The Great Hotel Murder

by Vincent Starrett, Lyndsay Faye (Introduction)

In a grand Chicago hotel, a mysterious death sets a puzzling whodunnit in motion When a New York banker is discovered dead from an apparent morphine overdose in a Chicago hotel, the circumstances surrounding his untimely end are suspicious to say the least. The dead man had switched rooms the night before with a stranger he met and drank with in the hotel bar. And before that, he’d registered under a fake name at the hotel, told his drinking companion a fake story about his visit to the Windy City, and seemingly made no effort to contact the actress, performing in a local show, to whom he was married. All of which is more than enough to raise eyebrows among those who discovered the body. Enter theatre critic and amateur sleuth Riley Blackwood, a friend of the hotel’s owner, who endeavors to untangle this puzzling tale as discreetly as possible. But when another detective working the case, whose patron is unknown, is thrown from a yacht deck during a party by an equally unknown assailant, the investigation makes a splash among Chicago society. And then several of the possible suspects skip town, leaving Blackwood struggling to determine their guilt or innocence―and their whereabouts. Reissued for the first time in over eighty years, The Great Hotel Murder is a devilishly complex whodunnit with a classical aristocratic setting, sure to please Golden Age mystery fans of all stripes. In 1935, the story was adapted for a film of the same name.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Crime, Classics

210 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1935

About the author

AKA Charles Vincent Starrett, or Charles Starrett

Vincent Starrett was a book collector, author, bibliographer, and a Sherlock Holmes scholar. He has been referred to as part of Chicago's "literary renaissance” and has written or edited more than 50 books of essays, criticism, fiction, biography, poetry, and bibliography.

Reviews

[Jim Dooley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The staff of a posh hotel is thrown into uncertainty when the body of a guest is found ... an apparent suicide through use of illicit drugs. Why would he have done that?

Well, he didn't. Take a look at the title of the book.

THE GREAT HOTEL MURDER reads like a "cozy detective murder mystery" with an eccentric private investigator who is inventive and more than a little egocentric. The writer, Vincent Starrett, first came to my attention years ago when I was reading about the organization that he helped to create, "The Baker Street Irregulars." Of course, he most readily comes to mind for his definitive exploration of Conan Doyle's most famous creation in THE PRIVATE LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

I have to admit that this book was a lot of fun. (It would have been even more fun if the writer of the "Introduction" hadn't given away the "Red Herring" status of one of the characters. I couldn't help but wonder why the "Introduction" wasn't instead presented as an "Afterward.") The setting in a hotel was one that I very much enjoyed while the final revelation ... ah, it wasn't bad, but I also didn't find it to be entirely satisfying.

Starrett was obviously extremely familiar with popular mystery stories in different media. Even though I hadn't encountered this story before, the events and contributing incidents felt very familiar. And as for the intrepid young detective ... let's just say that I feel the need to move on to other detectives.

I can certainly imagine enjoying a few chapters of THE GREAT HOTEL MURDER in a comfortable chair and a nightcap before retiring for the evening. It is a pleasant diversion, and not one with a puzzle that will keep the Reader awake contemplating it.

[J. Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Premise: A man checks into a hotel. He meets another man who requests that they exchange rooms. It is arranged. The next morning, the man who requested the room change is found dead. To futher compound things, he wasn't who he says he was.
I was intrigued by the premise, by the fact that this book was a classic in the 30s that fell into obscurity, and Otto Penzler has brought it back to life. I love love love the resuscitation of lost classics.
The author, Vincent Starrett, was an expert on all things Sherlock Holmes, so that sounded grand as well.
It is my own muddle-headed handicap that if there are too many characters introduced at once, I find it darned hard to keep them all sorted in my head. The very-likeable sleuth makes it more difficult by posing various explanations of motives and allegiances so that midway through the mystery. Imagine that you don't have a firm grasp on the rules of chess and someone proceeds to point out all the possibilities of the next five moves and what could happen, only backwards. I gave up all hope of sorting for myself and just kept reading for the fun of it.
I enjoyed the book. There were quite a few passages where either the 30s language or a description stopped me in my tracks and I had to read it again to savor it. Also found myself wondering if the sleuth Riley Blackwood might reappear in another novel. Bit of a surprise ending. No way I would have hashed it all out. For all that, the book itself is lovely, I mean physically lovely--feels good in the hand, fun cover, well-formatted. I'm looking forward to hunting up more Otto Penzler Presents American Mystery Classics.

[Doreen Petersen · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a delightful cozy mystery!

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd never heard of this author until recently, but this is apparently an American mystery classic, and I really enjoyed reading it. It's very similar to English mysteries from the 1930s, but instead of manor houses and trains, there's the Chicago Exposition and yachting on Lake Michigan.

[Robyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Early Bird Book Deal | Terrible detective makes for a dull book | Blackwood, not an actual detective, is awful at his hobby. He makes ridiculous leaps in logic, most of which don't pan out, and the ones that do are almost worse because it's so unreasonable to make the assumptions. Woman who was staying in a hotel room across the street from where a man died reports that her husband died suddenly, so obviously her husband must be the man who died. No possible way that two men in Chicago died on the same day, of course. Man declines to provide the impertinent theatre critic who's butting into a police investigation with an alibi, saying he'll do so if he's asked by officials, so obviously he must have been staying in the hotel where the murder happened. Couldn't be any other personal reason that he would prefer not to share his business. Every other paragraph is Blackwood trying to force various guesses to coalesce into a theory, and trying to include as many of the people he's met recently as possible, whether it makes sense or not. Everyone around him finds him annoying, and I agree. I never cared who killed the victim, either.

[Darius Ostrowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid book from the 1930s, "The Great Hotel Murder" is an entertaining romp around Chicago as theater critic Riley Blackwood tries to solve the murder of a hotel guest at the behest of his friend the hotel owner.

The initial premise is great - a hotel guest is found dead in his room, a possible suicide or murder. But the guest had asked a complete stranger to change rooms, was registered under a false name, and didn't tell his wife that he was in town (she was an actress in a play in Chicago).

Blackwood tracks down various suspects, questions coincidences, and roams from Chicago to a fancy yacht party to northern Wisconsin in pursuit of the truth. A great look at what Chicago used to be like (it even includes the Century of Progress World's Fair) wrapped around a typical golden age mystery. Nothing spectacular, but a fun read.

[Kenneth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Murder Mystery from the mid-1930s. A New York banker is discovered in the morning in his room in a Chicago hotel. Amateur sleuth Riley Blackwood is soon on the scene, gathering clues trying to figure out why nothing seems to make sense. The dead banker was registered under an assumed name and the scene appears to be a suicide. An actress comes onto the scene who it turns out was his wife. While on an evening cruise, a man is pushed overboard. Riley saves him. There are a number of other colorful characters throughout, and Riley considers several of them as possible culprits. This a fast paced whodunit with lots of twists and turns, making a quite entertaining read.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it! An excellent book! This is a must read!

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it! Wonderful characters! This is a must read book!

[EuroHackie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Riley Blackwood is the idiot version of Ellery Queen, who thinks he's more clever than the police. Spoiler alert: he isn't. By the end, I was rooting for the people who wanted to murder him.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Classic who-done-it novel. Too many names and characters to remember, I got lost. Although, the ending was exciting.

[Jenn Estepp · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not entirely sure why this was tapped to be one of the next American Mystery Classics reissues. It's not bad, but also not that remarkable. I found it slightly dull and I wasn't super impressed by either our gentleman detective or the mystery itself. Just reading about him online, Starrett's other mystery creations sound a lot more interesting. Oh well.

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not going to lie... the fact that this book is old and has zero reviews/ ratings on Goodreads makings it even more intriguing. I really want an ARC of this.

[Gwen - Chew & Digest Books - · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very "Golden Age of Detective Fiction" so this isn't for everyone, yet it's a perfect example and a cool read.

[Sarabeth Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise of the mystery drew me in to this revived classic - a man is found murdered in a hotel room but it turns out the evening before the man requested to change rooms with another guest. Was it really murder? Suicide? A plot gone wrong? It's set in the 1930s Chicago and the end of the story ends up in Door County Wisconsin - I always find it fun reading things that are set in areas that I know so well. The characters are all fairly one-dimensional and the author doesn't really do much in terms of description or setting the scene. Most of the story follows along with an amateur sleuth who in reality is a theater critic who helps out his friend, the owner of the hotel with the murdered guest. It goes into the thought processes of motivations and character connections which is interesting to see from the perspective of someone who doesn't actually sleuth for their career. A fun read with a few plot twists, all of what you'd want from a tidy little mystery.

[Ron Kerrigan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An okay read, but not in the higher ranks of golden age mysteries. I found the amateur sleuth sort of off-putting. He was a little too into himself. The complex mystery is just that: too complex. The book could have been trimmed a bit and would have benefited from one of those cast of characters lists at the front. By the time the culprit was unmasked I had forgotten who it was and had to revisit earlier chapters to place him in the story.

I was surprised that one of the characters uses a grammatical error very common nowadays (2000's) by saying "I was literally frightened to death." Since the character continues to appear in the book, obviously she was not. I wonder if that was a purposeful mistake by the author to indicate the character didn't know that phrase showed her lack of correct English usage, or the author lacked it himself.

The 1935 movie based on this changed a lot of the characters (making the amateur sleuth older and a mystery writer instead of a theater critic.) It followed the basic outline but only barely.

[Brian Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a classic whodunnit murder mystery set in Chicago circa 1935. It's written in the Golden Age style with a (relatively large) closed circle of suspects and a mostly unsolvable puzzle for readers to deal with. The puzzle's solution, when finally presented, seems randomly chosen. There's plenty of action, some is near farcical, with a suspenseful and exciting denouement. The characters are plentiful, although only one will likely stick in anyone's memory for long: the amateur sleuth, Riley Blackwood. There is enough local colour to recognize Chicago as the story's locale and a quasi-character. Atmosphere is in short supply. The Introduction by Lyndsay Faye is informative about the author and the story. It merits reading.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a great mystery or particularly compelling other than the iconic writing style of the 1930s and a nice setting - Chicago. Riley Blackwood is an untrained amateur sleuth who spends too much time hatching theories and is not terribly skilled at getting information. The premise is fun - a woman’s breakfast date at a grand hotel is late. When hotel staff are finally convinced to open the man’s room, they find a dead body in the bed. But it’s not the man who rented the room! Plausible red herrings are sprinkled throughout but most of the characters are thin and the dialogue is often awkward.

[Lisa Kucharski · Rating 2 out of 5]

I generally enjoy Starrett's stories but I found this one- led by Riley Blackwood to meander so much it made the mystery a mess. I do enjoy the Walter Ghost stories and the Jimmie Lavender ones, and some other offshoots. But this particular one got mired in this way and that way thought. I think the intent was humor, but like all humor- if you don't get the joke- it just doesn't work.

The intro to this book I also found just as meandering but gushing about this book. My suggestion is: read the intro, and if you get it and like it- then this book is for you.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining and diverting read, albeit not the greatest mystery story ever written. I enjoyed the characters and the setting, and would happily read another book with Riley Blackwood. However, the crime and its clues were a bit wanting, and it sometimes felt as if the mystery was just a vehicle for the story rather than the ultimate goal. But, all in all, a solid GA offering for anyone interested in this genre.

[Jeff Bleyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This selection from Otto Penzler's stylish American Mystery Classics reprint series may be the most obscure choice in the series yet. Written in the early 1930s this title features Riley Blackwood, a drama critic turned amateur sleuth, investigating a morphine overdose in a high end Chicago hotel. Thanks to this edition's entertaining and scholarly introduction by Lyndsay Faye which filled in some details about the author and setting, I enjoyed this read more than I might have otherwise.

[Gypsi · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this Golden Age mystery, a man is found dead inside a Chicago hotel, and amateur detective Riley Blackwood sets out to prove it's murder and not suicide. Starrett's writing is solid, and at times excellent. Despite finding the book entertaining, I wasn't completely convinced by the solution or the clues leading to it. It was still fun, though, and I would not hesitate to read another novel by Starrett.

[Sharon Healy-Yang · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starret's novel is not bad. You get a nifty sense of the swinging twenties and thirties and some clever twists and turns to the plot. I don't think you get quite enough clues as to the killer's identity early on, so that when the final twist approaches you only just then have enough to put two and two together. The point of view shifts a bit too much amongst the characters, so it's a bit hard to identify with anyone. The detective, Riley Blackwood, doesn't seem especially perspicacious - though he sees himself that way. Perhaps that's the point: Starrett is sending up the standard classic-era amateur detective in the midst of the classic era. Or not. Anyway, it's an entertaining read, but not one of my favorites.

[Rick Dunlop · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was copywritten in 1934. The writing style was older and there were perhaps too many characters. There were too key things missing from the book. Haviland was the bad guy but the author never established a motive. If he did it wasn't clear. He also didn't make it super clear how the victim was killed. The basis for the encounter wasn't clear and the method for the crime was loosely explained. It just could have been more compelling. More bold.

[Kusaimamekirai · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve never read any of Starrett’s work before but this was a really quick, fun read. Just enough twists and turns and puzzles to keep you engaged and enough humor to keep it from getting too heavy. Starrett’s theater critic / “detective” Riley Blackwood is a lot of fun too. He is all of us who aren’t actual detectives but think we are.

[Heatherinblack · Rating 1 out of 5]

It may be a period thing

This read like a gangster movie. Pre Godfather gangsters. Lots of having a cigarette and maybe spending some time with the actress, but DAMN! Was it the dame? It was so over the top for me, it was tedious. But, it was written back with the gangster movies, so…

[Glenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clever fun. An engaging diversion from 1934 that's not quite a revelation. I could have done without Lindsay Faye's completely gratuitous, out-of-nowhere shit-talking of David Foster Wallace in the introduction, I must say.

[Cindy Ladensack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun mystery romp with a likable, Richard Diamond-esque amateur detective and a wonderfully atmospheric 1930s Chicago setting. The mystery itself was a bit weak, but the fun was in the way that the characters, locations, and actions were descriptively and jauntily portrayed.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun mystery originally released in the 1930s. Features a chamingly louche theater critic who dabbles in detection. Occasional period references are jarring to contemporary ears, but there's a solid plot that bustles along/

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting reprint

Murder in the hotel starts complicated and remains so throughout the story. Lots of people with lots of names who are in and out of lots of places. It is a good romp. I can see Cary Grant in the lead.