Two famous authors, David Bird of England and Ron Klinger of Australia, have joined forces to present a feast of bridge with a Jewish flavour.

The main character, the Rabbi, kindly and considerate and the star performer, has a gentle sense of fun that pervades the book. This is counter-pointed, as one might expect in a book from David Bird, by the uproarious and often caustic exchanges between the Rabbi's companions as some remarkable sequences unfold at the bridge table.

The bridge is excellent and the stories, spiced with the inimitable Jewish sense of humour, are a delectable mix of the sweet and the acidulous.