London is the scene for a card party given by a social-climbing hostess. Suddenly, the seemingly civilized game of Duplicate Bridge is interrupted by a double murder, both victims murdered by the same sinister method, strangled with picture wire. The crimes seem identical, but were they carried out by the same hand? And, what was the connection between the first, a mysterious man of the world, and the second, an ambitious widow? Inspector Hemingway has his work cut out for him, and the odds of solving this crime are stacked up against him.

Things become even more complicated when Miss Beulah Birtley, the fiancée of the inspector's young friend Timothy Kane, becomes Hemingway's prime suspect. Kane is determined to prove the lady's innocence-but when he begins digging into her past, he finds it's more than a little bit shady... That morning, Miss Beulah bought the weapon. Before supper, she had spit out her hatred for the victim in poisonous--and public--words. And at the party, she was the last to see him alive. They found him slumped in a chair-his handsome head lolling forward on his well-cut dinner jacket--his florid face hideously distorted. A horrible death, observed the Inspector. But very simple for a young lady like Beulah to arrange... Mrs. Haddington, the second victim, is found strangled in the exact same spot where one of her daughter's many suitors had also been strangled. Fortunately, the first-rate detective doesn’t miss a trick. Hemingway #3 ( )

Mrs. Haddington is giving a bridge party, inviting some 50 or so bosom buddies to play cards all evening at her home, with an eye perhaps to restoring her beautiful daughter Cynthia to the heart of someday-to-be Baronet Timothy Harte. But Timothy loves Mrs. Haddington’s secretary, Beulah Birtley, while the rather dapper but slippery Daniel Seton-Carew seems to be making inroads with Cynthia despite being her mother’s age. When Seton-Carew is found dead in Mrs. Haddington’s boudoir, Detective Chief Inspector Hemingway has numerous suspects to examine, but when a second murder occurs that is almost identical to the first, his theories are baffled by the possibilities…. This is one of the “country house murder” series, although the house in question is set in London rather than in the country; also interesting to me is that the book was published in 1951 and is set perhaps a couple of years earlier, certainly after World War II, but there is no mention of issues like food rationing (which continued in England until 1953). Then again, the characters are all within the upper classes, so perhaps that omission is reasonable. In fact, aside from a few mentions of WWII, a reader would think the setting to be in the 1920s - or even 1890s, come to think of it! In any event, the book is a slight but engaging bit of fluff, with the outcome hinging on a very obscure bit of British legalese which I found quite amusing; mildly recommended. ( )

I simply could not be interested in finishing this mystery. In fact, the story dawdled so terribly that I didn't get to where there *was* a mystery. Normally I don't rate DNF books, but Heyer is such an excellent author in her Georgian- and Regency-era novels that I wanted to try this mystery. A story that takes so long to move forward is never going to engage my interest, especially considering that GH generally is very adept at drawing in the reader. ( )

Not among my favorite Heyer tales. Just not much in it and largely unlikable characters. ( )

A select dinner party followed by a more general bridge evening goes horribly wrong for the hostess Mrs Haddington. On taking a telephone call in the Boudoir a guest at the party is found murdered. Thankfully for most of the guests they are not suspected. Inspector Hemingway is called in to investigate. Just when he believes he knows the killer another body is discovered. Killed in the same way. What could be the possible connection between the two dead people and what motive for their deaths.
Originally written in 1951.
I found this to be an enjoyable read and an interesting if slow-paced mystery.
A NetGalley Book ( )