Summary

The hotel was her refuge, but scandal is afoot – and a killer stalks the halls in this charming series debut, perfect for fans of Rhys Bowen and Ashley Weaver.

It’s 1958, and Evelyn Elizabeth Grace Murphy has not left the Pinnacle Hotel in fourteen months. She suffers from agoraphobia, and what’s more, it’s her father’s hotel, and everything she needs is there. Evelyn’s always been good at finding things; she discovered her mother dead in a Manhattan alleyway fifteen years earlier. Now she’s finding trouble inside her sanctuary. At a party for artist Billie Bell, his newest work is stolen, and Evelyn’s fake boyfriend (and real best friend), movie star Henry Fox, is accused of the theft. But just as Evelyn set out to prove Henry’s innocence, she finds Billie Bell dead.

The murder weapon links the crime to the hotel’s chief of security. But why would he use a knife with his initials on the handle? With her beloved home in disarray, Evelyn joins up with hotel employee (and her secret crush) Mac Cooper to get to the bottom of the case.

As Mac picks locks and Evelyn snoops around the hotel, they discover the walls around them contain more secrets than they previously knew. Now, Evelyn must force herself to leave the hotel to follow the clues – but when she and Mac set off to chase a lead, their car crashes, and they barely escape with their lives. Someone snipped Evelyn’s brake lines, and now the stakes have become dangerously high.

Evelyn’s knack for sleuthing – and her playful imagination – are always hard at work, and she throws an elaborate party at the hotel, where every guest is a suspect. But will the killer emerge from the glamorous lineup? If not, Evelyn just might find herself… next in line for murder.

Why I chose to read this book
I loved the book cover and the title. I thought it was interesting to have a main character trying to solve a murder – while suffering from agoraphobia. I wanted to see how she would navigate this.

Thoughts & Opinions

This book was on my Amazon wish list so I was excited when I received it for Christmas. I had forgotten what it was about and didn’t bother re-reading the summary before plunging right in. When the main character – full name Evelyn Elizabeth Grace Murphy, as we are so often reminded – used Vaseline as part of her makeup routine, I knew this was not a modern-day story. 

The story, set in 1958, follows the life of Evelyn, a privileged and sheltered hotel heiress. Evelyn’s life however is not without trauma; she found her mother dead in an alleyway years ago. Now, she has stumbled upon another murder, the victim an eccentric artist named Billie Bell. But this time it happened in her safe space; her current residence, her father’s hotel the Pinnacle Hotel. What’s more, is that Evelyn suffers from agoraphobia so she can’t exactly leave the hotel at the drop of a hat. She finds safety in her suite and her material possessions.