Two Down

July 3, 2000
The case of two women lost at sea off Nantucket interferes with the burgeoning romance of crossword puzzle editor Belle Graham and her beau, PI Rosco Polycrates, in this second engaging crossword mystery from Blanc (The Crossword Murder). A wealthy investment banker, Tom Pepper, calls in Rosco after Newcastle, Mass., fishermen tow into the harbor the charred hulk of the sailboat rented by Tom's wife, Genie, and her famous actress friend, Jamaica Nevisson. The distraught Tom is convinced that the man who rented Genie the sailboat was negligent. While Rosco investigates the rental agent and the Coast Guard searches for the women, Belle begins to receive ominous crossword puzzles. The first one insinuates through pointed clues that something dire has happened to Jamaica. Rosco thinks Belle is imagining links to his case, until he finds human blood in the fishermen's boat. Then the missing women's inflatable life raft surfaces on a remote beach, well above the tide line and with a large gash in its side. Rosco fears for Belle's safety, since later puzzles not only suggest their constructor is watching both of them closely but contain veiled personal threats. Clever, charming Belle and meticulous, plodding Rosco have to hustle if they're to prevent a missing persons investigation from turning into a homicide case. In an interactive touch that adds to the problem-solving fun, the author supplies copies of the six crossword puzzles that Belle receives, so readers can fill in the blanks for themselves. (July) FYI: Nero Blanc is the joint pseudonym of husband and wife Steve Zettlerand and Cordelia Frances Biddle.