On the Slam, by Honor Hartman

On the Slam, by Honor Hartman, is "A Bridge Club Mystery." There are only two books in the series to date, On The Slam in 2007, and The Unkindest Cut, in 2008.

Meet Emma Diamond: novice bridge player, recent widow, and the kind of person who never leaves her grocery cart sitting willy nilly in the parking lot. And now, after a vile woman in her new neighborhood in Houston is poisoned during a bridge game, Emma has a new identity: amateur detective.

I didn't really care for this book, yet another in a series of amateur female detectives who have no career, yet are better detectives than the police. Emma Diamond is a widow, who plays bridge (and the bridge notes at the end of the book are interesting). The woman who was murdered hardly seems vile, and Emma is annoyingly unaffected by her death.

The novel takes place in Houston, Texas, but I didn't get a "sense of place," it could have taken place anywhere.

A few paragraphs

I glanced over at the doorway, and Nate McGreevey sttod watchintg, again looking past me at someone else in the room. I started to speak to him, but Janet came in just then and and picked up a small paper plate. She spooned a large amount of the spinach dip onto it, then added a handful of wheat crackers on the side. At this rate, there might not be spinach dip left for much longer.

Janet caught my expression, and her gaze hardened. "There's plenty of food for everyone," she said.

"Yes, of course," I murmured politely and started to turn away.

She wasn't paying any attention to me. She scooped up a large dollop of spinach dip with a cracker and popped it into her mouth. She smiled as she chewed.

I heard her murmur "yummy" as I headed bck to my table.

Then, suddenly, I heard gasping, choking sounds from behind me.

I turned back and, to my horror, Janet was clutching her throat with both hands. Her plate had dropped to the floor in front of her. She reached out a hand toward me,, but I was rooted to the spot.

A split second later, I recovered my voice. I yelled out, "Gerald! Something's wrong with Janet."

The room went completely still behind me, and for a long moment, no one moved. No one except Janet, that it. She collapsed against the island, hands still clawing at her throat. The platter of crudites went flying as she elbowed it on her way down.