Author: Moody, Susan
Details: From Booklist Middle-aged, "circumferentially challenged" bridge instructor Cassie Swann has plenty on her mind: two persistent suitors and the new bridge-supplies business she's opening, among numerous other concerns. But all of them pale when she watches a horse race on the telly and notices that the winning horse's owner is the woman Cassie's father had an affair with years ago, just before he was brutally murdered. The shock of seeing the woman after so many years triggers troubling memories. Cassie, who had already lost her mother, was still a child when her dad was knifed outside the pub he owned. The killer was never found, but now that she's an adult, Cassie decides that for her own peace of mind, she wants to know the truth about her father's death, no matter how painful. Crisp writing, a robust heroine with a zest for life, keen-edged humor, and an inventive plot make this British cozy a fine choice for most collections. Emily Melton Product Description While investigating a series of threatening letters being sent to an Indian couple she knows through her bridge class, Cassie Swann tracks down a woman horse trainer who may know something about the murder of Cassie's father twenty years ago From Publishers Weekly In her third appearance, following Take-Out Double, British bridge expert and amateur sleuth Cassandra Swann pursues an investigation that hits very close to home. Discouraged by her failure at dieting and uncertain of her relationship with police officer Paul Walsh, Cassandra continues to conduct evening bridge classes at a nearby school. There the enrollment of an Indian couple, the Drs. Sammi and Vida Ray, captures the interest of Cassandra and a friend, who come to suspect Vida is being physically abused. Meanwhile, a horse named Handsome Harry comes in third in the Grand National. When Cassandra was a young girl, her pub-owner father, called Handsome Harry, had been fatally stabbed in a brawl and the person responsible never identified. Cassandra learns that the owner of the horse had been one of her father's female companions; her curiosity and sense of loss reawakened, she begins to investigate the death of her father, known also as the King of Hearts. Moody offers a vibrant cross section of English social strata in such characters as coarse-mannered Charlie Quartermain, Cassandra's ardent admirer, and country gentlewoman Brigid Fraser, who uses phrases like NOSD ("not our sort, dear"). References to the game of bridge are few, but Moody's characterization is utterly winning and her story's conclusion a sure slam. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal In a normally quiet English village, many facades await cracking. Despite a knack for humorous self-deprecation, Cassandra Swann has little patience for the shortcomings of others. But her cynicism is justified when racially motivated threats against one of her Pakistani students results in murder. Naturally, Cassandra and friend Natasha become involved, but Cassandra has already begun investigating the 22-year-old murder of her father. The plot is further complicated by her police officer lover, a gambling, wannabe swain, and a psychopathic phone caller. Crisp prose, a complex plot, and a wicked sense of humor make this a great read.Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Kirkus Reviews A chance notice that her late father's namesake, Handsome Harry III, is running in the Grand National makes Bellington bridge pro Cassandra Swann buckle down to solve his decades-old murder. The official story is that Handsome Harry was stabbed in a fight that broke out in front of his pub, but Cassie, questioning the surviving witnesses--one concerned party gets fatally stabbed herself before Cassie can get to her--becomes convinced that her father's killing, and maybe the fight itself, was choreographed in advance. Meantime, there's present-day crime as well, as the hate campaign aga
Languages: English
Item Condition: UsedLikeNew
Binding: Hardcover