Death After Breakfast

Pierre Chambrun Mystery #13

by Hugh Pentecost

First Dell printing Oct 1980. Pristine, except normal page tanning. No marks. Stored in our collection since first issued. We ship daily.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

Hardcover

First published June 1, 1978

About the author

Hugh Pentecost was a penname of mystery author Judson Philips. Born in Massachusetts, Philips came of age during the golden age of pulp magazines, and spent the 1930s writing suspense fiction and sports stories for a number of famous pulps. His first book was Hold 'Em Girls! The Intelligent Women's Guide to Men and Football (1936). In 1939, his crime story Cancelled in Red won the Red Badge prize, launching his career as a novelist. Philips went on to write nearly one hundred books over the next five decades.

His best-known characters were Pierre Chambrun, a sleuthing hotel manager who first appeared in The Cannibal Who Overate (1962), and the one-legged investigative reporter Peter Styles, introduced in Laughter Trap (1964). Although he spent his last years with failing vision and poor health, Philips continued writing daily. His final novel was the posthumously published Pattern for Terror (1989).

Reviews

[Bev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pierre Chambrun is the ultimate hotel manager. For years he has kept the elegant Beaumont Hotel running like a fine-tuned machine. He manages his own life with the same precision. He breakfasts each morning at the same time, attends to his duties on a precise schedule, and follows the same nightly rituals of checking on each little thing one more time before heading to his room. The Beaumont can attribute its reputation in part to the fact that Chambrun is never late. Well...almost never.

One fine morning when Chambrun has a breakfast interview scheduled with his old friend Eliot Stevens, editor and publisher of Newsview, he does not show up. In fact, he does not show up all day. He apparently went to his room per usual the night before and hasn't been seen since. That in itself is quite a problem for his right-hand man, Mark Haskell; his right-hand woman, Betsy Ruysdale; and hotel security chief, Jerry Dodd. But that's not all...one of the guests has been brutally stabbed to death. Haskell has his job cut out for him trying to keep a lid on Chambrun's disappearance, keeping the hotel's high-ranking clientele happy, managing a society ball and a Hollywood film crew's use of the hotel as a backdrop for their latest movie. Not to mention figuring out what happened to his boss and helping Lieutenant Hardy's murder investigation.

Once again Pentecost (Judson Phillips) pulls from Chambrun's past in the French Resistance to serve up a fast-paced thriller in the rooms of the Beaumont Hotel. These stories are compellingly written and highly entertaining--so no complaints there. But I do wonder if perhaps might have been more comfortable writing war or spy thrillers. Novels about Chambrun's actual time spent in the Resistance might have been right up his alley since he keeps bringing in references or having Chambrun use Resistance-era skills or what-have-you. This is the third of the series that I've read in recent years that uses these themes.

One of the best parts of the novel is the introduction (at least to me--perhaps she has appeared in earlier stories) of Mrs. Victoria Haven, a feisty elderly woman who helps Chambrun catch the man who had him kidnapped (yes--kidnapped!) and who is the brutal killer of at least two women. She willing sets the trap to bring the killer back to the hotel and gets in on the grand finale by allowing Haskell to use her penthouse apartment as a lair to keep watch on Chambrun's rooms.

Another fun, fast-paced mystery in the series. ★★★ and a half.

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

[Lisa Kucharski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this mystery. It was a multi-layered mystery. Where at the start many events are occurring and then are then attempted to be put together. Very hard to go over the plot without going it away, but it hummed along quite well. The characters were well formed and also the setting was well established as well.

I've read a few of Pentecost's stories and have generally really liked them. There's a depth that develops as the story moves along that I like. Quick read and one that made trying to get to sleep very difficult at times. So I just read and read and read.

[Rachel Jacobs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up on a whim at the library and couldn't put it down. It is gripping story but also a quick read, great for the pool or the beach.
The story reminded me of those by Agatha Christie and her detective Hercule Poirot.
I can't wait to get other stories featuring Claude Chambrun.

[Timothy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deftly handled murder mystery starring Pierre Chambrun, hotelier, as narrated by his assistant. In this tale, Mr. Chambrun disappears from the hotel he manages. And then re-appears — but only after a murder has occurred. In the background to this tale loomw the French Resistance and the weight of the gruesome past. There is nothing wrong with this mystery, other than, perhaps, a sketchily drawn narrator. I will read more Chambrun yarns, starting with the first that I picked up a few years ago, the amusingly titled The Cannibal Who Overate.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable detective fiction set in mid 1970s in the Beaumont a luxury hotel. I enjoyed the setting, a good murder mystery linked to the French Resistance-Pierre Chambrun manages this hotel and finds himself caught up in the Nazi who he knew in the war. To avoid detection, the Nazi kills several people and Pierre manages to expose him.

[Monica Willyard Moen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This find mystery series is set in the microcosm of a luxury hotel. When the man who keeps it all spinning disappears, his staff has to control their panic while trying to find him and run the hotel as usual. This mystery has several plot twists and characters worth knowing.

[Alexis(Andra) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the hotel setting and the hotel personnel . Well written mystery.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great throwback read (although ways of talking, especially about women, are a little jarring to read now). Always enjoy Pierre Chambrun mysteries!

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Actual rating 2.5 stars

The story took a while to develop and the ending felt rushed. Setting the story in s luxury hotel made it unique. This is the thirteenth book in a long series but I didn’t feel I missed anything by not starting from the beginning.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hotel manager and genius detective extradinaire Pierre Chambrun is missing, has disappeared without a trace; a super wealthy man collecting woman is murdered; a well known and very temperamental director is shooting his new film and a high society charity ball is in the offing are only a few of the problems narrator Mark, as he
and the rest of this exclusive New York hotel, begin trying to unravel the knot of mysteries before them.

This is another delectable Pierre Chambrun mystery that is delicious before breakfast or lunch or dinner or good for your midnight snack as well. Enjoy!

[Kenzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was an easy read - so much so I read it in one day - on an airplane, and then finished it before bed that night. So the book was good enough that I wanted to finish it before bed. What I liked most about it was it brought the reader into the "elegant world" of the Beaumont Hotel in New York City - at a time where opulence reigned. A fun read.

[Michele bookloverforever · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Eichman trial is mentioned. I recall watching the verdict and reading about his capture and how he was smuggled out of his South American hideaway. This tale truly begins in the days the Nazis occupied France and those who collaborated with the Nazis.

[Rama · Rating 1 out of 5]

The potboiler elements seem to work well, only for the reader to be cheated by the abruptness with which it all ends. I was able to easily guess the character that would turn up from the past at a later date right during introduction thereof.

This is a turkey served inside an expensive hotel.