Bluff by Jane Stanton Hitchcock – 5 Stars
Publisher: Poisoned Penn Press
ISBN: 9781464210693

One would expect this to be a book about Poker. In a way it is, but without any games, not a real card dealt or nor a chip played. Instead, this story is only constantly compared to the phases of a Poker hand/game, to emphasize the need to use the Bluff in order to be the unchallenged winner.

The shuffle and deal, not always exciting but necessary, initiate the story through Chapter 38, but in Chapter 39 you discover the Cut abruptly changes things, plus funny dealing from the bottom of the deck has also been happening without you knowing it. Much is like a real poker game and the plot keeps its cards close to the chest. But, Don’t Fold yet. All the information in these first 38 chapters is important to produce a complete and necessary profile of each character -- maybe not necessarily a correct one -- and to deliver a very exciting hand to play. Mad Maud is one of the main characters and remains a central focus throughout. Because of events in her past, she quickly, within the beginning pages, offs Sun Sunderland, a billionaire, in public in front of many witnesses. She just became the dealer and a most interesting player as well. The plot continues with an elite group of friends and enemies wondering why she shot Sun when she was even madder about dealings his lunch buddy Burt Sklar had with her mother. Throughout the story, Maud distributes the aces from the bottom of the deck and twists and nurtures a story into a giant Bluff. But, who bluffs and who blinks? And, finally, who wins?

You don’t want to fold your hand too early and will want to relish all the details re the Bluff. This is an excellent mystery full of secrets and surprising twists.

Reviewer: Rich

The title says it all. It kept me questioning Maud’s hand every page until the end. Fabulous characters, plots and suspense. A great book. I will be looking forward to more books from this author.

Wow. 5 stars just for pure originality, keeping the plot line straight, and sheer fun. There are so many moving parts to this story, nefarious characters doing dirty deeds and Mad Maud in the midst of it all making sure the devil gets his due. This was just an absolutely fantastic book, the way the bad guys are brought down is sheer delightful unique fun, and its all wrapped up with a nice conclusive red bow which I always appreciate. Great read!

Even if I initially felt a bit disconnected from it, I loved this book. I would even say it is an excellent one when it comes to shining light on people.
I doubt anyone would be disappointed with this book. A fabulous plot and heroine makes this book an absolute must read.

Whoa! Why hasn't anybody told me about Jane Stanton Hitchcock? Bluff is the first book by her that I've read and I'm hooked.

I don't usually like first person, present tense in books, but Hitchcock makes it work beautifully. "Mad" Maude is an ex-socialite whose family was scammed out of a fortune by a slick, icky financial wizard and her whole life revolves around hating him. The story of Maude is woven intricately with other socialites, with a nod to their shallow, vapid money-oriented lives.

Maude's a poker player and a good one. Her life is permeated by the methods and magic of poker and she uses them to her advantage. I love the way the story connects and interconnects and comes to a final, satisfying conclusion. It was hard to put this book down and now I start my search for more Jane Stanton Hitchcock books. One of the best books I've read in awhile!

I have read a few of Jane Stanton Hitchcock's frothy "society" novels and thoroughly enjoyed the "snark" and humor. But, this novel was in a class of its own in the way it used success at poker as an analogy for success in life. The "take" may not be unique, but the book itself was fresh and clever and very entertaining.

Perhaps because I am "a lady of a certain age," I immediately bonded with the heroine (or is she technically an anti-heroine?) . She used her perceived invisibility as both a shield and a weapon-- and proved far from defenseless.

The characters are so perfectly drawn that I could cast the mini-series without any effort and I assure you that I would tune in (even though I know what the outcome is). The book is not so much a mystery, as a caper. And a wonderful character study. Yes, it is light reading, but that doesn't preclude it being well-written and well-done. I loved every minute of BLUFF.

It was a little slow to get into .. the plot is good and the writing is decent. But the events folded a little too slow initially. Also , really hated the way the dialogues were set up for one of the main character. Too much repetition of the adverbs ! But once you got used to all this , it was a smooth ride from about one third into the book to the last page. What a story ! What a brilliant thought plot. Liked this one.