Friday Feature Iris Wynne The Missing Mah Jongg Player
Welcomes
Iris Wynne
Author or
The Missing Mah Jongg Player
We welcome Iris back today and she is sharing with us the history behind the game of Mah Jongg. A game we know nothing about. So, Iris, where did this game come from?
The History of Mah Jongg.
Mah Jongg precursors’ are centuries old. The North American version of Mah Jongg however dates back about 150 years. A servant of the Chinese emperor in 1846, incorporated the rules of trendy card games and replaced the cards with tiles to create the game of Mah Jongg. The name Mah Jongg means sparrow and pictures of birds are engraved on the tiles.
An American businessman, Joseph Babcock, travelled to China on behalf of the Standard Oil Company in 1912 and brought back the game to North America. He changed the numbers on the tiles to numerals which Americans are familiar with.
Abercrombie and Fitch, then a sporting and goods store, was the first place to sell the game of Mah Jongg to the public.
The rest is history.
Book Blurb:
Five frantic Mah Jongg Players are in search of their missing player when she disappears after meeting a man on an online dating site. They hire a private eye who at first is reluctant to take the case. But the case begins to unravel when lies and betrayal become evident and the truth of what happens to the missing Mah Jongg player becomes clear. Will he be able to find the suspect before they choose another victim?
This is his biggest challenge yet.
Excerpt
He noticed the girl had not taken off her sunglasses. She was slim with dark-brown hair, a pale, thin face, and a nose too big for her small, heart-shaped face. Still, he found her quite attractive. She looked well groomed, and had a long orange and red scarf around her neck with those high boots and skinny pants he observed was the fashion for the last year or so. She looked miserable, though. The older woman was also attractive with blond hair, blue eyes, and an amiable smile. A long black coat enfolded her body.
“I’d offer you coffee but I don’t have any.” For some reason, he felt he had to give an excuse. “My receptionist left a while ago and I haven’t found a replacement.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Harriet said, looking over at Sarah. She was moping, gazing down at her boots. A great help she was.
The PI sat down and started tapping his pen. She felt that she was on a job interview except she was the one with the paycheck. She didn’t know where to start.
She couldn’t help but notice he was very good-looking. He wore blue jeans, a white shirt, sleeves rolled up, and was tall and lanky. His eyes, bright blue, smiled directly at you. Killer eyes, they were. His wavy light-brown hair was a little greasy yet that did not take away from his good looks. She tried not to notice his biceps, which were bulging out of his shirt. Later, she would have to talk about him with Sarah, saying how gorgeous he was.
“So why are you here?” he asked.
“A good friend of mine is missing.”
The PI glanced over at the younger woman whose lips started to wobble.
“I also used to play Mah Jongg with her, and she and Sarah helped me open up my cupcake store and make it successful.” Sarah was sniffling now. Could this get any worse? Did Jason have to break up with her now of all times? Sarah had also gotten close with Marilou and both of them had been like a mother to her, sort of a family she really never had. Today, though, she could throttle her.
“My friend has gone missing after meeting a guy online.”
The PI continued to stare at her, waiting. Harriet looked pointedly at his hand. “Aren’t you going to write this down?”
“I’m not sure I’m going to take the case.”
She blinked back at him, feeling her cheeks warm.
“I thought Laurie told you about me?”
“I said I would listen but that’s all I promised.”
Harriet felt her cheeks grow hotter.
BIO
Iris Wynne is a book lover, a day dreamer and a hopeless romantic. She is a writer of cozy mysteries with an element of romance. She is a mother of two girls and in her spare time she dog walks, plays golf in the summer, and of course grabs a game of Mah Jongg whenever she can. The Missing Mah Jongg Player is her book debut.
Buy Links:
http://www.amazon.ca/Missing-Mah-Johngg-Player-ebook/dp/B00XK4FSSW/
http://http://www.iriswynne.com/
