Cold Reading Murder
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Bridge expert and investigative reporter Wendy Winchester knows a thing or two about navigating life along the Mississippi River, but murder isn’t something she foresees . . .
Who could have predicted it? The daughter of Police Chief Bax Winchester married to a cop—Detective Ross Rierson. It’s a beautiful wedding, and the newlyweds are in bliss—even if they do have to postpone their Hawaiian honeymoon for now. In the meantime, Wendy is teaching a group of newbies the game of bridge so they can join the Rosalie Country Club Bridge Bunch.
One of the newcomers, flamboyant psychic Aurelia Spangler, invites the group to meet at her new home. The historic Overview mansion sits atop the High Bluff overlooking the Mississippi River, and the local lore is that it’s possibly haunted, definitely cursed by the original builder, who fell down the stairs to his death. Unfortunately, the house is about to claim another life.
Following a night of bridge practice and cold readings by their clairvoyant host, Aurelia is found dead in her home by Wendy, a suicide note and cocaine residue by her corpse. But Wendy, an investigative reporter for the Rosalie Citizen, doesn’t buy it. The scene seems phonier than Aurelia’s act, and now Wendy needs to call the bluff of a cold-blooded killer playing a psychic bid . . .
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Lee's chatty third Bridge to Death mystery featuring Rosalie, Miss., investigative reporter and bridge expert Wendy Winchester (after 2020's Playing the Devil) opens at Wendy's wedding reception following her marriage to police detective Ross Rierson. As she swans across the vast reception tent, she spots the table devoted to her five new bridge students, among them clairvoyant Aurelia Spangler. Aurelia, new in town, suggests that the next lesson be held at her home, where she proposes to give cold readings to each of the other bridge students. The day after the readings, Wendy stops by Aurelia's house and finds the woman dead, a suicide note and a dusting of cocaine on the table in front of her. Refusing to believe Aurelia took her own life, Wendy sets out to find the murderer. Another death raises the stakes, but the detecting gets lost amid bridge games, Wendy's father's blossoming romance, and other personal developments. Cozy readers who can overlook the feeble mystery plot will have fun.