Cold Reading Murder

December 15, 2020
A Mississippi newlywed takes a pre-honeymoon break to solve a case of murder. Wendy Lyons Winchester and Detective Ross Rierson have just tied the knot under the benevolent gaze of her father, Police Chief Bax Winchester. Wendy, whose job as investigative reporter for the Rosalie Citizen still leaves her plenty of time for bridge, has started teaching a group of five novice players. One of them, Rosalie native Sarah Ann O'Rourke, is under the thumb of her extremely religious mother. The others, all new arrivals, are Charlotte Ruth, the nervous widow of a man who died by suicide; Vance Quimby, an author who's soaking up Mississippi atmosphere; Aurelia Spangler, who claims to be psychic; and talented Milton Bagdad, who delivers singing telegrams for Party Palooza. Wendy agrees to give the first lesson at the home of Aurelia, whose prognostications make the others so nervous that Milton actually flees town. When Wendy discovers Aurelia dead of a cocaine overdose, the intuition that's helped her solve several murders encourages her to insist that her husband and father ignore Aurelia's suicide note and investigate. After Bax asks an old friend with ties to dope dealers to sniff around for the source of the cocaine, the friend's murder makes Wendy even more certain that Aurelia was murdered. She digs up plenty of hidden secrets about the people who visited Aurelia the day of her death, but which of them was worth killing for? A very Southern mystery with authentic characters, a well-hidden killer, and some helpful bridge tips.

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January 18, 2021
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. Agent: Christina Hogrebe, Jane Rotrosen Agency.