Check-Out Time

Pennyfoot Hotel #5

by Kate Kingsbury

The Pennyfoot hides many secrets and its downstairs staff keeps a tight lip, even when the Edwardian aristocrats are spotted dallying with damsels in the boudoirs, or gambling in the forbidden card rooms hidden below the floorboards. Should now and then one of the hotel guests fall prey to a dastardly murderer, however, it is up to Cecily Sinclair to restore order before Scotland Yard steps in and shuts down her infamous seaside hotel.

CHECK-OUT TIME

In the midst of planning the Midsummer Ball, Cecily receives surprising news. One of the aristocrats staying at the hotel just checked out, in a most bizarre way. After climbing onto his top floor balcony, he did a little dance on the railing and fell to his death. The downstairs staff are convinced the lord was crackers, but Cecily suspects that the victim had a little help with his dive to the pavement and is determined to prove it.

The final Pennyfoot Mystery, also a Christmas edition, Mulled Murder, was published in November 2013 by Berkley Books.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Historical Mystery, Fiction, Cozy

217 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1995

About the author

Kate Kingsbury grew up in London, England, and at a very early age began telling stories to her school friends during the London Blitz of WW II while huddling in bomb shelters. Kate moved to the U.S. in the early sixties, and had passed her 50th birthday when she published her first book. Writing as Doreen Roberts, (her real name at the time) she published 26 romance novels for Harlequin/Silhouette. In 1991 her first Pennyfoot Hotel book was published and since then Kate has written 35 mysteries, including the Manor House mysteries, the Bellehaven House mysteries(written as Rebecca Kent) and the Raven's Nest mysteries, (written as Allison Kingsley.) Her new series, The Merry Ghost Inn Mysteries debuted in January, 2017 with Dead and Breakfast, featuring a B & B on the Oregon coast. She has one son, Regan, and lives with her husband, Bill, in the beautiful state of Oregon.

Reviews

[Vanessa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am willing to accept a lot of suspension of disbelief, but this book has a vast number of "seriously, are you kidding me?" plot points. The method of murder is so ridiculously not possible that I can't even begin to wrap my head around--like, not scientifically possible ridiculous. The casual portrayal of voodoo reflects not even the most basic level of knowledge or research. And then at the end, the killer WAITS PATIENTLY for the police to come arrest him/her. Just, no.

[Valorie Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Be careful of swinging watches in front of your face!!!!!!

This is an amazing book, I truly lost a lot of sleep reading this.
10 stars for this story, Wow Kate great job.
I thought I had it figured out 3 times, but then Cecily had another idea.
The closing of a business being closed by a self absorbed idiot can be deadly.
You won't be disappointed. You will love it.

[Pat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pennyfoot Hotel series
Owner, Cecily. Husband died and she runs hotel with hired help and a butler type she is in love with.
1908 class divisions in London.
Guy jumps from balcony.

[Vicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm working through the series and enjoying it. This is number 5 and the Pennyfoot Hotel, run by Cecily Sinclair, has another murder. An aristocrat, Sir Richard Malton, is seen dancing on the railing of a balcony and then plunges to his death. Suicide? I still think Gertie is the best. I love her tell-it-like-it-is self. She is a riot. Cecily is again trying to solve the puzzle before the hotel gets a bad reputation.
I was feeling right along with Gertie in regard to the really irksome child of the dead man. The child's name is Stanley. He needed to be disciplined for sure. What a brat!
I would recommend this book, in fact the entire series, to anyone. Quick, fun reads, for sure.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the 5th book in the series. When a guest begins behaving erratically and falls to his death, Cecily begins to wonder if it was not an accident. The staff are frustrated in dealing with the son of the dead man as he gets into all sorts of mischief. As usual, she gets Baxter to help with her investigation and the clues lead her. On a personal front, Cecily’s son has returned, along with his new wife. She and Cecily don’t always see eye-to-eye, which makes life challenging.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were things I enjoyed about this story - the characters, the setting, and the unusual murder circumstances. However, the blatant racism (even if it's historical the language is still unacceptable) was so hard to get past. Also the murderer seemed so obvious and there was very very little sleuthing and mostly a circuitous plot with lots of loose ends left.

[Roberta Baxter]

Check-Out Time is part of Kate Kingsbury's series called Pennyfoot Hotel. It's a good book, full of the quirky characters and period details that she writes so well. The mystery was a little easy to figure out, easier than most of hers.

[Laura Miyazaki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Annoying

The little boy was so annoying I was tempted to put it down. But it got better. I'm curious see how it goes with Michael's wife.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I figured this one out a little early on.....lots of clues dropped.

[Little Red Readinghood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice cozy mystery worth looking for a sequel.

[Judith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dastardly good, what?

Another excellent mystery by Kate Kingsbury! More mayhem and drama at the Pennyfoot Hotel, full of Edwardian charm and period aura! Enjoy!

[Cindy Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creative and well-crafted

I am enjoying seeing the characters evolve in this series,and this volume was enhanced by a clever mystery too. I’m ordering the next one!

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really into this series now and enjoying it very much.

[Bev · Rating 2 out of 5]

Check-Out Time is the fifth book in Kate Kingsbury's other mystery series featuring the Cecily Sinclair and the Pennyfoot Hotel. It is also the second book in my "read two books by the same author" entry for the Autumn Semi-Charmed Challenge. The Pennyfoot Hotel books are set during Edwardian times and Cecily's hotel is the place to be for London aristocrats looking for a little seaside holiday. Except it also appears to be the place to be if you want to commit murder. Cecily is as bad as Jessica Fletcher at attracting dead bodies.

In this outing, Sir Richard Malton has taken a nose dive off of his top-floor balcony...and, no, there wasn't a swimming pool below. The local police would like to call it a simple suicide or at least the result of a drunken binge--but it wasn't just a jump over the edge or a drunken slip. Sir Richard hopped up on the railing, walked it like a tightrope artist, and then topped the performance with a little jig. The man was known as a teetotaler who drank milk when he went to the local pub and certainly didn't have acrobatic aspirations. What could make a middle-aged man do such a daring and deadly thing?

Cecily doesn't trust the local police to get to the bottom of things before her clientele move on to quieter and less-deadly lodgings. So, she and her right-hand man Baxter set out to discover what really happened. They'll wind up at a vaudeville-like variety theater before the case is closed (much to Baxter's shock and dismay--madam does not belong there!)--and there will be a last-minute rescue of an unwitting witness before all is well at the Pennyfoot again.

This one wasn't quite as good as the Manor Mystery book I just read (Death Is in the Air). The story seemed very contrived and I'm not buying the murder method. I just don't believe it could be done...and certainly not in such a short period and so little contact. I can't say more without giving it completely away. The ending is rather nice and the heroics make it a bit exciting (which lifts the book to two star status)--but it's not the best Kingsbury I've read. I've sampled a couple of her Christmas-themed Pennyfoot books in the days before blogging and found them to be more interesting. If you're looking to try the series--I'd suggest giving one of those a go.

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.

[D.w. · Rating 1 out of 5]

From bad to worse. Kingsbury is just pretty bad at her craft. This time the only saving grace is that the mystery has more meat then in the three previous outings. Yet there are three elements that ruin the book

First can you see an Edwardian Officer leaving the service to run a Pub with a Fuzzy-Wuzzy native wife back in the south of England on the Dover Road? This is how bad it gets. But it is not some minor character to us. It is the beloved son of the heroine. Here we have a modern woman forcing her views on a prior time. If such would happen, it would be so few and far between that it would be extraordinary. Why much up the book with this.

Then we have voodoo. The sticking pins in doll type. That is Haitian or New Orleans voodoo which the author attributes to West Africa. This took me right out of the book. The author just thought to mention something that an educated person would not give credence too. Forcing me to confirm my knowledge and stop my reading. And further find fault with this historical, for it has no bearing on history.

Last, the lower class servant employed at this very uppercrust resort has a POV with this "leaning over him with her tits brushing his shoulder..." while I am sure that lower class men might think of a 1908 bosom as tits, a serving girl in a very respectable establishment. It was beyond vulgar. Again the author took me right out of the story.

So can I recommend this to anyone. Save your money and stay away from this author.

[THT Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found Check-out Time by Kate Kingsbury to be remarkably well played out this time around. There was enough to keep my imagination spinning trying to guess for myself who did it.
I was quite pleased with the final outcome of the mystery and how everything came together so very nicely surrounding the mystery. There were, however, a couple of loose ends not pertaining to the mystery that I would have liked more of an explanation for.
Baxter leaves us with a bit of a cliff hanger with just one spoken sentence at the end. I wonder what he's up to.

[Bettye McKee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last dance

Onlookers are shocked to see Sir Richard Malton dancing on the balcony railing four stories up. Then he lost his balance and plummeted to the earth.

Was it suicide? He was alone on the balcony, and the door was locked on the inside. Cecily Sinclair needs to know. A scandal such as this could close down the Pennyfoot Hotel for good.

Cecily needs Baxter's help to investigate this puzzling death. By the time they have the answer, there is almost another tragedy.

[Donna Zigmont]

I really enjoy this series. I've always been fascinated by the Edwardian/Victorian time period. I didn't guess the killer until right before he was revealed. Which made me happy. I enjoy the building friendship between Cecily and Baxter. I like how Cecily treats the staff members as family and isn't an uptight snob. Phoebe on the other hand got on my nerves real bad in this book. I like Gertie but she got on my nerves in this one as well.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Pennyfoot Hotel is the site of another murder in Badger's End. This time, in a locked-room type of story, a guest has fallen to his death after trying to balance on the balcony railing like a tightrope walker. Much to business manager Baxter's dismay, Cecily insists on investigating the latest crime, with a visit to a scandalous Variety Show in London.

[Georgia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as most of this series. I figured out that the victim had been hypnotized. The actual murderer eluded me till almost the end. Baxter and Cecily argued and sniped at each other a little too much.

[KayDee · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the fifth book of the Pennyfoot Hotel series, Cecily and Baxter try to solve the mystery of a guest who fell to his death from his room's balcony. Was Sir Richard Malton's death a tragic accident or did someone help the man in his plunge off the balcony?

[Sheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great installment in the Pennyfoot Hotel mysteries. I feel as I'm really in Badgers End and a part of this charming series. I love the idea of hypnotism laced through the story and am intrigued by Madame's new daughter in law.

[Susan Ginger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kate Kingsbury is one of my favorite current mystery authors. I've enjoyed all the Pennyfoot Hotel Mysteries I've read, and I'm keeping an eye out for the books I'm missing in the series.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this series, but this one would not be my favourite. To much of the kids bad manors for me on this one. But otherwise okay.

[Janice Petrovic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good light reading!

This is a good book for curling up in a comfortable chair on a cold night with a cup of hot cider.

[Linda Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful

These mysteries keep getting better and better. Cecily is a good detective and Baxter makes a great loyal sidekick. What's next

[Paula Fontaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good beach book

I would recommend this book because I like the characters and the time period. The author does a great job of bringing you back in time

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always love this series!