"The crossword is a feature of the modern world, inspiring daily devotion and obsession from not just everyday citizens looking to pass the time but icons of American life, such as Bill Clinton, Yo-Yo Ma, and Martha Stewart. It was invented in 1913, almost by accident, when a newspaper editor at the New York World was casting around for something to fill some empty column space for that year's Christmas edition. Practically overnight, it became a...

"Judith Potts is seventy-seven years old and blissfully happy. She lives on her own in a faded mansion just outside Marlow, there's no man in her life to tell her what to do or how much whisky to drink, and to keep herself busy she sets crosswords for The Times newspaper. One evening, while out swimming in the Thames, Judith witnesses a brutal murder. The local police don't believe her story, so she decides to investigate for herself, and is soon...

Hank must work on a huge homework packet during a family trip to North Carolina or he will spend the day with his father at a crossword puzzle tournament rather than riding roller coasters with his mother, sister, and friend Frankie.

Terminal Descent: When Tess prepares for a crossword challenge against a supercomputer, the engineer behind it is murdered, spurring her and Logan to seek answers before they become the next victims. Riddle Me Dead: Tess gets invited to be a part of a popular game show, but when the host is unexpectedly murdered, she and Detective Logan O'Connor seek to uncover who was behind it all.

"Clayton Stumper might be in his twenties, but he dresses like your grandpa and fusses like your aunt. Abandoned at birth on the steps of the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers, he was raised by a group of eccentric enigmatologists and now finds himself among the last survivors of a fading institution. When the esteemed crossword compiler and main maternal presence in Clayton's life, Pippa Allsbrook, passes away, she bestows her final puzzle on him: a promise...