Murder at Hotel 1911: An Ivy Nichols Mystery (An Ivy Nichols Mystery, #1)

by Audrey Keown

A hotel clerk prone to panic attacks turns amateur detective in this elegant and atmospheric murder mystery.

If you want to spend a night amid the luxury and charm of the early 20th century, book a room at Hotel 1911. You'll find 28-year-old Ivy Nichols behind the reception desk. The hotel is Ivy's only link to the family that abandoned her when she was a small child. Now, plagued by panic attacks, she pedals her sea-green Schwinn bicycle to work every evening, hoping desperately to hold on to her job.

When wealthy, imperious Ms. Swain arrives at the hotel and belittles Ivy, the young woman seeks consolation in the welcoming kitchen of George, the hotel's chef. Despite her tormentor's barbs, she dutifully informs George that Ms. Swain has a deadly allergy to shellfish. So when Ms. Swain collapses at dinner and dies, the police suspect that the chef made a tragic, inexcusable error. Desperate to save George's career, Ivy sets out sleuthing. She learns that numerous people in and around the hotel had motives to contaminate Ms. Swain's plate. Among them are Jeffrey Swain, the victim's son and heir; painter Rose Jewett; and British expat Hemal Sandeep.

Even after the police find traces of shellfish in George's kitchen, Ivy is determined to clear her friend's name. But the stress of the investigation, in a hotel filled with suspects, threatens to precipitate another terrifying panic attack...or something more deadly.

• ISBN10: 1643854968
• ISBN13: 9781643854960
• Publish Date: 8 September 2020
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Crooked Lane Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 272
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781643854960

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Murder at Hotel 1911Audrey Keown. Due out 8th Sept 2020 from Crooked Lane, it's 272 pages and will be available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats.

This is a modern cozy set in a small themed boutique hotel. Protagonist Ivy is a psychology student taking a break from her studies and working as a night-shift receptionist. When suspicion for the murder of a colossally unpleasant customer falls on Ivy's friend, chef George, she decides to get to the bottom of the story on her own.

I loved the premise of the plot, it has an almost Betram's Hotel vibe going on. Sadly the execution doesn't live up to the setup and I found this one a difficult slog at places. I had problems developing a rapport with most of the characters, and although Ivy was meant to be a sympathetic characters (and I did feel compassion and sympathy over her personal mental health struggles), her near continual random analysis of other characters' motivations and mental issues was weird and felt unnatural. She tosses random one-line quotes from Jung and Cicero into the narrative and each and every time it happened I felt a speed bump in my suspension of disbelief. Many of the secondary characters were two dimensional and I didn't feel their actions were a believable extension of their supposed motivations.

The book does have a lot of positives. The setup is classic golden age mystery. The decreasing pool of potential suspects are winnowed out in classic style (through fact checking or their own demise), and the setting is interesting and engaging (a former mansion with lots of hidden secrets, turned into a small theme hotel with 11 rooms for guests modeled on the early 1900s). The official investigation was just strangely handled - the detective basically gives Ivy her blessing and 4 days to solve the case or they're going to send George up the river.

The denouement and solution were oddly written and I found myself re-reading a couple of chapters because the solution came so completely out of left field.

Two and a half stars. Rounded up because I really feel the series has potential. There are many examples of wonderful series which needed a couple of books to find their pace and footing.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.