Murder at Bridge: A Mystery Novel

James “Bonnie” Dundee #3

by Anne Austin

Bonnie Dundee stretched out a long and rather fine pair of legs, regarding the pattern of his dark-blue socks with distinct satisfaction; then he rested his black head against the rich upholstery of an armchair not at all intended for his use. His che

Genres: Mystery, Classics, Audiobook, Historical, Fiction

260 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1931

About the author

Anne Austin (1895-c.1960) was an American mystery writer of at least 6 mystery novels

Born in 1895, Anne Austin began by writing romance novels about young women in the mid 1920's but soon turned her talents to producing a string of mysteries through the 1930's, some of which appeared as serials in newspapers.. Many of these mysteries feature as the detective "Bonnie" Dundee, Special Investigator for the District Attorney, including Murder Backstairs, The Avenging Parrot, Murder at Bridge, and One Drop of Blood. Several of her mysteries were translated into French, including Le Pigeon Noir and Le Crime Parfume. Despite her success as a novelist, Anne Austin disappears from the public record after the 1930's.

Reviews

[The Phoenix · Rating 3 out of 5]

A murder mystery from the early 1900's where more than one person died after playing bridge.... in the host's home. All the same players were at both. Who did it? And why?

[Stela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good old Mystery novel.

Also first time I listen to a book read by multiple narrators, I liked the experience despite my initial circumspection.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good solid murder mystery, somewhat in the vein of the early Ellery Queen, although the plotting hasn't the same imaginative ingenuity.

Bridge is currently all the rage in the small flyover town of Hamilton. One evening, during a session at the home of Nita Selim, Nita becomes the dummy hand and uses the opportunity to go freshen her makeup in her bedroom. Minutes later she's found shot dead at her dressing table. Any of the other bridge players, DA's special assistant Bonnie Dundee soon establishes, could have killed her. But why?

Despite the friendly opposition of the local Police Chief but helped by the DA's drop-dead secretary, Bonnie digs deeper to discover a blackmail plot, an old secret, and hypocrisy hiding behind the veneer of Hamilton's most revered respectability . . .

Things get bogged down a couple of times when we're treated to an explanation of who was where and when, who was in this room and who was in that, the different arrival and departure times of the various suspects, etc. -- all very Freeman Wills Croft -- but otherwise, although I'd hardly describe Austin's narrative skills as higher than B+ and some of the characters are pretty two-dimensional, I found the tale curiously addictive, to the extent that I went back to Project Gutenberg for a copy of the other Anne Austin mystery novel they have there, Girl Alone.

If you're in a Golden Age mood, as I am at the moment, Murder at Bridge satisfactorily scratches the itch.

[Tracey · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was part of an anthology (Afternoon Tea Mysteries, a compilation of cozies - hey, it was 99 cents), and ... meh. A murder occurs in the middle of a bridge game (the victim being the dummy, who stepped away, and really? People are fine with being called the dummy?), and as it turns out bridge - an integral part of the story which takes up a decent chunk of the book - is, to the uninitiated, every single bit as incomprehensible as The Nine Tailors' bell-ringing. It made Fizzbin seem a lot more reasonable. Seriously, who came up with this game? Were they drunk? Is the rulebook longer or slightly shorter than a Merriam Webster dictionary? Is there a bridge-English English-bridge dictionary I can borrow if this ever happens again?

So, there was that. Something else I found incomprehensible was that the main character, young detective Bonnie Dundee, seems for the entire book to actually have been christened Bonnie Dundee. I went back to the beginning twice to see if a real name was given, and it was not. Another review mentions that "James" is revealed at the very end, but I must have missed it; I'll have to go look. A big deal? Nope. A silly and distracting thing to have to put up with the whole book? Yup.

(On the subject of names, this book features one of the tiny handful of characters with my name, spelled as I spell it (you know, correctly). And it's a man. And he's the murderer. Between him and Tracey on Firefly, I may develop a complex.)

Part of the mystery aspect of the book was pretty good - a wide range of suspects, evasive testimony, clever detective work: all to the good. But the clever detective work is down to the fact that the cops are, in the grand tradition of Poirot and Holmes, dumb as a box of rocks, so of course a smart and dogged detective is going to shine. And it seemed as though the clever detective subscribes to the Richard Castle school of mystery solving: That guy is too obviously guilty, he can't really be guilty. Also, more importantly, there is one person on the scene of the first killing who is never even remotely considered a suspect by Dundee, even though she is the one who feeds him the bulk of his information. Why isn't she part of the suspect list? Why does he unquestioningly accept all the information she provides? Because Dundee has a crush on her. I wanted so badly for him to come up against some ugly evidence, find out she has been lying through her teeth, and maybe end up with her holding him at gunpoint telling him explicitly how easy he'd been to manipulate ... alas.

The part of the mystery that was not good was ... well, the solution. It was absurdly complex, Rube Goldberg-esque, without enough of an explanation to make it work. The gun was fired for the first killing by a string running from a bell (the type to summon a servant, sort of) to a magnet on the gun ... but ... how was the trigger pulled? I may have blacked out while reading that part, but to the best of my knowledge the trigger wasn't even mentioned in the explanation. The second time was a string to the trigger and the recoil closed the door it was hidden in. Or something. It made little sense.

The writing was serviceable, the characters were a bit better than stock, and it kept my attention. However, the writing also was more of a reflection of its time than of its (female) author, with a strong air of "there, there, little lady, now don't you have a husband to look after". Strangely, though, in terms of setting, there was a fair amount of drinking going on, although Prohibition had a couple more years to go. There was one mention of a speakeasy, but everyone had liquor in their homes and thought nothing of it. Overall, it was as though the writer reached into a hat and pulled out a slip of paper that said "game of bridge" and "(insert weird means of murder here)" and put them together.

And, seriously - Bonnie?

[Sherrese Holder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Twists and Turns

Will keep you guessing. An enjoyable book. A true mystery. If you like who done it books, you will enjoy this one.

[Ron Chicaferro · Rating 4 out of 5]

You'll need a pad of paper and a pencil to take notes during the reading. Its a complex who-dunnit and there are plenty of suspects and plenty of alternate solutions. Its the story of a double murder at a house during a party. Both victims killed at different times but the same people are present during both murders. Mosts of the book takes place in and around the scene of the crime so there is a lot of dialogue. It takes place in 1931 and although the book does give some flavor of the times but its pretty much dealing with the crime. The protaganist, John 'Bonnie' Dundee, is an investigator for the local district attorney and is in love with one of the suspects so he, more or less, ignores any indications of her guilt. But, despite that lapse, Murder at Bridge is a very good who-dunnit with a very satisfying finish.

[for-much-deliberation ... · Rating 5 out of 5]

This classic mystery will keep you hooked till the end. After Nita Selim is murdered during a high society bridge party in the town of Hamilton, Investigator Bonnie Dundee takes on the case, one method he decides to employ is a re-enactment of that evening's events particularly those surrounding the 'death hand'...

[Cynthia Pratt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got all the way to end and did not really have clue who was the murderer. all kinds of red herrings in this book. I did really see why having Penny's father come back in the end was included. seemed like an odd thing to bring in at the end.

[Jeannette Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun easy read. Interesting to read 1920's pulp mystery. Overly complex method used, but that added to the odd charm of the book.

[Lee F. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got a kindle and am reading all of the old stuff. this is just great!

[Yogin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first novel I have read from this author and it feels like quite an ambitious project. There is definitely an attempt to capture the magic of a Sherlock Holmes story. There are references to Sherlock Holmes within the novel and the parrot owned by the lead character Bonnie Dundee is also named Watson.

Since this novel was written in the early 20th century, it must be compared with works of that era. In that sense it is not exactly a bad novel and towards the end it does become quite entertaining. But during the first few chapters you really have to give some leeway to the author for introducing you to a large number of characters without giving any backstory for any of them. Most modern day whodunit writers introduce their characters in small clusters so that as a reader you're able to learn a little bit about each of the characters, and get a sense of their overall importance to the story. But that does not happen in this novel.

The special investigator Bonnie Dundee does come across as clever and intuitive and the overall mystery is definitely a good one. The final solution does come as a surprise, not necessarily in terms of who did it but how it was done. The only caveat I could think of is that Bonnie Dundee does not have any standout characteristic. for example Sherlock Holmes is highly observant or Hercule Poirot is socially very adept and has a way of extracting information from people. But Bonnie Dundee is just clever and basically follows all the good practices of police work. Sometimes that is all you need to solve a murder mystery.

[Kira · Rating 3 out of 5]

A free audio book from audiobooks.com
A murder happens during a friendly bridge game. The mystery itself was good but since the game bridge was such a huge part of the story the author went into great detail on more than one occasion that made the story seem to drag on a bit. I think it was a good thing I listen to this book because some of the scenes definitely would have been hard to read through without losing my attention.

[the_bookish_took · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This was fun, cozy, frustrating at times, and I couldn’t guess what was going to happen! I really enjoyed this book and Dundee’s theories and of course Strawn’s :)
A fun way to spend a day!

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very clever

I have never read Anne Austin. Her characters were exceptional and the story was very interesting. James "Bonnie" Dundee is quite an investigator. I cant wait to see what else Ms. Austin wrote.

[Allison Mahoney Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good mystery

A little wordy. It could probably be cut in half but enjoyable reading. Lots of characters which can be confusing and a lot of wordiness but worthy of a try

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed the complexity of the plot and the persistence of the detective in finding the solution. Interesting commentary of high society and how they interact. Great characters. Fun to read.

[Daniy ♠ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audiobook

I need more books by Anne Austin, but cant find epubs anywhere

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
That was entertaining and it made me realize the best kind of audio books are murder mysteries cause I can actually pay attention and makes it hard to stop listening.

[Cynthia Maddox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really fun book to read and very true to the period (1920s). I'd love to read the rest of the series but it is so old I can't find it in print.

[Kesha K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book and its great lead character. Hated when it ended.

[Susan Mock · Rating 4 out of 5]

What fun! I wasn't ready to get a new audio book and this one was free. I am enjoying it. Not great literature, but a good read and I have not guessed "who done it", which is way ahead of the last book that I read.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those perfect books, the kind you can sit down and be engrossed with for hours, or just read one or two chapters at a time and keep it on the bedside table, knowing it'll welcome you back anytime, like a toasty warm fire.

James "Bonnie" Dundee is the Special Investigator to the District Attorney in Hamilton, a town somewhere in the Midwest. One Saturday afternoon, at a ladies' weekly Bridge Club, the hostess, being 'dummy' for a hand, goes to her bedroom to check her makeup and is found, ten minutes later, murdered. She was shot in the back as she sat at her dressing table, but no one heard the gun.

I rated this 3.5 stars because, I must admit, the one bad thing about this book is that it's 'talkie'. Right off we start with some backstory, then for a couple pages the detective meets the murder victim and a few of the suspects. By page 26, the main murder is committed, and we begin the investigation ... and the first interviews don't end until page 105. (And remember, we've got just another 200 pages left! Whew!)

But Anne Austin is such a good writer you don't notice all that, most especially at the first reading. She draws you in, and with steady, firm pacing keeps you busy digesting the wealth of details and background and keeping everybody straight, until you happen to look up, and find yourself coming back from a completely different world. The descriptions are full yet succinct, but Austin doesn't bore you to death with them (pardon the pun). She also spends a lot of time detailing the house where the murder takes place, which I just relish, for it gives such a flavor of the late 1920s that I see the scenes unroll in my head as if they're on film.

This is my 5th (6th?) reread.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bonnie Dundee (we don't find out until near the end of the book that his real name is James) is an Irishman working as a special investigator for the District Attorney's office in Hamilton, a US town in the midwest. After a morning spent attempting to charm the District Attorney's attractive secretary, Dundee drives her to her weekly bridge game with her high-society friends. He's not expecting a frantic call from her later, telling him that her hostess has been shot to death in her bedroom, where she was powdering her nose. Dundee rushes in, and the detecting begins.

This is a classic cozy mystery, historical now but contemporary when it was written in 1930. It's a great puzzle for lovers of the genre, if you can overlook the era-appropriate but annoying depiction of women. I listened to it as an audiobook from Librivox, a company that has volunteers read public-domain books you can download for free. I love the service, though the recordings are sometimes sort of a crapshoot. This one had about twenty different readers (reading different chapters), and some were fine, while others were a bit stilted. A few had trouble pronouncing the names, two of which--Leigh and Selim--were kind of crucial to solving the mystery, so that was a shame. Also, Penelope doesn't rhyme with antelope. But overall, an enjoyable book.

[Kathie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Broadway dancer, Juanita Selim moves to an affluent neighborhood in Hamilton, a small Midwestern town. She comes to town to help with a local theatrical production. While hosting a bridge party in her home she excuses herself during the dummy hand to freshen up before the men arrive for the cocktail party that is to follow. While in her room she is fatally shot. Investigator Bonnie Dundee has his hands full with so many suspects. Other lives are endangered, he unravels the motives, locates the weapon, and solves the murder. Many details are included and a careful reader will be able to solve it too. I was not a careful reader

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Bonnie" Dundee is now investigator for the District Attorney, but instead of concentrating on a case that's coming to trial, he finds himself in the midst of the small town's social elite when the DA's attractive, newly poor secretary finds herself at a bridge game when the hostess, newcomer Nita Selim, is murdered. Obviously it's an outsider, perhaps someone who followed Nita from New York! But Bonnie knows better, even when there's a second crime. It's not until he's attacked himself than the fiendish cleverness of the murderer becomes apparent. Unfortunately, the main clue is glaringly obvious, but the 1930's background kept up my interest.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some high society types gather to play bridge. The hostess, a flamboyant woman, is killed when she goes up to her room during the game. Special Investigator to the District Attorney's office, Dundee, is called in to investigate. He first drags everyone present into re-enacting the bridge game. From here, his investigations continue. What he uncovers is surprising.

Well-written and good pace. Good classic police procedural.

[Darlene Franklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This reads so much like a classic British mystery (Christie/Allingham etc.) that I thought it was set in England until I was well into the book. Since I'm a huge Agatha Christie fan, I loved this book. Closed room, red herrings, people living under different names, mild romance. . .I would definitely look for more books by Hageman

[Tamara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Complex mystery from the 30's. Murder at a bridge party, lots of suspects, not much of an apparent motive. A second murder at another bridge party. Some twists. Figured out why the murder occurred but not who did it...though it made a lot of sense when it was revealed.

[Chiara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was SO GOOD.

Set among the high society of 1920's US, this is an excellent murder mystery, with unexpected turns, and a "facepalm" resolution of the case.

The LibriVox recording is particularly good and drama-like.

[Kristi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great mystery with lots of twists and turns. Keeps you guessing until the end.