The Game of "Bridge" in the Cozy Mystery by Alondra Deltoro
11.16-11.22
Killer Lead: A Duplicate Bridge Club Mystery by Doug and Sheryl Riley sets place in Alpine Alabama, a small town whose go-to form of entertainment is playing games. All the big names in this town have an extremely competitive spirit. Gracie Thies, however...is NOT one of them. Recently widowed Gracie is an old resident of the town who moved away 15 years ago. She had zero intentions of ever stepping foot again in that town but due to the sudden death of her husband, Gracie needed to move away and not be alone. Because of that, she ended up going back to Alpine to stay with her grandmother in hopes of getting back on track with her life. It is just the way that Gracie left all those years ago that makes her so hesitant of returning. But she swallowed her pride and did so anyway. During her stay, Gracie would accompany her “Mamaw” to the Bridge Club where she would be her playing partner. Things drastically take a turn for the worse though, when after a club meeting, Gracie discovers a body and is then suspected of murder! The fun ends and the old rumors resurface as word gets around. In order to clear her name, Gracie has got to confront her past, forgive old wrongs, make amends, and, of course, play bridge.
WHAT IS “BRIDGE”?
A hot topic in Doug and Sheryl Rileys' book is the game of Bridge. For those unfamiliar with the game- “Bridge” is a card game that is played between four people. The goal of the game is to win as many “tricks” as possible!
The game got its start back in the 16th century in England. In its early days, the game was called “whist”, which stood for “a call of silence”. This, however, was temporary because then in the year 1886, “a pamphlet was published in England on Russian whist or biritch, which may or may not be the origin of ‘bridge.’”
Once the 1900s rolled in, Bridge had become the most popular card game in England. As the years went by, the rules of the game gradually changed to what is now the current version of the game.
The rules of the games are fairly simple. As mentioned before, the objective is to win as many tricks as possible. Here is a neat infographic that does an excellent job of explaining how to play!
Here is some more information on the game and its history:
https://www.playingcardsandmore.com/historyofbridge.aspx
This an excellent video that explains how to play in-depth: