I've read both the previous books and I have to say this was my least favorite. Not sure why. Perhaps it went in longer than need be? I'm giving it To the 3.5 rounded to 4 stars.

Easy Flowing Narrative…
The third Bridge To Death mystery pits small town reporter and bridge expert Wendy against the death of a psychic. Can she put her amateur sleuthing skills to the test and hone them as sharply as her bridge playing skills? With an eccentric cast and an easy flowing narrative this is a fun to read cosy mystery and a worthy addition to the series.

Wendy Winchester is an investigative reporter by day but a bridge player when she can fit it into her schedule. Now she’s been asked to teach others the game.

Her students include Milton, who uses his wonderful voice to deliver singing telegrams for the local party supply store and Charlotte, who is a widow who may be on the prowl. Vance, an author in research mode, is interested in anything and everything around him. A college student, Sue Ann, is trying to break away from her mother’s restrictive idea of how a young woman should behave. The most flamboyant member is Aurelia, a psychic.

Although Wendy planned to hold classes at the country club, Aurelia offers her home for the first lesson. She can provide food and drink and offers to do a cold reading for each of them. Vance is stunned when Aurelia predicts the plot of his novel. He’s never discussed it with anyone. Each of the readings provides accurate information but Milton’s reading leaves both Milton and Aurelia shaken.

Before a second class can be held, Aurelia is found dead in her supposedly haunted home. Wendy is sure a ghost isn’t responsible for Aurelia’s demise by an overdose of cocaine, a suicide note beside her body. Wendy’s also sure it wasn’t a suicide, but murder.

As news of Aurelia’s death spreads, Milton disappears. Is he a victim too or guilty of murder? Aurelia was busy on her last day as she had a number of visitors, including the bridge players, making them all suspects.

Daughter of the police chief, wife of a detective, and an investigative reporter, Wendy has good insights and skills she uses to help with the investigation. Will she find the killer or will the killer find her?

This is book three in the series, all reviewed here. Wendy and Ross are married now. Her father is dating her editor, a situation that could be awkward but is working. Hints are being dropped about grandchildren, almost before the last of the wedding cake has been eaten. From hints in the last chapter, look for that grandchild issue to be resolved in the next book.

As Wendy teaches her students, readers will pick up the basics of the game of bridge without the information being overwhelming or slowing the story.

Princess Fuzzypants here: The story opens with Wendy and Ross’s wedding. It is a perfect affair put on by an extraordinary party planning service in Rosalie. Included in her guests are the newbies Wendy is about to teach the game of Bridge. They are an interesting and diverse lot including a psychic who offers the other students a cold reading at their first session with Wendy. The psychic sees something terrifying but does not see her own death, which is initially called a suicide.

When the victim’s brother reveals a rather diabolical plot the theory of suicide becomes less likely. But how to prove something that seems to be so well disguised. Wendy believes the evidence is hiding in plain sight and she happens to be right. However, it takes quite a few twists, turns and revelations before the entire story becomes clear. Puzzle solver supreme that is Wendy has an indefinable talents for seeing things and connecting the dots in ways others do not. Both her new husband and her chief of police father recognize her ability and call upon her to help solve crimes.

It is a rather unique chemistry the three have and it is both refreshing and fascinating. I love the Deep South flavour of Rosalie and its inhabitants. Like all good fiction, the secret of the success is the development of the characters and this is no exception. I have enjoyed the ride so far and look forward to future outings, where I am sure, based on how the book ended, has a lot of potential for growth.

Five purrs and two paws up.

Cold Reading Murder by R.J. Lee
Publisher: Kensington Books
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers
Release Date: February 23, 2021

Cold Reading Murder is the third book in A Bridge to Death Mystery series by R.J. Lee. I had not read the previous books, but was easily able to read this as a standalone mystery.

This was a fun cozy mystery. The characters were likable, the setting was interesting and the mystery was great! Investigative reporter, bridge expert, and newly-wed Wendy takes us along as she works to solve the murder of newcomer Aurelia.

This was such a fun book and I look forward to reading the other books in the series!

I'm so grateful to Pam Binder, The Wild Rose Press, Inc, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Since I play bridge, I picked up this series and have greatly enjoy reading it. Combining two of my favorite pastimes (bridge and reading) is a win/win for me. This time Wendy Winchester is teaching 5 new players about the game. One is a psychic, and offers her home for the first lesson including readings for all the participants. The psychic is found dead and the town is reeling - who would do this? Was it one of the new players who didn't like what the psychic saw?

Definitely a fun read!

Welcome to Rosalie, Mississippi’s wedding of the year: Wendy Winchester, the daughter of Police Chief Bax Winchester, is tying the knot with her longtime beau, Detective Ross Rierson. Wendy, the heroine of the Bridge to Death Mystery series, wears two hats. After a successful run as an amateur sleuth, she was named a full-time investigative reporter at her local newspaper, the Rosalie Citizen (N.B., Rosalie is a tweaked version of Natchez, MS). She is also a recent and enthusiastic convert to bridge: she runs “Wendy’s Rosalie Country Club Bridge Bunch,” a casual organization where Wendy tutors bridge newcomers with the intent of transforming them into intelligent bidders. The five members of the Bridge Bunch have been invited to her wedding and what a motley crew they are.

Meet the widow Charlotte Ruth, a lady of a certain age who is excited about the possibilities of meeting an “interesting” man at Wendy’s wedding. Middle-aged Vance Quimby is there to soak up the vibes.

“A genuine Rosalie wedding can’t be beat for local color, and that’s just what I need to bring this Great Southern Novel of mine to life. Thank you so much for including me in your plans today.”



“Think nothing of it. We do go all out in this town,” Wendy said, making a sweeping gesture that included the entire tent full of chattering people. “And I can assure you that my wedding wasn’t even one of the especially big ones. Not by a Mississippi River mile.”

Rosalie native Sarah Ann O’Rourke, a “gangly, freckled-faced student who was entering her senior year at the local College of Rosalie,” is the third member of the club. She has a troubled relationship with her mother, Dora O’Rourke. In Wendy’s opinion, Dora is too high maintenance and constantly inflicts her conservative religious views on Sarah Ann. Aurelia Spangler is perhaps the most intriguing of the group. A practicing psychic, Aurelia has an air of mystery about her—enhanced by colorful attire. Wendy can’t resist tweaking Aurelia.

“I can’t help but ask you if you have any predictions for my marriage,” Wendy said with a great deal of playfulness. “Any cold readings you just happen to have on hand at the moment?”

Surprisingly, Wendy gets her wish: Aurelia volunteers to give everyone at the table a cold reading after bridge the following week. The last member of the group is Milton Bagdad, an attractive young man with “irresistible dimples,” who delivers singing telegrams all over town on behalf of his employer, Party Palooza. Wendy thinks “she could not possibly have assembled a quirkier group of people if she had summoned them from consulting a Ouija board.”

Cold Reading Murder mashes up a clairvoyant’s cold reading with a beginner’s bridge tutorial. A cold reading is when the psychic has no prior knowledge of their subject’s personal concerns and background. That said, a practiced cold-reader can quickly glean a great deal of information by analyzing someone’s body language, age, clothing, hairstyle, and other attributes. It’s also not unheard of for psychics to plant accomplices in a crowd to pick up personal snippets that the psychic then uses in an ahem cold reading.

What’s the point of an in-person bridge tutorial? Can’t you learn everything on YouTube? Don’t underestimate the difficulty of learning bridge, a complicated game with a lot of moving parts. Former teacher Marlene Walther describes the process in an intriguing way.

Beginners “are bombarded with information that often feels like learning a new language,” says Walther, a qualified ACBL bridge teacher in Niagara-on-the-Lake, in Ontario, Canada. “I am very careful to introduce one concept at a time. I would compare learning to play bridge to starting to move a tank. The initial surge to get it moving is huge; after that, it should roll along quite smoothly with only little bumps here and there.”

Covid currently necessitates online learning, even of bridge. But thankfully, Cold Reading Murder is set in a Mississippi world where a bridge tutorial takes place in a stunning mansion, overlooking the mighty Mississippi. Aurelia Spangler is true to her word, inviting the bridge bunch to her home, providing a delectable buffet of drinks and snacks, culminating with cold readings for all. Wendy’s students are a little distracted—alcoholic drinks can result in “a bad case of muddled brain cells.” Still, after an hour at the table, they are all getting the hang of it. Let the cold readings commence. Aurelia has an uncanny read on their personal lives, information which spills out when the group kibitzes about their individual readings. Some of them seem quite shaken by Aurelia’s insights. Perhaps future sessions should take place at the country club.

A couple of days later Rex and Merrie Boudreaux, the owners of Party Palooza, visit Detective Ross at the police station to report a missing person—Milton Baghdad, their singing telegram employee. They tell Ross that Milton was very disturbed by his reading with Aurelia. Ross tells Wendy what’s happening, and she decides to visit Aurelia in person (because Aurelia has been dodging Wendy’s texts and calls). Sadly, when Wendy arrives she finds Aurelia dead. Beside the body is a suicide note and traces of cocaine.

I’m tired of making my living this way. This has gone on too long. I’m doing more harm than good to people, and it’s time for me to leave. I’m sorry for everything. Aurelia Spangler.

Wendy is not convinced that Aurelia committed suicide. To her, the scene seems phonier than Aurelia’s act. Wendy’s husband and father are very respectful of Wendy’s ability to see more than meets the eye. You might wonder, how does bridge fit in with murder? It’s tricky *pun intended*. There are more than a few “little bumps here and there” in Wendy’s quest to uncover Aurelia’s killer. Cold Reading Murder is another absorbing entry in R.J. Lee’s Mississippi-set Bridge to Death mystery series.

4.5 stars

This is the third book in the A Bridge to Death mystery series by R.J. Lee.

Wendy and Ross have to skip their honeymoon and instead find themselves involved in a murder mystery. It all starts at the home of a psychic and she gives her guests are pretty accurate readings but Wendy’s is generic at best. Then the psychic ends up dead.

I thought this was a great book. Loved the whole psychic concept and how her profession led to her death and how it made the mystery so much more interesting. I loved the idea of the protagonist being a reporter and her hubby in with the police force. The best of both worlds as far as cozies go.

I thought the mystery was well-crafted and kept your attention all the way through. The characters are what really shone here. I loved the whole group that met with the psychic and how we got to see how it effected all their lives throughout the book.

Definitely a series I want to continue to follow.

If you like cozy mysteries, definitely check this one out. You won’t be disappointed.

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.

Poor, poor Wendy. It seems she has hit yet another stumbling block on the road to being able to spend a civil evening playing a game of bridge with friends. While a group of newbies think Wendy has progressed well enough to teach them, their play is hampered, yet again, by a death shortly after a game. While Wendy and the others decide to continue with the lessons, Chief Winchester and the new Mr. and Mrs. Rierson try to figure out who killed the psychic who didn’t see her own death coming. The suspects are many and the clues so few as Wendy staunchly refuses to accept the coroner’s first-blush prediction of suicide as the cause of death.

All in all, this was an enjoyable read, both on its own as well as, as the next instalment in the lives of the residents of Rosalie, and I look forward to the next book in the series.

Would things have been different if Wendy and her husband, Ross had gone on their honeymoon following their lovely wedding overlooking the banks of the Mighty Mississippi? No way to tell but nobody saw death in the future. Wendy spends some of her time teaching five newbies how to play bridge but that shouldn't have turned deadly. Aurelia is one of the group and she invites the rest to her home for some bridge and a bit of psychic reading. Not long after she is found dead and it looks like suicide. Wendy isn't convinced and lets her thoughts turn to murder. Given that her father is the Chief of Police and her new husband is a cop...well add that to her day job as an investigative reporter and it's no stretch for her to try to uncover the truth. Was Aurelia's house haunted, was it cursed or did a cold blooded killer use those stories as cover?
This works well as a stand alone with a satisfyingly complex plot and many wonderful characters There's no lag in the pace and the twists and turns kept me guessing to the great reveal. I'm already looking forward to the next book in the series.
My thanks to the publisher Kensington and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Cold Reading Murder is the 3rd book in the Bridge to Death Mystery series by R.J. Lee. In this book, I was pleased to meet bridge expert and investigative reporter Wendy Winchester who lives in the Mississippi River.

Wendy is very busy with her full-time job at Rosalie Citizen newspaper, also having just got married to Detective Ross Rierson, as well as teaching a group of newbies the game of bridge so they can join the Rosalie Country Club Bridge Bunch. Even though she and Ross aren't going on their honeymoon until the end of the summer, things are going well for the newlyweds.

The bridge group meets at the newcomer, psychic Aurelia Spangler's, new home 'Overview' - a mansion sitting atop the High Bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. According to local lore, it's haunted, cursed by the original builder who fell to his death. After a night of bridge practice, Wendy texts Aurelia to meet for a chat. When Aurelia doesn't respond she goes in search of her and finds her dead...

Although book 3 in the Bridge to Death Mystery series, this can be enjoyed as a stand-alone. With a compelling plot, drama aplenty, a great bunch of characters, and oodles of mayhem added to the mix, this was a fantastic read that kept me on my toes. R.J. Lee's easy writing style was a good fit for me. Trying to unravel the mystery in the pockets of Wendy was lots of fun and I welcomed the comfortable pace. I would like to read the first books I've missed in this series as I thoroughly enjoyed Cold Reading Murder and I’m game to see what shenanigans Wendy and the Mississippi River rabble get into next. Very highly recommended.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Kensington Books via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

If Wendy had only gone on her honeymoon! Well, that probably wouldn't have stopped someone from murdering Aurelia and making it look like suicide but still, honeymoons are more fun than murder. Unless you are Wendy, a reporter and bridge expert. Wendy just met Aurelia, a psychic, when she joined one of Wendy's bridge classes and now she's learning a lot more about her. Cozy readers know there will be red herrings and twists, Lee does a nice job with the small town atmosphere as well as with the characters. This is the third in the series but perfectly fine as a standalone. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good cozy read.

This is the third book to A Bridge To Death Mystery series.
A well written book with a plot to keep you reading. The characters were likable and each had their own story.
I found this to be an enjoyable read and would recommend reading the series even though you could read this book without the first two in the series.

Wendy is starting a class for beginners bridge and has an eclectic group of students. One of her students , a psychic is found murdered and Wendy decides to do some sleuthing.

The part of the book that I really struggled with is the emphasis on singing telegrams, is that really still a thing? It's a decent enough cosy mystery but not really for me.

Although it did not grab my attention, fans of this series will be happy with this latest offering.
I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.

Newly married Wendy starts teaching bridge to a group which includes a physic reader. At the first lesson there are several cold readings which start an series of events. One of which is murder. Follow her attempts to sort things out. I enjoyed the book enough to purchase the first two in the series.
Thank you for the digital copy in exchange for an honest review.
#netgalley
#Keningston
#ColdReadingMurder

I really wanted to like this book, but it didn’t work for me. It was hard to get into, I couldn’t relate to any of the characters and it didn’t capture my attention at all.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exhange for an honest review.
"Cold Reading Murder" by R.J. Lee is the 3rd book in the cozy A Bridge To Death Mystery series.
I was lucky to have read the 1st 2 books in the series, "Grand Slam Murders" and "Playing The Devil" and I thought this book was a great continuation to the series.
I found it well written, original with an unique theme, had a great cast of characters and provided a good murder mystery.
I hope the author decides to right another book in the series.

I wanted to like this book but I didn't. The characters are annoying and there are so many of them right away and it was hard to keep up.

Wanted to give this one a try. The description and cover caught my eye. Sadly though, I found it hard to follow and just couldn’t find myself interested enough. The 3rd in a series, but 1st I’ve read, which may be the issue. If you have read others, give it a go.