A Bridge Mystery and Noah Stewart

the book: Duplicate Death by Georgette Heyer



published 1951






[A bridge party at an upmarket house in London]

At this moment, two redoubtable ladies at a table in the middle of the room created a diversion by arguing with steadily mounting choler on the correct play of the hand which one of them had just (according to the other) mismanaged. It was a cardinal rule that these devoted friends should be kept apart at any Bridge-party, for each had a voice like the screech of a macaw, and neither had the smallest control over her temper.


It was of course impossible to keep them apart throughout a duplicate-contest, but it had been hoped that since one was North and the other West no cause for dissension would arise. Unfortunately, North saw fit to criticise West’s play, which, considering she and her partner had benefited by it to the tune of five hundred points above the line, was unhandsome of her.

An altercation arose which showed every sign of developing into a brawl; and Mrs Haddington came back into the room to find play at all tables at a standstill. It said much for her tact that she was speedily able to soothe both ruffled ladies; and still more for her admirable command over herself that she
did not betray her annoyance by so much as the flicker of an eyelid.

commentary: There are lots of splendid outfits in the book – here is the foolish young Cynthia:
She came in now, looking tired, but extremely smart in navy-blue, with a tiny hat on her head, and very high heels to her shoes.

And here she is again:
A vision in delicate shades of floating
yellow chiffon, Cynthia ran down the stairs and burst upon the assembled theatre-party,

And she goes into mourning very reluctantly:
She allowed herself to be divested of her frock, and to have her mother’s old Good Black Wool cast over her head, merely saying fretfully: ‘I look hellish in black, and it doesn’t fit me anywhere!’
[Always a sign of bad character in an old-school detective story: only very shallow people consider how they will look in black]

But I wanted to use the bridge party first, in memory of my friend and fellow blogger Noah Stewart, who died last year. He was a great fan of Golden Age detective fiction, and also a keen bridge player. The book made me think of him, even though the card party is just a background to the unrelated murder, disappointingly.

Duplicate Death is, tbh, far from Heyer’s greatest achievement: it contains many of her favourite tropes, but they feel a bit tired. Cynthia has her moments:
‘Darling Mummy, you’re too dim! Timothy’s mad cats on Beulah Birtley! I don’t say I couldn’t have had him, if I’d wanted him, because honestly I do think I could cut the Birtley girl out, don’t you? – but I’m practically certain Lance is far more my type!’
There is also the ambitious mother, the plucky putupon young woman, and cringe-making passages about gay characters. Heyer was always keen on the idea that you could tell a gay man by his taste in interior design - ‘the sort of décor that puts very funny ideas into one’s head.’ (in Behold Here’s Poison we get this deathless dialogue: ‘Ever thought that décor is highly significant, Super? Take that divan…If it had upwards of a dozen cushions with gold tassels chucked on it careless-like I should have known what to think. But it hasn’t…’)

And Inspector Hemingway doesn’t like the sentence ‘the murdered man was playing bridge’ because it gives him the creeps.

I was interested in the details of the bridge party – I’d always assumed (as in the pictures above) that there would be 2 or 3 tables, but at this posh house, forty four people have come to play bridge, giving 55 suspects when you include the servants. But obviously most of those people can be ruled out: too busy playing their cards. And you’d have to be asleep not to realize early on that the drugs trade is going to feature a lot.

I was glad to find this, about a wedding in the past:
when she got married she had a wedding-dress of cloth of gold, which created a regular sensation, because it was quite an innovation, as they say, at that time.
because, as all keen Dorothy L Sayers fans know, Harriet D Vane married Lord Peter Wimsey wearing cloth of gold – a fact much discussed on the blog. I just googled ‘Harriet Vane wedding dress’ and got many a reference to my blog, but also to Noah Stewart himself writing on the subject with great majesty, brilliant research and his own kindly sense of humour. You could get a really clear impression of the man from this post.

Oh how I wish I could have discussed all of this with Noah. He wrote a general blogpost on mysteries featuring bridge, and also a blissful, long and very critical account of this particular book: it is highly spoiler-esque and should only be read after finishing the book. He is VERY scathing about the way the drug trade in the book is run: Very glad to see that, as I was equally disparaging about the drugs gang in the Sayers book Murder Must Advertise – see my ‘Wimsey Exam Paper’ here.

Noah is much missed, and not forgotten. 

The Game of Bridge by Albert Guillaume, from The Athenaeum website.

The Game of Bridge - The Salon at the Clos Cêzanne by Édouard Vuillard same source.

Navy dress, 1949, from the Clover Vintage Tumbler.
Yellow dress by Piguet, 1950, Kristine’s photostream.
Wedding dress from the book Murderess Ink.

























Comments

  1. Noah is, indeed, sorely missed, Moira. Thanks for this salute to him. And even if this isn't Heyer's best, there is something about the game of bridge, isn't there? It used to be so common at gatherings, but I don't think it is any more - not the way it was. I find that really interesting.

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    1. I know! it's a way of life gone by. And of course bridge featured a lot in Agatha Christie too - though smaller parties!

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  2. A very nice salute to Noah, Moira. There have been many times that I've wished I could discuss certain points with him since his passing.

    It's been quite a while since I read this one (or any of the Heyer mysteries for that matter). I'm tempted to go back and read them again--oh for time enough for all the things I haven't read plus rereading everything I'd like to....

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    1. I know! I sometimes wish everyone would stop publishing for a year, just to give me time to catch up. Not very realistic I know, but as you say, there doesn't seem to be enough time for re-reading as well.

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  3. Very nice post, Moira. I saw the title but did not really get it until I read that the book really did feature the game of Bridge and remembered that Noah had written a post on that. I miss Noah's long posts, very full of information (and covers, a love we shared) and his thoughts.

    And especially nice images chosen for this post. I did not read much about the book because I have not read it but maybe soon.

    And I bought a book by Susan Moody featuring bridge that Noah recommended. Found it at the book sale in 2016.

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    1. Oh yes, when I re-read his posts I saw that one, the Moody, and wondered about it. He was so knowledgeable, but so funny and interesting too, such a loss to us all.

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  4. This is one of my favourite Heyers, one of my favourite mysteries in fact, to be reread on a regular basis. I love the characters and the highly charged interaction between them, the setting (post war austerity Britain; rationing vs. black market) and Heyer's tone throughout.

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    1. It is very much of its time, as I keep saying, the details are fascinating and tell us a lot about life then. I think she is under-rated as a crime writer.

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  5. Yes, so sad that Noah is no longer with us. What lovely pictures, Moira. Talking of bridge, I can't remember if Mrs Widmerpool's bridge coat has ever featured on the blog?

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    1. Oh my goodness, now there's a suggestion! I always love mentions of bridge coats, and hers was flowered and fringed I think? I so have to do that! (and then I will end up re-reading most of ADTTMOT, and that will be YOUR FAULT!)

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    2. I seem to remember there was something Chinese about, but might be quite wrong. I look forward to this, Moira, and feel this might even rival our shared fascination with bed-jackets. There are far worse things than re-reading ADTTMOT . . .

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    3. So then of course I had to go and look - and here it is in A Buyer's Market: 'the garment . . . was of flowered velvet, with a fringe, and combined many colours in its pattern.' It is Miss Walpole-Wilson who is wearing the Chinese one ('orange, black and gold silk').

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    4. Oh I feel a new obsession coming on. When I do my line of designer bedjackets, I think bridge coats could be another, complementary, line. I am going to be looking for more now...

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  6. Heyer's moralizing attitude to drug crimes, and her positive support for tax crimes, makes an interesting read in this one. I find the title clever, and it always interesting to see just how popular bridge used to be. But a much better bridge mystery is "Cards on the Table" by Christie.

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    1. Yes, good point - she was very anti-tax I think? And yes, Cards on the Table is excellent, and she uses the game itself to good effect- which Heyer doesn't do. No spotting character from the bridge score sheets in Duplicate Death. Noah's post, linked above, lists a lot of crime stories featuring bridge.

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    2. Wikipedia says she had tax problems herself, and was not happy with the amount she received after tax. She was probably not a wild fan of redistribution of income, which should not surprise anyone who enjoys her historical romances.

      Yes, I read Noah's list. But there are even more books from the Golden Age where bridge is mentioned very briefly, but it is made clear that playing bridge is one of the normal things to do at a party. That would be hard to imagine today.

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    3. Yes, that's a good point, it forms a background to life in a way that wouldn't be true today. And 'everyone' plays - that's 'everyone of our sort' of course, not the housemaid! In Christie's N or M? they spend the evenings playing at the dreary boarding house.
      And of course it features big time in one of the James Bond books, Moonraker.

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  7. I usually enjoy Heyer's books (both the Regencies and the mysteries) but "Duplicate Death" is the only one of hers that I couldn't finish.

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    1. But weren't you dying to know how it came out, and whether the nice couple got together, and how did the murder happen....?! Oh well, perhaps not. I loved the setting, and the bridge party, and wanted to love the book, but it didn't do much for me either.

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