Savannah Stone is a professional freelance puzzle writer, published in numerous newspapers. She enjoys her life -- a challenging profession and a cozy marriage with retired police chief, Zach. What starts one day as a jaunt into the city to pick up some supplies turns into an encounter with Joanna Clayton, a horrible gossip who rarely has anything nice to say about anyone -- even to their face! Joanna finds herself forced into having tea with Joanna and two other women, only to discover that Joanna has decided to take up puzzle-writing herself. Not only that, but Joanna's first puzzle has been published in a local newspaper!

On the way home, Savannah tries to calm herself down, but a call from Zach sends her into a tailspin. Joanna has been killed, and it seems that the likely culprit is poisoned tea. Savannah immediately worries that the so-called puzzle-writing "rivalry" (if one puzzle can be considered a rivalry) will be considered a motive by police. Things are instantly complicated by the fact that the Ashville police want Zach to investigate the case, which he can't do if his wife is a suspect on the case.

When the police call in a new person to investigate, Savannah is questioned so thoroughly that she realizes she's on the suspect list. She decides to do her own investigating, and Zach (who is consulting on the case) does what he can to help out. What she discovers, though, is that Joanna's gossiping, manipulating ways throughout her life have given a long list of people plenty of motive to want her dead. Although Savannah definitely had the opportunity, several others did, as well. But which one had the means?

A GRID FOR MURDER is an adeptly written, intriguing mystery. At one point, Savannah is put in the unenviable position of questioning a good friend who is helping her with the investigation. While this twist may seem gritty, it's done in a realistic way that plays out well and is very in character for Savannah, especially for those who have read all three books in the Mystery by the Numbers series. What I especially liked about this book is that the real culprit is someone who I suspected, then talked myself out of, then never suspected again because there was always someone else to suspect.

I anxiously await the next book in this series!

Book Summary

Savannah Stone makes her living creating puzzles for logic lovers. But when a novice puzzle maker’s number is up, Savannah has to fill in the blanks to solve a murder . . . 
Savannah would almost rather drink poison than have tea with Joanna Clayton. Not only is the unpleasant woman one of the worst gossips in Asheville, North Carolina, over tea she flaunts her new assignment creating logic puzzles for a local newspaper—one that has repeatedly turned down Savannah’s work.
 
But when Savannah’s retired police chief husband, Zach, calls her later to tell her Joanna has actually been poisoned, she is more than puzzled—she’s troubled. Will the police consider puzzle envy a strong enough motive and think she decided to eliminate the competition? It’s time for Savannah to sort through Joanna’s long list of enemies to find out who was bitter enough to poison the prospective puzzle maker . . .