The Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie Wrobel

September 30, 2024

The Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie Wrobel

Alfred invites his five closest college friends to spend the weekend at his Alfred Hitchcock themed hotel, free of charge. Alfred has always been a huge Hitchcock fan and collects Hitchcock memorabilia. But something bad happened during their senior year of college (maybe more than one something), and Alfred has waited 16 years to exact his revenge.

This had a good creepy vibe, great for the season: an old house in a college town, converted to a boutique hotel and filled with movie memorabilia, a creepy housekeeper who is always lurking about, plus an aviary full of crows behind the house. All the characters have secrets in addition to being morally bankrupt. There are a couple of good twists that I didn't see coming. I read the author's previous book (Darling Rose Gold, based on the Blanchard case), which had its own squirm factor. Fans of Alfred Hitchcock and psychological suspense will enjoy Wrobel's latest novel.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Alfred Hitchcock with a Thanksgiving turkey - this photo is referenced several times in the book

The Wedding People by Alison Espach

June 11, 2024

The Wedding People by Alison Espach

It's right after the COVID-19 pandemic, and Phoebe is checking into a grand hotel in Rhode Island. She always wanted to stay at the hotel with her husband, but unfortunately he found a younger woman and divorced Phoebe. Between the divorce, losing interest in her job as an English professor, and the isolation of the pandemic, Phoebe sank into depression and decided there is nothing left for her. So she makes a reservation to visit the hotel by herself and end her life there - with her cat's pain killers, which taste and smell like tuna. But when she arrives, Phoebe discovers that the whole place has been booked for a week-long wedding event and that she has essentially crashed the party.

Some of the descriptions may lead you to believe this is a rom-com, but it's not. This is a delightful feel-good read, one of the best books that I've read this year, written with warmth and humor and a wonderful writing style. The storyline focuses on the connection that we all long to make with others, and that most of us are lonely inside, even when surrounded by other people. The characters are all likable, and you want them all to have a happy ending, even the self-centered bride and Phoebe's ex-husband. The dialogue has a genuine ring to it. And it's so much like a real wedding: all the weird family members, the friends that you suspect may actually be frenemies, the kids sneaking alcohol under the adults' noses, things going wrong, no matter how carefully you plan. Strongly recommended to anyone who enjoys a good story with great characters. A major studio has already picked up the film rights.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

A Rhode Island wedding

The Girl from the Grand Hotel by Camille Aubray

April 29, 2024

The Girl from the Grand Hotel by Camille Aubray

When her grandmother refuses to pay for her final year of college, Annabel Falcone travels from America to the French Riviera to work at her uncle's hotel. It's August 1939, and the first ever Cannes Film Festival is about to get underway, with celebrities, athletes, and actors from all over the world in attendance. When a German tennis star is found dead in his hotel room, Annabel begins to suspect that there is more going on than just a big celebrity party.

Inspired by real events and the first failed Cannes Film Festival. Slow moving Anna plot that takes a long time to get anywhere. Also, Annabel is kind of bland. There are almost too many famous names dropped into the story. If you read everything about the golden age of Hollywood, you will probably enjoy this one. If not, maybe skip it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

French Riviera

The Maid by Nita Prose

March 17, 2022

The Maid by Nita Prose

Molly Gray is a maid at a posh London hotel. She is on the autism spectrum, and until recently, lived with her grandmother who helped interpret life for Molly, explained how to deal with new situations, and taught her how to interact with other people. Now that her grandmother is gone, Molly is trying to learn how to manage life on her own. She loves to clean and observe proper etiquette, which make her a perfect maid. Her world is thrown into chaos when a regular hotel guest is found dead in his room and she finds herself caught up in a web of deceit. Fortunately for Molly, she has friends who help her sort through the clues about what really happened to the guest.

This is one of the few books that I didn't finish. Based on early reviews, I expected to really enjoy it and was disappointed. I couldn't stand the narrator/main character. Half of the time she's totally clueless, and the other half of the time she is incredibly sharp and clever. The author also tried to address too many social issues and illegal activities. Some parts, like the courtroom scenes, are just silly. Early reviews and publisher's prose compared the book to Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, which was the first and best of the books to have a narrator who was on the autism spectrum. I have not really enjoyed any of the others that I've read.

Murder at the Mayfair Hotel by C. J. Archer

September 27, 2021

Murder at the Mayfair Hotel by C. J. Archer

After the death of her beloved grandmother and guardian, orphaned Cleopatra Fox moves into the luxurious London hotel owned by her uncle, just as they are preparing for the holiday season. But the poisoning of a hotel guest throws everything into chaos. It seems no one can be trusted, not even the handsome and charming assistant manager. With the hotel's future hanging by a thread, Cleo must find the killer before the hotel's famous New Year's Ball.

This is the first book in a series and I didn't like it enough to continue. The main character jumped to conclusions and accused people haphazardly, resulting in two people losing their jobs. The side characters are much more interesting and much more developed than the main character. There is good historical detail about London at the end of the 19th century.

Death Beside the Seaside by T. E. Kinsey

July 28, 2020

Death Beside the Seaside by T. E. Kinsey

July 1910 – after two years of prodding, Lady Hardcastle has agreed that she and Florence Armstrong, her faithful sidekick and maid, should take a holiday at the seaside.  They choose the holiday town of Weston-super-Mare, a couple of hours’ drive from Bristol.  In their new and improved automobile, they set out for traditional English holiday fun, including toffee apples, donkey rides, and Punch-and-Judy shows.  When they arrive at their elegant boutique hotel, they are surprised to find an international group of guests, while the sea is noticeably absent (the tide goes out about a mile at low tide).  But more surprises await Lady H. and Flo as their fellow guests begin to vanish one by one, and they are once again pressed into service to solve the mysterious goings on at the hotel, while at the same time not generating any unfavorable publicity.

Interesting that I picked up two books in a row set in an English seaside towns.  But the tone of T. E. Kinsey’s mystery is totally different from the previous title, much lighter and more humorous.  No one at the hotel is who they appear to be, except for the manager and some of the staff.  We also learn more about Flo and Lady Hardcastle's backgrounds and past exploits.  Characters from previous Lady Hardcastle mysteries make appearances, and there is a great deal of fun and wit as always.  I suggest starting with the first book in the series if you are looking for a light read to relax with.

Queenie Malone's Paradise Hotel by Ruth Hogan

 July 24, 2020

Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel by Ruth Hogan

Tilda and her mother Grace were never close.  Tilda always suspected it was because she inherited an ability to see the dead from her father, a trait that her mother detested.  After her father’s death, the best thing to happen to Tilda was moving into Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel in Brighton, where Tilda found a second mother in Queenie and a family in the quirky group of employees and guests at the hotel.  But shortly after their move, Grace inexplicably shipped Tilda off to a remote boarding school, wrenching her away from the only real home she had ever known.  After Grace’s death over 40 years later, Tilda fears that she has inherited not only her father’s psychic ability, but also her mother’s mental illness.  She is desperate for answers, and with her faithful canine companion Eli by her side, Tilda returns to Brighton to search for answers about their lives, why her mother always seemed to be punishing her, and what really happened to her father.

My sciatica was acting up yesterday, so I spent most of the day lying down on a heating pad, reading.  I was fortunate to have Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel checked out from the library.  I fell in love with Queenie and her hotel at the first description.  Brighton in the 1970’s sounds like a child’s paradise.  There is a slight supernatural element in Tilda’s ability to see those who are no longer living – she can’t always distinguish between the living and the dead.  Things aren’t always the way you think they are (especially when you’re a child) and the plotline has a number of unexpected developments.  But children also accept some things without question, while adults might be put off or make judgments.

Eli the dog is a wonderful character, and yes, he is fine and living with Tilda at the end of the book.  Queenie also is a marvelous flamboyant character, but she makes only sporadic appearances until the middle of the book.

Although the story has a dark side and there are complex issues here, I found Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel to be a delightful and engaging read.  I finished the novel in a day, and I highly recommend it if you enjoy quirky fiction.

The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel

February 23, 2020

The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel

Located on a remote bay on Vancouver Island, the luxury Hotel Caiette caters to a wealthy clientele in search of a reprieve from their daily lives in the corporate world.  Super-rich financier Jonathan Alkaitis owns the hotel but his wealth is built on a house of cards:  his investment firm is actually a giant Ponzi scheme that he has been running for decades.

I wasn’t initially interested in reading a book about a Ponzi scheme, but I like the author’s previous book Station Eleven so much that I decided to give her new book a try.  The Glass Hotel is similar in structure to the previous book in that there is a definite “before” and “after” related to a specific event, and the story line wraps around itself, moving from character to character and backward and forward in time.  It is also set in the same world and time as Station Eleven since events from that book are referenced here and at least two of the characters recur.  As in Station Eleven, the beginning is also the ending.

While the basic plot is about the Ponzi scheme and all of the people affected by it, there are a number of sub-plots and the characters are fascinating.  The overall story is hard to summarize since part of the appeal is finding out how the characters connect to each other and what happens to them (it reminded me of the television show Lost in that regard).  Several characters are chameleon-like, reinventing themselves and their lives as needed, if not in reality, then in an alternate universe.

Fraud and facades play a role, not only with the money fund but with relationships and creativity – at one point, Vincent’s brother steals a number of videos that she made and passes them off as his own work (Vincent is female).  Characters often express regret and wonder “what if” and “if I had only,” and imagine a counterlife where they acted differently than they actually did, although their versions of themselves in that parallel universe are not necessarily better people.

I found this to be very enjoyable and recommend it to anyone who reads literary fiction.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an e-ARC in return for a review.

The Electric Hotel by Dominic Smith

August 5, 2019

The Electric Hotel by Dominic Smith

As a young man, Claude Ballard was fascinated by moving pictures and takes a job as a representative for the Lumiere brothers, demonstrating and selling their cinematic equipment.  He went on to direct silent films and unexpectedly stopped after making his greatest film, "The Electric Hotel."  But the film is controversial, and he faces a legal challenge from Thomas Edison, who has patented the process of motion pictures and wants to be the sole creator and distributor (who knew Edison was such a bully?). 

Claude becomes reclusive, living at the shabby Knickerbocker Hotel in Los Angeles, his room filled with containers of decaying film, photographing people on the street and foraging the hills for mushrooms and herbs.  When a film student asks to interview him and discuss his lost masterpiece for his thesis, Claude admits that in fact he has a copy of the film, and it isn't lost at all.  He is forced to re-live his career and his relationship with his muse Sabine Montrose, his life unspooling like a reel of film.  While "The Electric Hotel" is considered to be his masterpiece, Claude eventually reveals the film that he considers to be his greatest work.

In many ways, The Electric Hotel is an interesting read, spanning about 70 years and filled with information about the early days of motion pictures.  But the pacing is slow and the story drags through the painful process of making a silent film.  Many of the characters were detached and distant - the stuntman Chip was the best character in the book.  I stopped halfway through and read a couple of other books, then went back to this one.  I'm glad I did, since the last hundred pages make up for the first two hundred pages.  But unless you are really into cinematic history, I wouldn't recommend this one.