A Nice Review
Woke up to this . . . couldn’t have happened on a better day to get me out of the doldrums!
Thank you Ed Ridgley for sharing your thoughts about “Hoodwinked”, John Connor for publishing the story, and the Short Mystery Fiction Society for being the space that makes these miracles happen!
Ed Ridgley
Short Mystery Fiction Society
Best mystery story I read in a few days
Fanny Howe, winner of the 2009 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize with over 50 books to her credit, said in her Paris Review interview, “Everyone around me was a writer, and I vowed, Never, ever, ever and then I did.” Well, no one around me was a writer and I vowed always, always, always I would write, and I did. And I’m glad that today’s featured author, Bonnar Spring, writes and creates wonderful tales such as the one highlighted today. I met Bonnar at Bouchercon 2025 in New Orleans when, on the first day, Bonnar, Avram Lavinsky, and I went to lunch at Mr. Ed’s Oyster Bar and Fish House (I don’t own the place, by the way). I felt like a fanboy talking to them about writing. It was a great start to the week.
The title of today’s story is “Hoodwinked” published in Crimeucopia, What the Butler Didn’t See, A Murderous Ink Press Anthology. I’m a super duper fan of the Crimeucopia oeuvre. The bio in the anthology says that Bonnar is a Derringer (2024 Long Story category for “Good Deed for the Day” in Best New England Crime Stories) award-winning author whose work has appeared in many anthologies. She made the switch to short fiction from international thrillers to satisfy her urge to write morally ambiguous characters. Bonnar also hosts Crime Wave (https://bonnarspring.com/index.php/category/crimewave), the top-rated podcast on the Authors on the Air Radio Network. You can find out more about Bonnar at her website (https://bonnarspring.com).
This story, just over 5,000 words, begins with police showing up at the door of the estate of one Margaret “Mamie” Longwood, who puts the “she” in shenanigans. She is the leader of what is best described as a group of modern-day Robin Hoods, minus the swords. There’s Evan, the butler, Vic, the chauffeur, Gina, the chef, and Alice, former award-winning stage actress now personal assistant. The hoodwinked plot comes about when Gina says, “So while we were swindling him, he was running a hustle on us?” It seems that the hoodwink-ee, a Mr. Charles Beaumont, was also the hoodwink-er. Or was he? Read this terrific tale to find out more. A plethora of hoodwinking is afoot.
Some great sentences from this well-told narrative:
“This was a lousy start to the day after pulling off a successful con.”
“In keeping with my public persona, I allowed the silence to build. One does not welcome total strangers into one’s home with excessive bonhomie.”
“We gathered in the parlor. In any other establishment, you’d call it the living room, but a Rockport mansion like ours called for more elegant terminology.”
“The best thing about the gang was that, with each other, we could be our authentic selves: out-of-work actors playing rich and famous.”
Why read this story? It’s entertaining. I could insert adverbs like wonderfully, magnificently, or marvelously but other adverbs would get decidedly jealous. In my last review, I said that that story was in the top 10 of stories I’ve reviewed thus far. This one is in that category as well. But further, this story is a fabulous example of voice, particularly that of the main character, Mamie Longwood. Her vernacular is spectacular, very genteel and upper crust. Added to that is her inner dialogue reminiscent of Dorothy Parker’s character in “The Waltz.” In short, this is a tale well told in an engaging and interesting way that will leave you wanting more, specifically the mention toward the end where Mamie says “I’ll get even with that swindler one day” referring to a conman who swindled her mom out of everything except the house. Bonnar, I want to read that story if you write it.