Table of Contents
Strangler was the first of Parnell Hall’s Stanley Hastings mysteries I read, way back in January of 1991. That book was quickly followed by Detective, the first book in the series. And as they say, the rest is history! The last Stanley Hastings mystery I read was 2015’s A Fool for a Client.
I love everything about the Stanley Hastings mysteries — the major and minor characters, and the stories themselves. And while the Hastings mysteries are my favorites, the Puzzle Lady Cora Felton has definitely grown on me through the years.
From ParnellHall.com…
Readers of my Stanley Hastings private eye series may be surprised to learn I was influenced by Robert B. Parker. I read his Spenser books, and was blown away by them. Shortly thereafter I saw him interviewed on TV. He was asked why people like his books. He said, “I think they like the way the words sound.” The interviewer was taken aback, but I looked at his books again and he was absolutely right. There was a flow, a cadence — the words jumped off the page.
When I started my first book, Detective, I wanted it to sound good. It must have worked. The book was nominated for the Edgar and Shamus awards. Subsequent reviews referred to my “trademark, zippy, witty dialogue.”
Readers of my Puzzle Lady series may be surprised to find the books were written by the same person. The original manuscript even had a woman’s name as the author. Cora Felton, a charming fraud, who has been described as “Miss Marple on steroids” and “Jessica Fletcher meets Groucho Marx,” was voted the Best New Discovery by the Mystery Guild.
Final Thoughts About Parnell Hall’s Books
As I was creating this page, I discovered a few things. First, there’s one Stanley Hastings book I missed — Caper, Parnell’s 2015 release. Secondly, considering I’ve only read seven Puzzle Lady books, that leaves 13 more to go! And finally, from 2016 to 2020, Parnell collaborated with Stuart Woods on four books featuring Teddy Fay. Those definitely need to be checked out!
Awards and Recognitions
Detective, Hall’s first book, was nominated for an Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America, and a Shamus Award by the Private Eye Writers of America.
The Stanley Hastings novel Movie was nominated for a Shamus Award for Best Private Eye Novel of 1995, as well as a Lefty Award for the funniest mystery novel of that year.
His novel Scam was also a Lefty nominee.
Stanley Hastings Novels
| Title | Series/No | Year Published | Date Read | Notes |
| Detective | (Stanley Hastings #1) | 1987 | 1991/1/12 | |
| Murder | (Stanley Hastings #2) | 1987 | 1991/4/7 | |
| Favor | Stanley Hastings #3) | 1988 | 1991/3/16 | |
| Strangler | (Stanley Hastings #4) | 1989 | 1991/1/5 | |
| Client | (Stanley Hastings #5) | 1990 | 1991/2/1 | |
| Juror | (Stanley Hastings #6) | 1990 | 1991/2/17 | |
| Shot | (Stanley Hastings #7) | 1991 | 1993/2/20 | |
| Actor | (Stanley Hastings #8) | 1993 | 1993/7/2 | |
| Blackmail | (Stanley Hastings #9) | 1994 | 1994/5/28 | |
| Movie | (Stanley Hastings #10) | 1995 | 1995/9/12 | |
| Trial | (Stanley Hastings #11) | 1996 | 1997/7/1 | |
| Scam | (Stanley Hastings #12) | 1997 | 1999/1/9 | |
| Suspense | (Stanley Hastings #13) | 1998 | 1998/2/14 | |
| Cozy | (Stanley Hastings #14) | 2001 | 2002/11/8 | |
| Manslaughter | (Stanley Hastings #15) | 2003 | 2003/12/28 | |
| Hitman | (Stanley Hastings #16) | 2007 | 2008/3/10 | |
| Caper | (Stanley Hastings #17) | 2010 | ||
| Stakeout | (Stanley Hastings #18) | 2010 | 2013/5/20 | |
| Safari | (Stanley Hastings #19) | 2014 | Post | |
| Fool For A Client | (Stanley Hastings #20) | 2015 | 2015 |
Puzzle Lady Novels
| Title | Series/No. | Year Published | Date Read | Notes |
| A Clue for the Puzzle Lady | (Puzzle Lady, #1) | 2000 | 2000/8/14 | |
| Last Puzzle & Testament | (Puzzle Lady #2) | 2001 | ||
| Puzzled to Death | (Puzzle Lady #3) | 2002 | ||
| Puzzle in a Pear Tree | (Puzzle Lady #4) | 2003 | 2017/01/18 | |
| With This Puzzle I Thee Kill | (Puzzle Lady #5) | 2004 | ||
| And A Puzzle To Die On | (Puzzle Lady #6) | 2005 | ||
| Stalking The Puzzle Lady | (Puzzle Lady #7) | 2006 | On TBR Shelves | |
| You Have the Right to Remain Puzzled | (Puzzle Lady, #8) | 2006 | ||
| The Sudoku Puzzle Murders | (Puzzle Lady #9) | 2008 | On TBR Shelves | |
| Dead Man’s Puzzle | (Puzzle Lady # 10) | 2009 | ||
| The Puzzle Lady vs. The Sudoku Lady | (Puzzle Lady #11) | 2010 | On TBR Shelves | |
| The KenKen Killings | (Puzzle Lady #12) | 2011 | On TBR Shelves | |
| $10,000 in Unmarked Puzzles | (Puzzle Lady #13) | 2012 | ||
| Arsenic and Old Puzzles | (Puzzle Lady #14) | 2013 | ||
| Lethal Luncheon | (Puzzle Lady, #14.5) | 2013 | ||
| NYPD Puzzle | (Puzzle Lady, #15) | 2014 | ||
| Puzzled Indemnity | (Puzzle Lady, #16) | 2015 | On TBR Shelves | |
| Presumed Puzzled | (Puzzle Lady #17) | 2016 | On TBR Shelves | |
| A Puzzle to be Named Later | (Puzzle Lady, #18) | 2017 | 2017/7/11 | Post |
| The Purloined Puzzle | (Puzzle Lady, #19) | 2018 | 2018/7/12 | |
| Lights! Camera! Puzzles! | (Puzzle Lady, #20) | 2019 | 2020/04/22 |
Teddy Fey and Herbie Fischer Novels
Stuart Woods and Parnell Hall
| Title | Series | Date Published | Date Read | Notes |
| Skin Game | Teddy Fay | 2019 | On TBR Shelves | |
| Barely Legal | Herbie Fischer | 2017 | On TBR Shelves |
