Carole Coplea

Hi all mystery book lovers and bridge playing fanatics! Welcome to my book, Death In Duplicate. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

So, who am I? I am a Canadian writer, living in Oakville, Ontario, on the shores of Lake Ontario. Sometimes I am in Europe visiting my family. Greece anyone? I am also a fanatical bridge player, having learned the game at university, and played off and on, all my life. Now I play competitive bridge, and I've introduced the game to many friends. I see myself as a bridge ambassador, spreading the word, so the speak...

I have always loved reading. In fact, I earned a university degree in English Literature in my youth...you know, I studied the traditional authors like Chaucer, Dante, Shakespeare, Austen, Flaubert, Synge, the Brontes...even some of the Greek playwrights, as well as the modernists, too many to mention here. It was a lot of fun (don't groan), really. One thing has always been on my mind...I wanted to write novels myself, but never had the time or the inspiration (although I have always believed I had the talent).

I married young, had one child, got divorced and stayed that way until now, working at marketing communications and public relations jobs. I even had my own packaging and label design business for a while (loved it...don't groan!).

So, I was too busy with life's requirements to do any creative writing until one day I read a crime mystery novel by a local author, and it struck me that, hey, I could write that myself! And so I had a chat with my daughter. Camille, who encouraged me to try. I came up with the idea of a mystery about two people who died playing bridge one night in their bridge club.

That was the starting point. From there, I developed characters and a plot that will keep you entertained for 200 pages as you try to figure out what happened to these two victims.

Along the way, as a first time author, I discovered a few things about the writing process that I found quite intriguing.

I was fortunate to find a local publisher in Toronto who agreed to take on the risk of publishing my book and marketing it through his bridge channels. The book received really good reviews and some very nice comments from readers.

The story appeals to people beyond the world of competitive bridge. It may even inspire some non-bridge players to learn how to play bridge, especially young people whose minds are sharp and want to have fun with a mentally stimulating game.

So, if you don't know how to play, but maybe wondered why so many millions of people of all ages around the world play this game socially or competitively, you just need to read my book to find out! It is entirely accessible to anyone who enjoys a good mystery.

And when you do read it, please let me know your thoughts...good, bad or ugly...about the book. I'm always eager to get your feedback!