Tag: murder mystery

Book Review: ‘Murder at the Hotel Orient’ by Alessandra Ranelli

I was so excited to read this – an unconventional heroine investigating murders in Vienna’s underworld.  A hotel packed with secrets.  A police detective out of his depth and trying to maintain order.  Absolutely count me in!

I did really enjoy this – the Hotel Orient is an interesting setting, being a place of concealment that isn’t conducive to a murder investigation.  I loved that secrets kept coming to light and the great and good of Vienna were pulled into the intrigue.  Sterling Lockwood is also a fantastic guide to this seedy side of the city – she is hiding her own secrets and living freely by her own rules.  The mystery itself is also cleverly plotted and engaging – there’s never a dull moment, although this is a long book.  There also a decent dose of humour running through the novel, something I really appreciated, especially in the police detective and his sidekick.

A couple of things felt a bit jarring and held me off from giving the full five stars.  Firstly, the Hotel Orient felt strangely retro which I think was deliberate, but it did make me wonder if this would have been better as a historical crime novel.  Some of the references (e.g. the forensics) were modern, yet the bulk of it felt weirdly timeless and certainly pre-internet/mobile phones as the level of secrecy of Hotel Orient would be impossible to maintain.  Secondly, there was a lot of complexity to the plot that perhaps wasn’t needed – although it was well-written, it could have been simplified and shortened in places without losing impact. 

This is an enjoyable slice of crime fiction from an author I will be keeping an eye on.  If you’ve got the time, there are worse ways to spend an evening than in the seedy and secretive Hotel Orient!

I received a free review copy of this book from NetGalley – opinions are entirely my own.  Publication date for this novel is 30th April 2026.

Thanks to Danny De Vylder on Unsplash for the header photo.

Book Review: ‘Missing’ by E A Jackson

This is a decent, twisty police procedural with some unexpected turns. 

The story opens with a missing baby – absolutely every parents’ worst nightmare, especially as the baby has vanished through an open window in a hotel room where both parents were sleeping also.  Young DI Marsha Allen does all the right things to investigate, but finds herself up against a witness she knows to be lying.

30 years later and the case hasn’t been forgotten by Allen who is now nearing retirement.  A new murder throws her  back into the investigation that she was never allowed to complete – but this time she’s senior, in charge and absolutely not letting it go. 

I loved the character of Martha Allen – she’s steely but human and finds herself fighting to be allowed to do her job in the male world of the police, especially the police force 30 years ago.  I totally didn’t expect the 30 year time hop, but it was good to see her older, more assured and successful self in the later scenes.  The first section of the book reads like a tense page-turner as Martha finds herself in a race against time to find missing baby Bella, but the second part of the book is more measured as Martha picks up the cold case.  It’s an interesting tonal shift but it works, even as it delivers something you aren’t expecting.

I’d recommend this to lovers of police procedurals, but it does come with the warning that it doesn’t deliver what you expect!  For those in the market for a thriller, it won’t entirely be what you are looking for – but it’s a richer and more engaging book because of the author’s choices around bookending Martha’s career with this intriguing case. 

I received a free review copy of this book from NetGalley – opinions are my own.  

Thanks to Will Paterson on Unsplash for the header photo.