

    A Puzzle Lady Mystery - 8

    When Benny Southstreet, a small-time hustler with a big-time gift for constructing crosswords, accuses Cora of stealing one of his creations, it's clearly a case of mistaken identity...until Cora's own attorney files a plagiarism suit against her. Wo...

  • Hitman

    A Stanley Hastings Novel of Suspense - 15

    Private Eye Stanley Hastings doesn't want for idiosyncrasies, as fans of this long-running "unconventional" and "very funny" (The New York Times) mystery series know. For instance, he doesn't carry a gun. So he seems a particularly improbable choice,...

  • The Sudoku Puzzle Murders

    A Puzzle Lady Mystery - 9
    Worldwide Mysteries - 902

    Cora Felton, the Puzzle Lady (who actually couldn't solve a crossword puzzle to save her life), is surprisingly good at sudoku, so it's no problem when a Japanese publisher asks her to write a sudoku book. But when two Japanese publishers show up in ...

  • Dead Man's Puzzle

    A Puzzle Lady Mystery - 10
    Worldwide Mysteries - 917

    Sherry is off on her honeymoon when Chief Harper comes to Cora Felton, asking her to solve a crossword puzzle found on the body of Old Man Overmeyer. Small problem. Cora is the Milli Vanilli of cruciverbalists. Her niece, Sherry, writes the crossword...

  • The Puzzle Lady vs. The Sudoku Lady

    A Puzzle Lady Mystery - 11
    Worldwide Mysteries - 945

    MAY THE BEST CRIME SOLVER WIN! Cora Felton's peaceful Connecticut town is in an uproar. The "Puzzle Lady's" biggest rival has come all the way from Japan to challenge her in puzzle-to-puzzle combat. And when a local resident is found dead, the ba...



  • Death of a Vampire

    in Crimes by Moonlight

    An all-new mystery anthology edited and featuring a new story by #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris Nighttime is the perfect time for the perfect crime. #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris edits and contributes...

  • Caper

    A Stanley Hastings Novel of Suspense - 16

    The latest in the beloved Stanley Hastings series--the unlikeliest private eye in New York City, who doesn't even carry a gun. Poor Stanley Hastings. After getting hired by a hitman and nearly getting shot, the put-upon PI needed some fun, so when...

  • The KenKen Killings

    A Puzzle Lady Mystery - 12
    Worldwide Mysteries - 933

    The Puzzle Lady just can't stay out of trouble. When the late Chester T. Markowitz, a man she never met, leaves $10,000 to his beloved wife, Cora Felton, the Puzzle Lady can't help cashing the check. Quicker than you can say legal proceedings, Cora's...

  • The Anonymous Client

    A Steve Winslow Mystery - 2

    The Anonymous Client â€" What young attorney wouldn’t be delighted to get a $10,000 cash retainer in the mail? Steve Winslow might have been if he knew who sent it. As it is, it gets him arrested for murder, grilled by the cops, and hauled before t...

  • The Baxter Trust

    Sexy young Sheila Benton loses a multi-million dollar trust if she's involved in any scandal, so it probably would have been wiser not to do drugs, run around with a married man, and find a dead blackmailer on her kitchen floor. Defending her from a...

  • The Underground Man

    A Steve Winslow Mystery - 3

    When a homeless man’s greedy relatives get him committed, Steve has to prove a multimillionaire who sold his mansion and went to live in the subway is sane. Then he has to prove who killed him."Highly entertaining courtroom drama." -- Publishers W...

  • The Innocent Woman

    A Steve Winslow Mystery - 6

    Steve Winslow didn’t understand. The young woman’s court appointed attorney didn’t cost her anything, the guy had just plea-bargained her petty-theft charge down to a suspended sentence with no time served and no fine, so why was she trying to ...

  • The Naked Typist

    A Steve Winslow Mystery - 4

    When Steve Winslow helps a young secretary bring a wrongful termination suit against her former employer, it’s not a particularly interesting case, except for the fact she was hired to type in the nude. That and the fact she doesn’t stick around ...

  • The Wrong Gun

    A Steve Winslow Mystery - 5

    When a revolver once owned by wild west outlaw Pistol Pete Robbins is stolen and a replica left in its place, wealthy gun collector Russ Timberlaine is afraid someone will commit a murder with it in order to frame him for the crime. Steve Winslow sub...

  • $10,000 in Small, Unmarked Puzzles

    A Puzzle Lady Mystery - 13
    Worldwide Mysteries - 885

    When young attorney Becky Baldwin hires Cora Felton to make a blackmail payment drop, it couldn't go worse: she stumbles over a corpse and a puzzle, and someone steals the money. Becky won't tell her who the client is, but the most likely suspect is...



  • Stakeout

    A Stanley Hastings Novel of Suspense - 17

    Stanley Hastings finally felt like a real PI, staking out a New Jersey motel to get evidence on a woman's cheating husband. It should have been a piece of cake. Only the husband wasn't cheating, someone killed him, and the cops are trying to pin the ...

  • Arsenic and Old Puzzles

    A Puzzle Lady Mystery - 14

    The Puzzle Lady embarks on another adventure involving one classic movie and featuring new puzzles by Will Shortz When an elderly boarder at a Bakerhaven bed-and-breakfast drops dead during afternoon tea, there's nothing particularly suspicious a...

  • Clicker Training

    A Stanley Hastings Novel of Suspense - 17.5

    A Stanley Hastings short story, originally published in Canine Christmas: When Santa leaves a dead body under the tree at the Vermont country inn where Stanley and Alice are staying, the local police are stumped. Can Stanley solve the crime, or will...

  • The Witness Cat

    A Steve Winslow short story: It's a lose-lose situation when Steve Winslow is assigned a court-appointed case defending a caretaker accused of killing his employer. Not only is Steve not getting paid, but if he doesn't get his client off, he'll be st...

  • NYPD Puzzle

    A Puzzle Lady Mystery - 15

    When young attorney Becky Balwin hires Cora Felton to accompany her to New York City to meet a new client in his penthouse apartment, the Puzzle Lady jumps at the chance. Cora is just coming off a bad breakup, and finding out that Chief Harper testif...

  • Safari

    A Stanley Hastings Novel of Suspense - 18

    The novel that takes Stanley Hastings, the ever-loquacious New York private detective, on safari in Zambia ... What could possibly go wrong? Stanley Hastings on safari? I don’t think so. Neither did Stanley, until Alice’s small inheritance―c...

  • Puzzled Indemnity

    A Puzzle Lady Mystery - 16

    It's been a cold, lonely winter for Cora Felton. Long distance has cooled the Puzzle Lady's on-again-off-again affair with Sergeant Crowley, and the only case Chief Harper has for her to investigate is a routine liquor store robbery. So when attorney...

  • A Fool for a Client

    A Stanley Hastings Novel of Suspense - 19

    A young woman found naked and stabbed to death in her apartment. It's the type of case that should be perfect for Stanley Hastings. Instead, it's his nightmare.  A sensational murder trial! A young woman found naked and stabbed to death in her ap...

  • Presumed Puzzled

    A Puzzle Lady Mystery - 17

    A shocking crime of passion has Bakerhaven buzzing! The Puzzle Lady gets more than she bargained for when she’s hired to track down Paula Martindale’s straying husband. She finds him, all right―hacked to pieces on his living room rug, while ...

  • A Puzzle to Be Named Later

    A Puzzle Lady Mystery - 18

    The Puzzle Lady couldn’t be happier. Matt Greystone, the rookie sensation who just signed a huge contract with the Yankees after coming to the team as the player to be named later in a trade with the Diamondbacks, winning seventeen games as a start...



  • The Purloined Puzzle

    A Puzzle Lady Mystery - 19

    Amateur sleuth and crossword impresario Cora Felton is asked to solve a puzzle, only to find that it’s been stolen―and a murder weapon has been left in its place. When the obnoxious sixteen-year-old Peggy Dawson asks Cora Felton to solve a puz...

  • Lights! Camera! Puzzles!

    A Puzzle Lady Mystery - 20

    The new novel in the ever-popular mystery series finds the Puzzle Lady on the set of a movie about her own life -- and when the first dead body shows up on set, it comes with a crossword puzzle.It’s murder on the movie set!It was no surprise when C...

  • A Cup of Tea

    in Malice Domestic 14: Mystery Most Edible

    The Malice Domestic anthology series returns with a new take on mysteries in the Agatha Christie tradition -- 36 original tales with a culinary bent! Included are: A Cup of Tea, by Parnell Hall Brown Recluse, by Marcia Adair A Slice of Heaven,, by La...

  • Chasing Jack

    Pure Parnell Hall - wit, intensity, sharp dialog and vivid characters ... maybe his best yet. Lee Child, #1 New York Times bestselling authorA relentless, darkly-funny thriller by Parnell Hall, the New York Times bestselling author of the Puzzle Lady...

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Parnell Hall has published 53 books.

Parnell Hall does not have a new book coming out soon. The latest book, Chasing Jack, was published in July 2020.

The first book by Parnell Hall, Detective, was published in June 1987.

Yes. Parnell Hall has 3 series.
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