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Chas Riley #9
Hotel Cartagena
Hampuri 1980-luvulla ja nuori mies, joka haluaa pois. Hän nousee Kolumbiaan lähtevään laivaan ja saa Cartagenan rannoilla oppia, mitä tapahtuu, kun juhlii väärien ihmisten kanssa. Ylellisten bileiden jälkeen on helvetti irti. Kun vuodet kuluvat, tarjoutuu tilaisuus kostaa, eikä tuo samainen mies – ei enää niin kovin nuori – jätä tilaisuutta käyttämättä…
Kalsea hotellibaari Hampurin satamassa yli kolmekymmentä vuotta myöhemmin. Alapuolella hohtavat telakoiden valot, ylhäällä syyttäjä Chastity Riley juhlii ystäviensä seurassa. Yhtäkkiä ovet avautuvat, ja baariin kävelee kaksitoista raskaasti aseistautunutta miestä, jotka ottavat asiakkaat ja henkilökunnan panttivangeikseen. Poliisit rakennuksen ulkopuolella vaikuttavat jäävän sivustaseuraajan rooliin, ja Chastity kumppaneineen joutuu keskelle tapahtumasarjaa, jonka jälkeen mikään ei voi olla niin kuin ennen.
Kalsea hotellibaari Hampurin satamassa yli kolmekymmentä vuotta myöhemmin. Alapuolella hohtavat telakoiden valot, ylhäällä syyttäjä Chastity Riley juhlii ystäviensä seurassa. Yhtäkkiä ovet avautuvat, ja baariin kävelee kaksitoista raskaasti aseistautunutta miestä, jotka ottavat asiakkaat ja henkilökunnan panttivangeikseen. Poliisit rakennuksen ulkopuolella vaikuttavat jäävän sivustaseuraajan rooliin, ja Chastity kumppaneineen joutuu keskelle tapahtumasarjaa, jonka jälkeen mikään ei voi olla niin kuin ennen.
281 pages, Hardcover
First published September 29, 2019
10 people are currently reading
149 people want to read
About the author
Simone Buchholz
29 books58 followersSimone Buchholz is a German author, best known for her crime fiction.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews
February 4, 2021
Buchholz writes like the noir equivalent of a jazz musician. There are familiar crime elements, but with a twist. Some distinctiveness and quirky originality. Plenty of style. Everything flows while being unpredictable, the reader never sure where Buchholz may take her melody. Hotel Cartagena oscillates between past and present: from the (mis)adventures of a young German in Latin America to the peril faced by Chastity and her friends in the hotel bar. Verse and chorus, building an unforgettable song.
The one blip for longtime fans may be that Chastity Riley is not as centered in this instalment, given the passages from the past that lay out the key journeys of others involved in the hostage situation. Yet at the same time, this novel reads like a key phase in the arc Chastity has undergone throughout the series. Relationships and lives are coming to a crossroads, or an end. If Chastity can survive her injury, and her troublesome attraction to the ringleader of the armed men, what will follow?
With adroit translation by Rachel Ward, Buchholz has delivered a terrific crime thriller.
The one blip for longtime fans may be that Chastity Riley is not as centered in this instalment, given the passages from the past that lay out the key journeys of others involved in the hostage situation. Yet at the same time, this novel reads like a key phase in the arc Chastity has undergone throughout the series. Relationships and lives are coming to a crossroads, or an end. If Chastity can survive her injury, and her troublesome attraction to the ringleader of the armed men, what will follow?
With adroit translation by Rachel Ward, Buchholz has delivered a terrific crime thriller.
May 10, 2021
Hotel Cartagena is the fourth book in Simone’s excellent Chastity Riley thriller series – but it can absolutely be read as a standalone (as, indeed, can any of the others – see our reviews of Blue Night, Beton Rouge, and Mexico Street). Simone lives in the heart of Sankt Pauli, and clearly knows the city extremely well – from the underbelly to the somewhat more refined parts.
Chasity is attending a birthday party 20 floors up in the bar of a very smart harbour side hotel in Hamburg. It is a party for Faller, one of her police colleagues. All her police ‘friends’ are in attendance. As the party is just getting underway, the bar and its drinkers are overpowered by a group of hostage takers… What do they want? The answer is to subject the hotel owner (who is also in the bar) to humiliation and torture. But why?
To find out the answer we have to go back to 1984, and make our way forwards. A young 19 year old man worked his passage on a ship bound for Cartagena, Colombia to start a new life away from the disappointments and gloom of Hamburg. Beach life was good. He fell in with dubious company, and started shipping cocaine back to Hamburg. The business grew and many became rich – until something went wrong forcing him to move to Curaçao. The operation was compromised in Hamburg and of course the Cartels had muscled in!
Which all leads (and I won’t tell you how) to the hostage situation.
Hotel Cartagena is a very exciting thriller with a quite splendid ending. Simone is an excellent writer and Rachel Ward, the translator, also deserves a shout out.
Highly recommended if you like your thrillers fast and furious.
September 2, 2021
Hier war ich von den Erzählstruktur bzw. den Rückblenden erst ein wenig irritiert, aber dann fügte sich alles und die Hintergründe der Geiselnahme nahe am Hamburger Hafen wurden klar. Die Geschichte ist aus meiner Sicht sehr gut gestrickt und wieder einmal nehmen Chastity Riley und ihre Kollegen und deren Beziehungsgeflecht untereinander eine wichtige Rolle ein. Spannend, auch wenn das ein oder andere natürlich schon früh erahnt werden kann. Der Stil ist hier noch einmal spezieller als in den vorhergehenden Teilen, aber irgendwie "stimmt's".
October 23, 2019
„Hotel Cartagena“ ist der neunte Band aus der Krimireihe rund um die Staatsanwältin Chas Riley. Kolumbien vs. Norddeutschland, es gibt zwei Handlungsstränge, und doch findet der Showdown wieder im guten alten Hamburg statt. Buchholz‘ Romane sind sowieso eine Liebeserklärung an die Hansestadt.
Henning Garbarek ist ein Junge aus ärmlichen Verhältnissen, der in den achtziger Jahren sein Glück in Kolumbien sucht. Narcos, Breaking Bad, Miami Vice, Stirb langsam, La Casa de Papel (ich frage mich, ob die jüngeren Leser die Anspielungen auf popkulturelle Phänomene der Eighties im Roman überhaupt verstehen?). Es kommt, wie es kommen muss, der Hamburger mischt im aufkommenden Drogengeschäft mit und stellt für die Kolumbianer die „Brücke“ nach Europa her. Doch dies geht nicht lange gut.
Jahre später sinnt Garbarek auf Rache, und es trifft ausgerechnet Riley und Co, als ihr Ersatzvater und Mentor „Faller“ seinen 65. Geburtstag in einem Nobelhotel feiert.
Buchholz‘ Krimireihe ist „richtige“ Literatur für mich, denn ich „reibe“ mich am Inhalt, ich ärgere und ich freue mich über das Geschriebene. Die kurzen, knappen Kapitel finde ich spitze, ebenso die Sprache, die lakonisch und fast schnodderig ist. Manchmal muss ich auch an angloamerikanische Literaten (Frauen eingeschlossen) denken, denn wie Buchholz schreibt in Deutschland niemand. Stream of Consciousness, innere Monologe – das kann die Autorin gut, das Gedankenkarussell von Chastity Riley hat mich wieder mit dem Krimi versöhnt (ich glaube aber nicht, dass Reihenneulinge verstehen werden, dass Carla vergewaltigt wurde).
Den Anfang von „Hotel Cartagena“ fand ich recht zäh, und Buchholz muss aufpassen, dass ihre Figuren nicht zu Karikaturen und Comicfiguren werden, weil sie alle so saucool sind, wie es im wahren Leben wenige Leute sind. Viele männliche Figuren sind der Staatsanwältin mit Bindungsphobie regelrecht verfallen, weniger wäre da mehr, es hat fast schon etwas von Bella Swan in „Twilight“. Auch habe ich mich zunächst über etwas geärgert, das zunächst wie Salonkommunismus wirkt: Da werden Frauen geliebt, die „die Faust recken“, die gut situierte Riley ärgert sich über den „Kapitalismus“.
Im Verlauf des Romans wird aber eine profunde Sozialkritik mit Hand und Fuß entwickelt. Damit kann ich leben, und ich finde es wichtig, dass Literatur nicht nur schöngeistig ist. Nach einer etwas zähen Exposition nimmt die Erzählung dann richtig Fahrt auf, es kommt zum großen Showdown, die Bilder und Metaphern sind großartig, „zwei (…)Erzengel“ bewachen während einer Geiselnahme die halluzinierende (Blutvergiftung!) Chastity, die sich auch in dieser Ausnahmesituation nicht unbedingt keusch verhält. Damit komme ich zu einem weiteren Kritikpunkt. Natürlich sind Polizisten geschult in Sachen Extremfälle, aber dass quasi niemand während der Geiselnahme in Panik geriet, auch Rocco & Carla & Klatsche nicht, fand ich unglaubwürdig. Das Ende des Romans war aber wieder großes Kino: Riley auf den Spuren ihrer Vorfahren in Schottland.
Fazit:
Diversität ist in der Krimireihe rund um die Halbamerikanerin Riley kein bloßes Schlagwort. Multikulturalismus ist etwas Selbstverständliches, so selbstverständlich, dass er nicht an die große Glocke gehängt wird und daher nie forciert wirkt. Stil und Sprache – große Kunst. Es ist nicht einfach, in wenigen Worten Dinge auf den Punkt zu bringen. Obwohl ich mich zu Beginn der Lektüre zum Weiterlesen zwingen musste, konnte ich den Krimi bald nicht mehr beiseitelegen. Trotz aller Kritikpunkte vergebe ich für „Hotel Cartagena“ daher die volle Punktzahl, und ich freue mich jetzt schon auf den nächsten Fall!
Henning Garbarek ist ein Junge aus ärmlichen Verhältnissen, der in den achtziger Jahren sein Glück in Kolumbien sucht. Narcos, Breaking Bad, Miami Vice, Stirb langsam, La Casa de Papel (ich frage mich, ob die jüngeren Leser die Anspielungen auf popkulturelle Phänomene der Eighties im Roman überhaupt verstehen?). Es kommt, wie es kommen muss, der Hamburger mischt im aufkommenden Drogengeschäft mit und stellt für die Kolumbianer die „Brücke“ nach Europa her. Doch dies geht nicht lange gut.
Jahre später sinnt Garbarek auf Rache, und es trifft ausgerechnet Riley und Co, als ihr Ersatzvater und Mentor „Faller“ seinen 65. Geburtstag in einem Nobelhotel feiert.
Buchholz‘ Krimireihe ist „richtige“ Literatur für mich, denn ich „reibe“ mich am Inhalt, ich ärgere und ich freue mich über das Geschriebene. Die kurzen, knappen Kapitel finde ich spitze, ebenso die Sprache, die lakonisch und fast schnodderig ist. Manchmal muss ich auch an angloamerikanische Literaten (Frauen eingeschlossen) denken, denn wie Buchholz schreibt in Deutschland niemand. Stream of Consciousness, innere Monologe – das kann die Autorin gut, das Gedankenkarussell von Chastity Riley hat mich wieder mit dem Krimi versöhnt (ich glaube aber nicht, dass Reihenneulinge verstehen werden, dass Carla vergewaltigt wurde).
Den Anfang von „Hotel Cartagena“ fand ich recht zäh, und Buchholz muss aufpassen, dass ihre Figuren nicht zu Karikaturen und Comicfiguren werden, weil sie alle so saucool sind, wie es im wahren Leben wenige Leute sind. Viele männliche Figuren sind der Staatsanwältin mit Bindungsphobie regelrecht verfallen, weniger wäre da mehr, es hat fast schon etwas von Bella Swan in „Twilight“. Auch habe ich mich zunächst über etwas geärgert, das zunächst wie Salonkommunismus wirkt: Da werden Frauen geliebt, die „die Faust recken“, die gut situierte Riley ärgert sich über den „Kapitalismus“.
Im Verlauf des Romans wird aber eine profunde Sozialkritik mit Hand und Fuß entwickelt. Damit kann ich leben, und ich finde es wichtig, dass Literatur nicht nur schöngeistig ist. Nach einer etwas zähen Exposition nimmt die Erzählung dann richtig Fahrt auf, es kommt zum großen Showdown, die Bilder und Metaphern sind großartig, „zwei (…)Erzengel“ bewachen während einer Geiselnahme die halluzinierende (Blutvergiftung!) Chastity, die sich auch in dieser Ausnahmesituation nicht unbedingt keusch verhält. Damit komme ich zu einem weiteren Kritikpunkt. Natürlich sind Polizisten geschult in Sachen Extremfälle, aber dass quasi niemand während der Geiselnahme in Panik geriet, auch Rocco & Carla & Klatsche nicht, fand ich unglaubwürdig. Das Ende des Romans war aber wieder großes Kino: Riley auf den Spuren ihrer Vorfahren in Schottland.
Fazit:
Diversität ist in der Krimireihe rund um die Halbamerikanerin Riley kein bloßes Schlagwort. Multikulturalismus ist etwas Selbstverständliches, so selbstverständlich, dass er nicht an die große Glocke gehängt wird und daher nie forciert wirkt. Stil und Sprache – große Kunst. Es ist nicht einfach, in wenigen Worten Dinge auf den Punkt zu bringen. Obwohl ich mich zu Beginn der Lektüre zum Weiterlesen zwingen musste, konnte ich den Krimi bald nicht mehr beiseitelegen. Trotz aller Kritikpunkte vergebe ich für „Hotel Cartagena“ daher die volle Punktzahl, und ich freue mich jetzt schon auf den nächsten Fall!
January 29, 2021
Readers of the Chastity Riley series will be used to our favourite public Prosecutor being called to the scene of various strange and often deadly crime scenes. This time around she doesn't have to travel very far at all as the crime scene comes to her. Celebrating Faller's birthday, Chastity and her friends and colleagues find themselves caught in the middle of a very tense hostage situation as the hotel bar they are drinking in is sieged. The reasons are not immediately clear, but the target, and the motives, soon become apparent, but the siege, and the jeopardy the group find themselves in, really is only part of this complex, twisting and emotion driven story. It's classic Chastity Riley territory and yet also ... not.
This is only a short book and so it is hard to write a long review (you can breathe a sigh of relief now if you like). It is divided into essentially two parts, carefully interwoven - the before and the now. The before scenes, although seemingly incongruous, come to inform the central action in a mix of surprising and ultimately emotional ways. We are slowly told a story, drip fed in scenes which fall between the present day action, the author cleverly concealing just enough to keep us guessing, but no so much that we cannot see the ultimate direction the tale is heading. we just don't initially know why.
As for the now - well aside from the tension of the hostage situation, which is played pitch perfectly, the aggressors doing just enough to maintain their control but never really antagonising the reader so that we don't care about the why - we are faced with what is really a bit of a crossroads in Chastity's own life. She is trapped, physically and emotionally and with more than just the hostage takers giving her and her friends cause for concern. Her personal circumstances give her cause for reflection, something that is in keeping with her style throughout the series, but as she considers her future , caught between relationships past and present, I could feel a kind of shift in her character and i am intrigued to see how that plays out.
The main part of the story, the present day hostage situation, playout in a matter of hours, something reflected in the urgency of the pacing and the way in which I devoured the book in a matter of hours too. I loved the conflicts that the author created, both physically and mentally, and not just for Chastity. Ivo Stepanovic is having his own mental battle, caught on the outside of the crisis and, in his mind at least, of Chastity's life, an uncomfortable position on both counts. I love Ivo as a character, but he is a troubled soul and his melancholy starts to win out in this book and it is intriguing to see how this steers his action, or reaction, to the hostage situation.
Multi layered, with a carefully spun narrative, this was much more about the personal aspects of the crime and of the characters than it was a police investigation into a specific crime. But it is a stunning story that completely drew me in and kept me hooked until the very last page. If you love the series, and the abstract styling of Simone Buchholz, I think you will love this. There is much to remind me of the other books and yet that subtle shift in tone makes it feel both familiar and unique and I loved it. Great translation as always by Rachel Ward. I'm hoping we've still plenty more of Chastity to come as these books leave me smiling every single time.
This is only a short book and so it is hard to write a long review (you can breathe a sigh of relief now if you like). It is divided into essentially two parts, carefully interwoven - the before and the now. The before scenes, although seemingly incongruous, come to inform the central action in a mix of surprising and ultimately emotional ways. We are slowly told a story, drip fed in scenes which fall between the present day action, the author cleverly concealing just enough to keep us guessing, but no so much that we cannot see the ultimate direction the tale is heading. we just don't initially know why.
As for the now - well aside from the tension of the hostage situation, which is played pitch perfectly, the aggressors doing just enough to maintain their control but never really antagonising the reader so that we don't care about the why - we are faced with what is really a bit of a crossroads in Chastity's own life. She is trapped, physically and emotionally and with more than just the hostage takers giving her and her friends cause for concern. Her personal circumstances give her cause for reflection, something that is in keeping with her style throughout the series, but as she considers her future , caught between relationships past and present, I could feel a kind of shift in her character and i am intrigued to see how that plays out.
The main part of the story, the present day hostage situation, playout in a matter of hours, something reflected in the urgency of the pacing and the way in which I devoured the book in a matter of hours too. I loved the conflicts that the author created, both physically and mentally, and not just for Chastity. Ivo Stepanovic is having his own mental battle, caught on the outside of the crisis and, in his mind at least, of Chastity's life, an uncomfortable position on both counts. I love Ivo as a character, but he is a troubled soul and his melancholy starts to win out in this book and it is intriguing to see how this steers his action, or reaction, to the hostage situation.
Multi layered, with a carefully spun narrative, this was much more about the personal aspects of the crime and of the characters than it was a police investigation into a specific crime. But it is a stunning story that completely drew me in and kept me hooked until the very last page. If you love the series, and the abstract styling of Simone Buchholz, I think you will love this. There is much to remind me of the other books and yet that subtle shift in tone makes it feel both familiar and unique and I loved it. Great translation as always by Rachel Ward. I'm hoping we've still plenty more of Chastity to come as these books leave me smiling every single time.
January 17, 2021
Hotel Cartagena is the fourth Chastity Riley novel to be published in the UK by Orenda Books, and if you really want to, you could read it as a standalone, but I do feel part of the story draws on a lot of personal history between the characters so I would recommend you read the other books first.
Is it ever truly January without a Chas Riley story? Well no, not for me at least, at the start of a new year it is always such a joy to go back to Hamburg and find out what mischief Chas has been up to!
Hotel Cartagena takes us to a birthday celebration in a fancy hotel bar in Hamburg, with Chas and her co-workers, including her ex and a friends-with-benefits sort of colleague, so one might say things are a bit messy and complicated to start with. And that’s before the twelve dark suits show up carrying Uzis and sawn-off shotguns and .45 Colts.
Before long we have an actual hostage situation on our hands. But what is the point, what is there to gain? As time stretches, the hostage-takers remain quite friendly and no demands are made. Simone Buchholz makes us wait for clarity quite a while, so much so that Chas and her big mouth can’t help but ask: “What did you have in mind? Stockholm syndrome?” Little does she know “the wurst is yet to come” (HA!!)
At the same time, Hotel Cartagena takes us to Cartagena, Colombia where a drugs empire is in the making. I do love me a drugs cartel kind of story and Simone writes about it like she was there to witness it herself.
Short and snappy chapters switch between different points of view, between the first person and third person present tense, between the 80s/90s and the present, between Germany, Colombia and Curaçao, propelling the story forwards at quite a pace, mixing things up, keeping me eager to read on and know more. It was also loads of fun to see the parts all come together.
I just love Simone’s writing style, I’ve said it plenty of times before and I’m sure I’ll keep repeating it. Taut and poetic, you never know what might be around the corner. Chas is very much jaded and most of the time she’s a bit of a sarcastic cow (and I say that with all the love) but then she goes and says stuff like: “His expression drops into the middle of my heart and explodes.” I LOVE that!
Unless you speak German, you can’t have one without the other: once again I am in awe of Rachel Ward. Respecting Simone’s unique style and keeping the German vibe going, while creating a readable English equivalent of the German original is nothing to sneeze at.
Hotel Cartagena is another fantastic instalment in the Chastity Riley series. If you enjoyed the previous books this is a must read, and if you’re new to the Queen of Krimi then do check out this series!
Is it ever truly January without a Chas Riley story? Well no, not for me at least, at the start of a new year it is always such a joy to go back to Hamburg and find out what mischief Chas has been up to!
Hotel Cartagena takes us to a birthday celebration in a fancy hotel bar in Hamburg, with Chas and her co-workers, including her ex and a friends-with-benefits sort of colleague, so one might say things are a bit messy and complicated to start with. And that’s before the twelve dark suits show up carrying Uzis and sawn-off shotguns and .45 Colts.
Before long we have an actual hostage situation on our hands. But what is the point, what is there to gain? As time stretches, the hostage-takers remain quite friendly and no demands are made. Simone Buchholz makes us wait for clarity quite a while, so much so that Chas and her big mouth can’t help but ask: “What did you have in mind? Stockholm syndrome?” Little does she know “the wurst is yet to come” (HA!!)
At the same time, Hotel Cartagena takes us to Cartagena, Colombia where a drugs empire is in the making. I do love me a drugs cartel kind of story and Simone writes about it like she was there to witness it herself.
Short and snappy chapters switch between different points of view, between the first person and third person present tense, between the 80s/90s and the present, between Germany, Colombia and Curaçao, propelling the story forwards at quite a pace, mixing things up, keeping me eager to read on and know more. It was also loads of fun to see the parts all come together.
I just love Simone’s writing style, I’ve said it plenty of times before and I’m sure I’ll keep repeating it. Taut and poetic, you never know what might be around the corner. Chas is very much jaded and most of the time she’s a bit of a sarcastic cow (and I say that with all the love) but then she goes and says stuff like: “His expression drops into the middle of my heart and explodes.” I LOVE that!
Unless you speak German, you can’t have one without the other: once again I am in awe of Rachel Ward. Respecting Simone’s unique style and keeping the German vibe going, while creating a readable English equivalent of the German original is nothing to sneeze at.
Hotel Cartagena is another fantastic instalment in the Chastity Riley series. If you enjoyed the previous books this is a must read, and if you’re new to the Queen of Krimi then do check out this series!
November 5, 2019
Eine Geburtstagsfeier im Kollegenkreis endet in einem Fiasko. Und diesmal ist ausnahmsweise nicht Chasity Riley dafür verantwortlich. Eine Gruppe von Bewaffneten dringt in die Location ein und nimmt die Gäste als Geiseln. Wer, warum und wieso erschließt sich erst allmählich im Handlungsverlauf. Ein junger Mann, ein neues Leben in Kolumbien, Drogen, die falschen Freunde – die Katastrophe scheint unausweichlich. Und nun soll in der Nobelbar eine alte Rechnung beglichen werden.
Was soll ich sagen? Ich habe sämtliche Bände der Reihe mit der toughen Staatsanwältin mit dem losen Mundwerk gerne gelesen, neun mittlerweile, aber „Hotel Cartagena“ konnte mich nicht überzeugen. Mag damit zusammenhängen, dass diesmal für mein Empfinden zu viel Drumherum und zu wenig Chasity zu lesen war. Mit Ausnahme ihres Schwafelns im Delirium infolge einer Blutvergiftung. Aber: diese Verletzung am Daumen und die nachfolgende Bewusstseinstrübung hätte man nicht so ausufernd beschreiben müssen, denn das überstrapaziert die Geduld des Lesers immens.
Fazit: „Hotel Cartagena“ ist für mich definitiv der schwächste Band der Reihe.
Was soll ich sagen? Ich habe sämtliche Bände der Reihe mit der toughen Staatsanwältin mit dem losen Mundwerk gerne gelesen, neun mittlerweile, aber „Hotel Cartagena“ konnte mich nicht überzeugen. Mag damit zusammenhängen, dass diesmal für mein Empfinden zu viel Drumherum und zu wenig Chasity zu lesen war. Mit Ausnahme ihres Schwafelns im Delirium infolge einer Blutvergiftung. Aber: diese Verletzung am Daumen und die nachfolgende Bewusstseinstrübung hätte man nicht so ausufernd beschreiben müssen, denn das überstrapaziert die Geduld des Lesers immens.
Fazit: „Hotel Cartagena“ ist für mich definitiv der schwächste Band der Reihe.
January 31, 2021
"Hotel Cartagena" by Simone Buchholz is the fourth book in the Chastity Riley series to be published by Orenda in the UK. It's the first I've read (I now want to read them all!) and works well as a standalone.
First off, the cover design is fabulous! Please pause and take a moment to admire it… Now can I have a huge round of applause for designer Mark Swan? Thank you. You may continue reading…
Buchholz's writing style spares any extraneous detail. Her tone is almost clipped and it works really well, particularly when she uses verse-like stream-of-consciousness to illustrate delirium. Plaudits also to Rachel Ward for excellent translation which protects the integrity of the German. I loved the quirky chapter headings, my favourite of which has to be "Columboishness". The humour is clever and used sparingly, which makes it all the more precious. The Morricone references had me in stitches. So brilliantly observed!
I read "Hotel Cartagena" in one sitting as I couldn't put it down. Everything about the book - plot, characters, setting, the writing - felt unique and I was completely ensconced in this world of cartels and cops and cold-served revenge. Buchholz transported me to Colombia with such precision and skill that I am desperately craving a beach holiday, replete with bars and boys with guitars.
I don't like to give spoilers in reviews and feel strongly with this book that you'll want to approach the whole experience with fresh eyes. Suffice it to say it's dark, taut, tense and compelling. I think you can probably read this book on a couple of levels. Beneath all the surface action there's some really important commentary about gang culture, bullying and a sense of otherness. I loved every minute and am keeping everything crossed for a Glasgow instalment in the series.
First off, the cover design is fabulous! Please pause and take a moment to admire it… Now can I have a huge round of applause for designer Mark Swan? Thank you. You may continue reading…
Buchholz's writing style spares any extraneous detail. Her tone is almost clipped and it works really well, particularly when she uses verse-like stream-of-consciousness to illustrate delirium. Plaudits also to Rachel Ward for excellent translation which protects the integrity of the German. I loved the quirky chapter headings, my favourite of which has to be "Columboishness". The humour is clever and used sparingly, which makes it all the more precious. The Morricone references had me in stitches. So brilliantly observed!
I read "Hotel Cartagena" in one sitting as I couldn't put it down. Everything about the book - plot, characters, setting, the writing - felt unique and I was completely ensconced in this world of cartels and cops and cold-served revenge. Buchholz transported me to Colombia with such precision and skill that I am desperately craving a beach holiday, replete with bars and boys with guitars.
I don't like to give spoilers in reviews and feel strongly with this book that you'll want to approach the whole experience with fresh eyes. Suffice it to say it's dark, taut, tense and compelling. I think you can probably read this book on a couple of levels. Beneath all the surface action there's some really important commentary about gang culture, bullying and a sense of otherness. I loved every minute and am keeping everything crossed for a Glasgow instalment in the series.
March 8, 2021
This is the fourth novel in this excellent series and our protagonist, Public Prosecutor Chastity Riley, is celebrating a friend’s birthday with friends and colleagues (all regulars from previous titles) in a hotel bar when twelve heavily armed men pull out guns, and take everyone hostage. Among the hostages is Konrad Hoogsmart, the hotel owner, who is the target of the raid and the reason for the hostage taking.
Hotel Cartagena differs from the previous titles, which were much more police procedurals (albeit Chastity being a prosecutor, but that’s how it works in European legal systems where the prosecution is involved to a greater extent in directing the investigation than in the UK and America where investigations are the preserve of the police). Hotel Cartagena is different in that our protagonist and her colleagues are hostages and thus are much more passive. Instead, they witness all that transpires, and the story is told much more from the lead hostage taker’s point of view, with chapters alternating between the present day hostage crisis (and told from the hostages point of view) and chapters narrating the history of the main hostage taker, and which detail how he became involved and why.
Hotel Cartagena is a short novel, but it moves along at quite a clip and is interesting and engaging. I’ve always loved this series because of my love of the city of Hamburg where the series is set, and one thing I like about the books is how the author brings a different aspect of Hamburg (and indeed Germany) to life in each. Hotel Cartagena is no different and a lot of the action takes place around the famous harbour, with first our hostage taker hitching a ride on a cargo ship to South America and later the hostage crisis occurring in one of the many luxury hotels to overlook the docks.
As with the series as a whole, the author writes this novel in the noir style reminiscent of Raymond Chandler, with Riley’s internal monologue sardonic and wisecracking even when all looks bleak. The narrative zings off the page and brings the tale to life.
Simone Buchholz’s novels are one of my favourite crime series, and this fourth outing doesn’t disappoint. And as with all the titles, I applaud the publisher Orenda for the cover art, because it’s a thing of beauty and does justice to a wonderful book.
Hotel Cartagena differs from the previous titles, which were much more police procedurals (albeit Chastity being a prosecutor, but that’s how it works in European legal systems where the prosecution is involved to a greater extent in directing the investigation than in the UK and America where investigations are the preserve of the police). Hotel Cartagena is different in that our protagonist and her colleagues are hostages and thus are much more passive. Instead, they witness all that transpires, and the story is told much more from the lead hostage taker’s point of view, with chapters alternating between the present day hostage crisis (and told from the hostages point of view) and chapters narrating the history of the main hostage taker, and which detail how he became involved and why.
Hotel Cartagena is a short novel, but it moves along at quite a clip and is interesting and engaging. I’ve always loved this series because of my love of the city of Hamburg where the series is set, and one thing I like about the books is how the author brings a different aspect of Hamburg (and indeed Germany) to life in each. Hotel Cartagena is no different and a lot of the action takes place around the famous harbour, with first our hostage taker hitching a ride on a cargo ship to South America and later the hostage crisis occurring in one of the many luxury hotels to overlook the docks.
As with the series as a whole, the author writes this novel in the noir style reminiscent of Raymond Chandler, with Riley’s internal monologue sardonic and wisecracking even when all looks bleak. The narrative zings off the page and brings the tale to life.
Simone Buchholz’s novels are one of my favourite crime series, and this fourth outing doesn’t disappoint. And as with all the titles, I applaud the publisher Orenda for the cover art, because it’s a thing of beauty and does justice to a wonderful book.
October 24, 2021
Wow wow wow. This is utterly brilliant again and also heart wrenching as the stand off between the hostages and the people who have taken them. This is one huge high octane thriller filled with all the vengeance and hate which this series has been simmering beneath the surface for awhile. All the characters you have loved for awhile come under intense pressure and some realise at the last moment what is more important. Is this the final reckoning? I won’t say more than that but I urge you to read this series and when you get to this one wow it will hit you in the chest.
June 22, 2022
Obwohl Part neun der Serie, konnte ich der Handlung dieses Kriminalromans auch ohne Vorkenntnisse gut folgen. Buchholz erklärt die Figuren, deren Beziehungen und Vergangenheiten sehr eindrücklich und genau. Wahrscheinlich wird die Charakterentwicklung noch deutlicher, wenn man auch die Vorgänger kennt.
Die Handlung ist interessant aufgebaut und einige gute Ideen wurden verwendet. Es ist dennoch ein eher langsamer Plot, da die Autorin sich mehr auf die Charaktere als auf Actionszenen verlegt. Manchmal hätte die Geschichte dennoch etwas mehr Zug haben können.
Zwar werde ich die Reihe nicht weiterverfolgen, dennoch war es ein gutes Buch, dem ich gerne zugehört habe.
Die Handlung ist interessant aufgebaut und einige gute Ideen wurden verwendet. Es ist dennoch ein eher langsamer Plot, da die Autorin sich mehr auf die Charaktere als auf Actionszenen verlegt. Manchmal hätte die Geschichte dennoch etwas mehr Zug haben können.
Zwar werde ich die Reihe nicht weiterverfolgen, dennoch war es ein gutes Buch, dem ich gerne zugehört habe.
August 15, 2023
Man liest dieses Buch ja nicht ernsthaft, weil man es gut findet. Man liest es in der Hoffnung, dass sich etwas ändert am Stil, an der Spannungskurve, an den elenden Vergleichen oder vielleicht einfach, um zu verstehen, wieso immer wieder namhaften Schriftsteller:innen gedankt wird. Die haben ja wohl Einfluss gehabt, aber nichts geändert. Naja. Ein schlechter Krimi, ein gutes Buch für das wohlige Gefühl, das Boomer durchströmt, wenn sie Dinge wiedererkennen. Noch ein Teil der Serie, dann haben wir das auch erledigt – vorerst.
January 25, 2021
I always love reading Simone Buchholz, her jazzy, poetic style and noirish references are a true delight. However, this book just didn't have enough Chastity in it (she is struggling with a health issue, to be fair).
September 7, 2021
Ehrliche Dialoge und viel Gefühl. Der Schreibstil ist der Hammer! Ganz großes Kino. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
May 27, 2022
Eine Krimireihe wie ein poetry slam
March 9, 2021
Finished reading: February 5th 2021
"He looks like an extinguished lighthouse. Dark and abandoned, and also slightly cold, but you can imagine what it was like when the light was still burning."
*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***
P.S. Find more of my reviews here.
December 3, 2019
>>Eine unterkühlte Hotelbar am Hamburger Hafen. Unten an den Docks glitzern die Lichter, oben sind die Tische eher dünn besetzt. Plötzlich gehen die Türen auf, zwölf schwerbewaffnete Männer kapern die Bar, nehmen Gäste und Personal in Geiselhaft. Mittendrin: Chastity Riley, die sich eigentlich auf ein schmerzhaftes Wiedersehen mit alten Freunden eingestellt hatte, jetzt aber gemeinsam mit allen anderen Geiseln lernen muss, dass es Verletzungen gibt, die sich einfach nicht mehr reparieren lassen …<<
„Hotel Cartagena“ von Simone Buchholz ist ein kurzweiliger Krimi, der sich ganz gut so weglesen lässt. Die Story ist spannend und durch die wenigen Seiten kommt keine Langeweile auf. Die Protagonisten sind unverkennbar in ihrer Hamburger Art und darauf ausgerichtet, auf die Szene rund um den Kiez ist eben auch die Sprache und die Dialoge.
Insgesamt hat mir der Krimi ganz gut gefallen und lässt sich gut zwischendurch mal lesen. Allerdings hatte ich sprachlich irgendwie viel mehr erwartet... Über das Buch wird geschrieben, dass es sich um „hohe Schreibkunst“ handelt, das empfand ich jetzt nicht so... davon war es für mein Leseempfinden weit entfernt. Dennoch schafft die Autorin hier in der Kürze eine schöne Würze!
„Hotel Cartagena“ von Simone Buchholz ist ein kurzweiliger Krimi, der sich ganz gut so weglesen lässt. Die Story ist spannend und durch die wenigen Seiten kommt keine Langeweile auf. Die Protagonisten sind unverkennbar in ihrer Hamburger Art und darauf ausgerichtet, auf die Szene rund um den Kiez ist eben auch die Sprache und die Dialoge.
Insgesamt hat mir der Krimi ganz gut gefallen und lässt sich gut zwischendurch mal lesen. Allerdings hatte ich sprachlich irgendwie viel mehr erwartet... Über das Buch wird geschrieben, dass es sich um „hohe Schreibkunst“ handelt, das empfand ich jetzt nicht so... davon war es für mein Leseempfinden weit entfernt. Dennoch schafft die Autorin hier in der Kürze eine schöne Würze!
March 31, 2021
Nobody writes like Simone Buchholz. I don’t think there are many people who would dare. Every one of her books is different, every one feels like a slap to the face dealt to rouse you from your reading complacency and tell you to pay attention, every one is as fresh and unapologetically brazen – just like the character of Chastity Riley herself. Hotel Cartagena is no different, equally unmistakably Buchholz and unlike any of the previous books in the series.
We start immediately in the action, as Chastity finds herself at the centre of a hostage situation whilst celebrating Faller’s 65th birthday in a bar on the eighteenth floor of a harbourside hotel. The hostage takers are well-organised and determined, there is no easy way out, but it is hard for a bunch of law enforcement professionals to sit around and watch a crime being played out. I was immediately on the edge of my seat, wondering what they would do and fearful for them all, a situation mirrored by Chastity herself. The tensions between her colleagues that have been building over the previous books, largely due to Chastity’s complicated relationships with each of them, transfer themselves to their current situation, and we can see how these relationships are thrown into sharp relief by the stressful, knife-edge situation in which they find themselves.
One person missing from the room is Stepanovic, late to the party due to a reluctance to put himself in a position of having to see Chastity in a social setting with two of her ex (or not so ex) lovers. The woman drives him crazy, he is trying to convince himself to forget her. However, as we see Stepanovic’s increasingly desperate concern for Riley manifesting in insubordination, aggression and crazy rescue plans, we can glean directly from his first person reaction to her plight his realisation just what she means to him, exactly as he reaches those conclusions himself.
Layered in amongst the present unfolding of the hostage situation through Chastity’s eyes, we are also given information on the hostage takers and how this whole mess came about through a series of historical flashbacks. Far from taking away from the tension, understanding why what is happening is happening adds to the angst, because it becomes less and less clear who are the good and bad guys in this scenario. Throwing these shades of grey into the equation, exploring the nature of choice and necessity in the descent into a criminal life, and the motivations behind revenge and retribution stir the pot so that, when the inevitable reckoning comes in the now, the line between who to blame and who to pity becomes blurred.
During the course of events, Chastity is injured and becomes unwell and delirious, unsure what is real and what is illusionary, which adds a disjointed and disconnected quality to her observations of the scene. She finds herself in the unfamiliar position of bystander, weakened and helpless, able to do nothing but watch as her colleagues take drastic action. It shows us a different side to Chastity, and I was fully there, trapped in her body, horrified by what I was watching. This powerlessness added to my dismay and heartbreak at the outcome of the incident, a weight which is laying heavy on my chest even now as I write. To be able to write so affectingly, especially in the sharp, snappy, staccato way this author does, is some impressive skill.
This book won’t be like anything you have read before, even if you have read this author or this series. Her ability to continue to evolve, morph, surprise even her biggest fans is what keeps me coming back to her books with child-like excitement and enthusiasm each time. She is never boring, never repetitive, and very, very brave. Aided by a translator who understands her and is with her every step of the way and a publisher who is not afraid to take risks on the extraordinary, who knows where this author can go? Any reader who loves a dark, gritty, hard-boiled novel and prides themselves on stretching themselves in their reading should be taking this ride too.
We start immediately in the action, as Chastity finds herself at the centre of a hostage situation whilst celebrating Faller’s 65th birthday in a bar on the eighteenth floor of a harbourside hotel. The hostage takers are well-organised and determined, there is no easy way out, but it is hard for a bunch of law enforcement professionals to sit around and watch a crime being played out. I was immediately on the edge of my seat, wondering what they would do and fearful for them all, a situation mirrored by Chastity herself. The tensions between her colleagues that have been building over the previous books, largely due to Chastity’s complicated relationships with each of them, transfer themselves to their current situation, and we can see how these relationships are thrown into sharp relief by the stressful, knife-edge situation in which they find themselves.
One person missing from the room is Stepanovic, late to the party due to a reluctance to put himself in a position of having to see Chastity in a social setting with two of her ex (or not so ex) lovers. The woman drives him crazy, he is trying to convince himself to forget her. However, as we see Stepanovic’s increasingly desperate concern for Riley manifesting in insubordination, aggression and crazy rescue plans, we can glean directly from his first person reaction to her plight his realisation just what she means to him, exactly as he reaches those conclusions himself.
Layered in amongst the present unfolding of the hostage situation through Chastity’s eyes, we are also given information on the hostage takers and how this whole mess came about through a series of historical flashbacks. Far from taking away from the tension, understanding why what is happening is happening adds to the angst, because it becomes less and less clear who are the good and bad guys in this scenario. Throwing these shades of grey into the equation, exploring the nature of choice and necessity in the descent into a criminal life, and the motivations behind revenge and retribution stir the pot so that, when the inevitable reckoning comes in the now, the line between who to blame and who to pity becomes blurred.
During the course of events, Chastity is injured and becomes unwell and delirious, unsure what is real and what is illusionary, which adds a disjointed and disconnected quality to her observations of the scene. She finds herself in the unfamiliar position of bystander, weakened and helpless, able to do nothing but watch as her colleagues take drastic action. It shows us a different side to Chastity, and I was fully there, trapped in her body, horrified by what I was watching. This powerlessness added to my dismay and heartbreak at the outcome of the incident, a weight which is laying heavy on my chest even now as I write. To be able to write so affectingly, especially in the sharp, snappy, staccato way this author does, is some impressive skill.
This book won’t be like anything you have read before, even if you have read this author or this series. Her ability to continue to evolve, morph, surprise even her biggest fans is what keeps me coming back to her books with child-like excitement and enthusiasm each time. She is never boring, never repetitive, and very, very brave. Aided by a translator who understands her and is with her every step of the way and a publisher who is not afraid to take risks on the extraordinary, who knows where this author can go? Any reader who loves a dark, gritty, hard-boiled novel and prides themselves on stretching themselves in their reading should be taking this ride too.
October 30, 2021
Public prosecutor Chastity Riley is attending a party that's fizzing with awkward energy; she is surrounded by lovers, past and present but she isn't the only person who has a complicated history within this dysfunctional group of partygoers. They've come together to celebrate Faller's 60th birthday but although their convoluted, damaged relationships establish a stifling tension between them, it doesn't belie the fact that somehow their defective friendships have endured whatever has gone before. However, the already interesting evening becomes even more unsettled when armed men burst into the hotel and take everyone hostage.
Hotel Cartagena can be read as a standalone although I would recommend reading the previous novels if possible. It is the ninth book in Simone Buchholz's Chastity Riley series but only fourth to have been published into English which means that we are constantly learning more about her past. This time, however, Chas' role becomes less central to the storyline which means we get to know more about the other characters, particularly Ivo Stepanovic whose raw, desperate frustration at being outside the hotel becomes almost palpable.
The motivation behind the siege is explained through a series of flashbacks which takes the action out of Hamburg and to the Cartagena of the book's title. As a disaffected young man, Henning's ensnarement within the criminal underworld seems almost inevitable but despite his moral failings, he remains an engaging figure throughout the book. The intricate plotting allows for a intriguing, nuanced exploration of retribution and justice, and in a novel where every character is shaped by their flaws, it's impossible not to feel sympathy for Henning nor to feel moved by his predicament.
Suspenseful and immersive throughout, the intimate first-person narration shared between Chastity and Stepanovic is tremendously effective, allowing the readers to viscerally experience their agitated thought processes and complex emotions. To complicate matters still further, a freak accident has left Chastity slowly succumbing to the toxins that have infiltrated her body, ironically mirroring the uneasy ambience within the increasingly noxious hotel room. The prose here becomes almost frantically hallucinogenic but despite the confusion, is still remarkably revelatory as the story heads towards its dramatic, shocking conclusion.
The friction generated both inside and outside the hotel, past and present packs a surprisingly emotional punch but there is sharply observed humour here too, with the references to Morricone being a particular highlight. One of my favourite aspects of this series is always the chapter titles and they don't fail to delight again - how can you not love a book that features such headings as 'ARE THE NINJA TURTLES ON THEIR WAY?', 'THE WURST IS YET TO COME' or 'COLUMBOISHNESS'?!
As with all the books in this outstanding series, Hotel Cartagena effortlessly exudes the essence of film noir and Rachel Ward's superb translation deserves all the plaudits for capturing the supercharged emotions so perfectly. The sense of place throughout is exemplary, from the grey, damp claustrophobia of Hamburg to the dangerous temptations in Colombia while the acerbic dialogue and perceptive characterisation is tender and honest too. Possibly my favourite in the series so far, Hotel Cartagena is starkly atmospheric and oozing style but achingly poignant and beautifully compelling. Just sublime!
Hotel Cartagena can be read as a standalone although I would recommend reading the previous novels if possible. It is the ninth book in Simone Buchholz's Chastity Riley series but only fourth to have been published into English which means that we are constantly learning more about her past. This time, however, Chas' role becomes less central to the storyline which means we get to know more about the other characters, particularly Ivo Stepanovic whose raw, desperate frustration at being outside the hotel becomes almost palpable.
The motivation behind the siege is explained through a series of flashbacks which takes the action out of Hamburg and to the Cartagena of the book's title. As a disaffected young man, Henning's ensnarement within the criminal underworld seems almost inevitable but despite his moral failings, he remains an engaging figure throughout the book. The intricate plotting allows for a intriguing, nuanced exploration of retribution and justice, and in a novel where every character is shaped by their flaws, it's impossible not to feel sympathy for Henning nor to feel moved by his predicament.
Suspenseful and immersive throughout, the intimate first-person narration shared between Chastity and Stepanovic is tremendously effective, allowing the readers to viscerally experience their agitated thought processes and complex emotions. To complicate matters still further, a freak accident has left Chastity slowly succumbing to the toxins that have infiltrated her body, ironically mirroring the uneasy ambience within the increasingly noxious hotel room. The prose here becomes almost frantically hallucinogenic but despite the confusion, is still remarkably revelatory as the story heads towards its dramatic, shocking conclusion.
The friction generated both inside and outside the hotel, past and present packs a surprisingly emotional punch but there is sharply observed humour here too, with the references to Morricone being a particular highlight. One of my favourite aspects of this series is always the chapter titles and they don't fail to delight again - how can you not love a book that features such headings as 'ARE THE NINJA TURTLES ON THEIR WAY?', 'THE WURST IS YET TO COME' or 'COLUMBOISHNESS'?!
As with all the books in this outstanding series, Hotel Cartagena effortlessly exudes the essence of film noir and Rachel Ward's superb translation deserves all the plaudits for capturing the supercharged emotions so perfectly. The sense of place throughout is exemplary, from the grey, damp claustrophobia of Hamburg to the dangerous temptations in Colombia while the acerbic dialogue and perceptive characterisation is tender and honest too. Possibly my favourite in the series so far, Hotel Cartagena is starkly atmospheric and oozing style but achingly poignant and beautifully compelling. Just sublime!
March 23, 2021
I’ll preface this by stating that I am a big fan of Simone Buchholz’s series of books featuring Hamburg public prosecutor Chastity Riley. This is the fourth of the series to be translated into English and the ninth overall. The novel continues to see further developments in Simon Buchholz’s own story-telling as she departs from the police procedural aspects shown in previous title "Mexico Street."
With Hotel Catagena, Buchholz switches tact from multifaceted investigative fiction to absorbing situational fiction. It shows a writer who is self aware to challenge herself, demonstrate further her superb writing capabilities and steer away from retreading familiar ground. Thankfully this is a very successful transition and makes for a gripping and very different story which further enhances Buchholz’s excellent reputation as a sharp and streetwise narrator with compelling characters.
It is the sixty-fifth birthday of police veteran Faller and he has invited Riley and their friends and colleagues for a celebratory drink. The venue is a twenty floor high bar within the towering Hotel Cartagena with views over the Hamburg docks. As Riley enters she pounders the change of scene from the usual dark drives that they usually frequent feeling guarded. She doesn’t check in her jacket. “That’s like checking a suit of armour in at the cloakroom, you can’t do that, it would leave you defenceless.” Their friends are in attendance except Riley’s closet police colleague Stephanovic. He has purposely allowed himself to get distracted on route out of trepidation of a social setting with Riley and two of her former lovers.
There is an interesting sub plot as we follow the trail of Henning, a young man from the wrong side of the tracks in Hamburg in the 1980s. Grown disillusioned with in the city, he finds himself a cook’s job aboard one of the many cargo ships in the harbour departing for South America. Disembarking in Cartagena, Colombia he starts to settle down to a normal life. We later follow his to the exotic island of Curaçao which is a huge contrast to Hamburg.
Meanwhile back to the present twelve gunmen run into the hotel bar. As the rest of the building is evacuated, Riley and the other patrons are told that they are not in danger. It seems their attention focused at one particular individual. “Hotel Cartagena” varies greatly from the situations that they have found themselves in from previous novels, as they are not able to freely discuss their predicament. Therefore, communication is limited to facial expressions and each knowing the short patience of their colleagues, prays that the others do not do anything to jeopardise all their safety. The primary focus is of course on Riley and we see the situation through her eyes as she tries to build a rapport with the leader of the gang and restrain the trigger happy members of her party. Not is all as it seems with Riley though and as she struggles to maintain her full focus the reader feels a greater level of empathy with her than ever before. Likewise, we have sympathy for Stephanovic who is with the large police presence outside the hotel and desperate to be the hero to save Riley. Without revealing any further details, the story builds to an exciting climax.
“Hotel Cartagena” is a ground breaking addition to the Chastity Riley series. As ever Ward keeps the translation lucid and edgy in a book that you will conflict you to both savour it and devour it as soon as possible. There are some many brilliant elements of this book that I have not even mentioned.
So if you are reading this review and new to Simone Buchholz, you might ask whether it is possible to read this as a standalone novel, or read the three previous titles, I would state that as “Hotel Cartagena” features less dialogue, the relationships between the individual characters is less important. So yes it can be read without any prior experience of the series. Yet I would also strongly recommend that you delve into Chastity Riley’s previous stories as they are so worth reading. Buchholz has surpassed her own high literary standards with “Hotel Cartagena” going from strength to strength as a writer. Given her teasing into the location finds herself in with the closing chapter of the novel, she looks certain to widen her scope in what is expected to be the concluding novel of the series. Rest assured whatever I’ll be in first in line for whatever comes next.
With Hotel Catagena, Buchholz switches tact from multifaceted investigative fiction to absorbing situational fiction. It shows a writer who is self aware to challenge herself, demonstrate further her superb writing capabilities and steer away from retreading familiar ground. Thankfully this is a very successful transition and makes for a gripping and very different story which further enhances Buchholz’s excellent reputation as a sharp and streetwise narrator with compelling characters.
It is the sixty-fifth birthday of police veteran Faller and he has invited Riley and their friends and colleagues for a celebratory drink. The venue is a twenty floor high bar within the towering Hotel Cartagena with views over the Hamburg docks. As Riley enters she pounders the change of scene from the usual dark drives that they usually frequent feeling guarded. She doesn’t check in her jacket. “That’s like checking a suit of armour in at the cloakroom, you can’t do that, it would leave you defenceless.” Their friends are in attendance except Riley’s closet police colleague Stephanovic. He has purposely allowed himself to get distracted on route out of trepidation of a social setting with Riley and two of her former lovers.
There is an interesting sub plot as we follow the trail of Henning, a young man from the wrong side of the tracks in Hamburg in the 1980s. Grown disillusioned with in the city, he finds himself a cook’s job aboard one of the many cargo ships in the harbour departing for South America. Disembarking in Cartagena, Colombia he starts to settle down to a normal life. We later follow his to the exotic island of Curaçao which is a huge contrast to Hamburg.
Meanwhile back to the present twelve gunmen run into the hotel bar. As the rest of the building is evacuated, Riley and the other patrons are told that they are not in danger. It seems their attention focused at one particular individual. “Hotel Cartagena” varies greatly from the situations that they have found themselves in from previous novels, as they are not able to freely discuss their predicament. Therefore, communication is limited to facial expressions and each knowing the short patience of their colleagues, prays that the others do not do anything to jeopardise all their safety. The primary focus is of course on Riley and we see the situation through her eyes as she tries to build a rapport with the leader of the gang and restrain the trigger happy members of her party. Not is all as it seems with Riley though and as she struggles to maintain her full focus the reader feels a greater level of empathy with her than ever before. Likewise, we have sympathy for Stephanovic who is with the large police presence outside the hotel and desperate to be the hero to save Riley. Without revealing any further details, the story builds to an exciting climax.
“Hotel Cartagena” is a ground breaking addition to the Chastity Riley series. As ever Ward keeps the translation lucid and edgy in a book that you will conflict you to both savour it and devour it as soon as possible. There are some many brilliant elements of this book that I have not even mentioned.
So if you are reading this review and new to Simone Buchholz, you might ask whether it is possible to read this as a standalone novel, or read the three previous titles, I would state that as “Hotel Cartagena” features less dialogue, the relationships between the individual characters is less important. So yes it can be read without any prior experience of the series. Yet I would also strongly recommend that you delve into Chastity Riley’s previous stories as they are so worth reading. Buchholz has surpassed her own high literary standards with “Hotel Cartagena” going from strength to strength as a writer. Given her teasing into the location finds herself in with the closing chapter of the novel, she looks certain to widen her scope in what is expected to be the concluding novel of the series. Rest assured whatever I’ll be in first in line for whatever comes next.
March 8, 2021
In Chastity Riley’s latest adventure, our favourite Hamburg detective is not her usual unbending self. At a colleague’s birthday party in plush Hotel Cartagena, her sarcastic streak is sparked off when her former lover orders a piña colada. ‘I jam my left hand into the pineapple, sharp as a dragon’s teeth,’ she says. The pineapple bites back and sepsis sets in, just as men in suits show up with sawn-off shotguns. Injured and vulnerable, Chastity finds herself one of numerous victims of a hostage situation. Gradually, she sinks into agonising delirium, unable to protect herself or others.
‘Among the hostages is Konrad Hoogsmart, the hotel owner, who is being targeted by a young man whose life –and family –have been destroyed by Hoogsmart’s actions. With the police looking on from outside –their colleagues’ lives at stake –and Chastity on the inside, increasingly ill from an unexpected case of sepsis, the stage is set for a dramatic confrontation ... and a devastating outcome for the team ... all live streamed in a terrifying bid for revenge.’
In a neat twist, police officers become the accidental victims of villain on villain crime. Among a random group of captives held in the hotel’s 20th floor bar are Chastity and her close colleagues and friends. Some of them are also her lovers, past and present. Together they form a socially complex, emotionally involved team. Everyone knows everyone else’s weaknesses. Hotel Cartagena stands alone, due to its riveting plot and the startlingly original writing style Buchholz uses to interpret her protagonist’s mental state. However, it is an advantage to have read the first three books in the English translation Chastity Riley series.
Chastity has reached a point in her personal and professional life where she has too much negative history, too many scores to settle and too few different and exciting experiences ahead of her. She has become so inward-looking that the prospect of going to a new and fashionable venue, instead of the low-life dives where her co-workers usually gather, confuses and repels her. When her descent into delirium begins the effect is cathartic. Toxic memories are dredged from the depths of her consciousness and spewed out in the form of lyrical prose.
While Chastity chronicles dramatic events in the bar and the frightening progress of her sepsis in first person, a parallel third person narrative recounts the history of a drug empire with its roots in Cartagena, Columbia. There is a sense of inevitability, as social outsiders are manipulated and lose control of their destinies. The ‘before’ and ‘now’ are linked by short chapters with quirky titles, recording the rise of the drug lords, from 1984 to the present. There is a strong contrast between the style and pace of the two narratives. When the connection between them becomes clear during the exciting conclusion, the reader senses that rough justice has been done.
Chastity’s delirium is conveyed by a fascinating stream of consciousness monologue. Readers will enjoy picking over her deepest thoughts, which gradually expand from her own circle of friends to the other, unknown hostages. While her condition worsens, the repetition of musical phrases gives a poetic rhythm to her speech. Meanwhile, the developing plot proves there is wisdom in her apparently random observations, such as ‘Nobody ever got rich by being a good man.’
Rachel Ward’s sensitive translation expertly supports Buchholz’s adventurous prose. The cover design by Mark Swan gives an initial impression of glamour and sparkle, but a brilliant visual pun hints at the darker side of Hotel Cartagena.
‘Among the hostages is Konrad Hoogsmart, the hotel owner, who is being targeted by a young man whose life –and family –have been destroyed by Hoogsmart’s actions. With the police looking on from outside –their colleagues’ lives at stake –and Chastity on the inside, increasingly ill from an unexpected case of sepsis, the stage is set for a dramatic confrontation ... and a devastating outcome for the team ... all live streamed in a terrifying bid for revenge.’
In a neat twist, police officers become the accidental victims of villain on villain crime. Among a random group of captives held in the hotel’s 20th floor bar are Chastity and her close colleagues and friends. Some of them are also her lovers, past and present. Together they form a socially complex, emotionally involved team. Everyone knows everyone else’s weaknesses. Hotel Cartagena stands alone, due to its riveting plot and the startlingly original writing style Buchholz uses to interpret her protagonist’s mental state. However, it is an advantage to have read the first three books in the English translation Chastity Riley series.
Chastity has reached a point in her personal and professional life where she has too much negative history, too many scores to settle and too few different and exciting experiences ahead of her. She has become so inward-looking that the prospect of going to a new and fashionable venue, instead of the low-life dives where her co-workers usually gather, confuses and repels her. When her descent into delirium begins the effect is cathartic. Toxic memories are dredged from the depths of her consciousness and spewed out in the form of lyrical prose.
While Chastity chronicles dramatic events in the bar and the frightening progress of her sepsis in first person, a parallel third person narrative recounts the history of a drug empire with its roots in Cartagena, Columbia. There is a sense of inevitability, as social outsiders are manipulated and lose control of their destinies. The ‘before’ and ‘now’ are linked by short chapters with quirky titles, recording the rise of the drug lords, from 1984 to the present. There is a strong contrast between the style and pace of the two narratives. When the connection between them becomes clear during the exciting conclusion, the reader senses that rough justice has been done.
Chastity’s delirium is conveyed by a fascinating stream of consciousness monologue. Readers will enjoy picking over her deepest thoughts, which gradually expand from her own circle of friends to the other, unknown hostages. While her condition worsens, the repetition of musical phrases gives a poetic rhythm to her speech. Meanwhile, the developing plot proves there is wisdom in her apparently random observations, such as ‘Nobody ever got rich by being a good man.’
Rachel Ward’s sensitive translation expertly supports Buchholz’s adventurous prose. The cover design by Mark Swan gives an initial impression of glamour and sparkle, but a brilliant visual pun hints at the darker side of Hotel Cartagena.
January 8, 2021
This review also appears on my blog at: https://livemanylives.wordpress.com/
Chastity Riley courses through my veins like dark liquor, warming my blood without cleansing it, but that’s okay. You don’t come to Riley to be saved, she’s got enough going on herself to make that an unfair demand, but there is a strange peace to be found even in the midst of the struggle. It’s not hard to see why Ivo, Inceman and Klatsche find her so beguiling. Her honesty is both refreshing and brutal, her insight stark and truthful.
Hotel Cartagena is a little different to the previous novels in that there is no crime to be investigated, instead it is being experienced. Most of the usual crowd are gathered to celebrate Faller’s birthday. They meet in the 20th floor bar of a hotel and just as the party threatens to get started it is interrupted by a heavily armed gang with revenge on their minds. Stepanovic is on the outside, late to the party due to a half dressed distraction, while the others watch events unfold at close quarters trying to interpret what is playing out before them.
The different scenario focuses the dynamic on the group and their interdependencies, alongside a series of flashbacks that explain why this hostage situation has come about and who the target is. It is a compelling mix as, just like Riley herself, you find yourself sympathising with the hostage takers and the turns their lives have taken, and you are also drawn more deeply into this messy, dysfunctional, magnificent group of people fuelled by an emotionally complex love for each other that is earthy, guttural, visceral, authentic and enthralling.
This is the power of the series for me. The writing is reminiscent of the American precinct of Ed McBain, caustic and stripped back, but the characters of Buchholz’s creation grip me with a fierce intensity. This is the fourth in the English translation series from Orenda Books and each one can be read in a day’s sitting, such is the pace and concision of the story-telling, but I yearn for the presence of this misfit group, to feel the ferocity of their friendships. There is nothing cosy or coy about the relationships in Buchholz’s novels, no one pretends to be something else just to smooth the ride. They burn for each other in a way that lights and warms and hurts.
Riley is so mesmerising because she does not bend. She is fundamentally who she is and that is so rare to experience that it is utterly captivating and beautiful. She is alive to the full spectrum of human emotion and without the sterility of judgment. Their friendships are so real that they hurt, there is no pretence amongst them, I love that and it feels so rare and precious. It makes me want to be with them.
If I can inspire you to read one series of novels in 2021 let it be Chastity Riley.
Chastity Riley courses through my veins like dark liquor, warming my blood without cleansing it, but that’s okay. You don’t come to Riley to be saved, she’s got enough going on herself to make that an unfair demand, but there is a strange peace to be found even in the midst of the struggle. It’s not hard to see why Ivo, Inceman and Klatsche find her so beguiling. Her honesty is both refreshing and brutal, her insight stark and truthful.
Hotel Cartagena is a little different to the previous novels in that there is no crime to be investigated, instead it is being experienced. Most of the usual crowd are gathered to celebrate Faller’s birthday. They meet in the 20th floor bar of a hotel and just as the party threatens to get started it is interrupted by a heavily armed gang with revenge on their minds. Stepanovic is on the outside, late to the party due to a half dressed distraction, while the others watch events unfold at close quarters trying to interpret what is playing out before them.
The different scenario focuses the dynamic on the group and their interdependencies, alongside a series of flashbacks that explain why this hostage situation has come about and who the target is. It is a compelling mix as, just like Riley herself, you find yourself sympathising with the hostage takers and the turns their lives have taken, and you are also drawn more deeply into this messy, dysfunctional, magnificent group of people fuelled by an emotionally complex love for each other that is earthy, guttural, visceral, authentic and enthralling.
This is the power of the series for me. The writing is reminiscent of the American precinct of Ed McBain, caustic and stripped back, but the characters of Buchholz’s creation grip me with a fierce intensity. This is the fourth in the English translation series from Orenda Books and each one can be read in a day’s sitting, such is the pace and concision of the story-telling, but I yearn for the presence of this misfit group, to feel the ferocity of their friendships. There is nothing cosy or coy about the relationships in Buchholz’s novels, no one pretends to be something else just to smooth the ride. They burn for each other in a way that lights and warms and hurts.
Riley is so mesmerising because she does not bend. She is fundamentally who she is and that is so rare to experience that it is utterly captivating and beautiful. She is alive to the full spectrum of human emotion and without the sterility of judgment. Their friendships are so real that they hurt, there is no pretence amongst them, I love that and it feels so rare and precious. It makes me want to be with them.
If I can inspire you to read one series of novels in 2021 let it be Chastity Riley.
March 26, 2021
The first thing that strikes me about Hotel Cartagena, within the first four pages, is Buchholz's writing style - sharp, edgy, taut. Very nearly classic hard-boiled, but with a modern twist. Not a word wasted, not an opportunity for forward momentum missed. Huge credit to translator Rachel Ward for her handling of this, it's riveting to read. It eases slightly as we get further into the novel, but it's crisp and crackling all the way through to the end.
The opening chapters are brief and explosive: Stepanovic, a cop, is avoiding a birthday party in a fancy hotel bar. A group of men in a warehouse go through their plan one last time. Then we switch to first person as public prosecutor Chastity Riley joins the birthday party in the fancy hotel bar.
As she looks around the group of cops, former readers are reminded of and new readers briefly introduced to who is who and what is what. Then as Chastity gouges her hand on an extravagant piece of pineapple in someone else's cocktail, shots are fired. Yikes.
But turn the page and we've skipped back a couple of decades to be with a chap called Henning, who is escaping his dreary life in Hamburg on a ship to Cartagena, where he can make a serious amount of money if he deals in certain ways with certain people.
We slip between the bar tonight where the clientele and staff are held hostage and various points looking back at Henning's life, and gradually a picture builds, and eventually that picture comes into focus. The tension is slowly ratcheted up in both so there is no respite.
Stepanovic, who should be back in the police station incident centre, instead gets himself assigned to join the negotiating team when they arrive at the hotel. He's come to realise what matters, which is a powerful driving force. Up in the bar, the atmosphere is becoming more claustrophobic by the moment. Meanwhile, Chastity's cut thumb is rapidly turning septic, sparking peculiar hallucinations which add to the unsettling feeling of the rest of the action.
Finally, then and now connect, the target is revealed and the why is laid out in full...
Hotel Cartagena is no straightforward thriller or police procedural. It's about people getting in above their heads and not realising until it's too late that they're trapped. It's about consequences of bad decisions and well-intentioned actions, and about the fact sometimes things don't end as you think they should. And it's about the complexities of relationships and emotions. There is fallout to come from these impacts, I am sure of it.
There is so much to enjoy here, but I must warn you: Do not start reading this novel at bedtime unless you can have an undisturbed lie-in the next morning, because you are going to want to swallow it down greedily all in one sitting, no question.
The opening chapters are brief and explosive: Stepanovic, a cop, is avoiding a birthday party in a fancy hotel bar. A group of men in a warehouse go through their plan one last time. Then we switch to first person as public prosecutor Chastity Riley joins the birthday party in the fancy hotel bar.
As she looks around the group of cops, former readers are reminded of and new readers briefly introduced to who is who and what is what. Then as Chastity gouges her hand on an extravagant piece of pineapple in someone else's cocktail, shots are fired. Yikes.
But turn the page and we've skipped back a couple of decades to be with a chap called Henning, who is escaping his dreary life in Hamburg on a ship to Cartagena, where he can make a serious amount of money if he deals in certain ways with certain people.
We slip between the bar tonight where the clientele and staff are held hostage and various points looking back at Henning's life, and gradually a picture builds, and eventually that picture comes into focus. The tension is slowly ratcheted up in both so there is no respite.
Stepanovic, who should be back in the police station incident centre, instead gets himself assigned to join the negotiating team when they arrive at the hotel. He's come to realise what matters, which is a powerful driving force. Up in the bar, the atmosphere is becoming more claustrophobic by the moment. Meanwhile, Chastity's cut thumb is rapidly turning septic, sparking peculiar hallucinations which add to the unsettling feeling of the rest of the action.
Finally, then and now connect, the target is revealed and the why is laid out in full...
Hotel Cartagena is no straightforward thriller or police procedural. It's about people getting in above their heads and not realising until it's too late that they're trapped. It's about consequences of bad decisions and well-intentioned actions, and about the fact sometimes things don't end as you think they should. And it's about the complexities of relationships and emotions. There is fallout to come from these impacts, I am sure of it.
There is so much to enjoy here, but I must warn you: Do not start reading this novel at bedtime unless you can have an undisturbed lie-in the next morning, because you are going to want to swallow it down greedily all in one sitting, no question.
March 26, 2021
It is a whole year since we last met Chastity Riley, when Hamburg was on fire in the last novel, Mexico Street. It is always great to meet up with Riley again, Simone Buchholz has created one of my all-time favourite female characters. We see so many sides to this feisty, brave, outspoken woman. This series is an utter joy to read.
The author takes her readers on a different journey in Hotel Cartagena, whilst the plotting is clever and wonderfully structured, this is more of a look at Chastity's inner thoughts. With very little dialogue for the main part, we are treated to her observations, of what is happening and of those involved.
Chastity and her police colleagues are celebrating a birthday in the bar of Hotel Cartagena. Twenty stories up, this is a bar where the beautiful people usually congregate as they socialise whilst looking out onto the Hamburg harbour. What begins as a regular celebration, albeit somewhat awkward for Chastity, as she has quite intimate knowledge of more than one of her companions, soon turns into a night of terror. Twelve armed, masked men burst into the bar, and suddenly there's a hostage situation.
Buchholz cleverly interweaves the back story of the hostage takers, with flash backs to the life of a man who has experienced nothing but pain and trouble in his relatively short life. As the reader learns more about the motives for the situation, our loyalties begin to shift. Same for Chastity, she cannot help but be a little attracted to the number one hostage taker, and her contempt for their main target is quite obvious.
This is a relatively short novel that packs a massive punch. Along with the tension of the hostage situation, there's some dry and quite fabulous humour, and as Chastity's own discomfort rises, so does that of the reader. It's really really clever stuff this. It is utterly compelling throughout.
Once again Simone Buchholz, ably assisted by the excellent translation from Rachel Ward puts on quite a performance. This is a top-notch, supremely plotted thriller with characters who leap from the page. This starts with a steady pace, with some long and descriptive musings from Chastity and then becomes faster and faster until the prose is staccato, and so sharp that my heart was pounding.
Addictive, extremely hard to put down. Another fabulous chapter in what has become a favourite series of mine. Highly recommended.
The author takes her readers on a different journey in Hotel Cartagena, whilst the plotting is clever and wonderfully structured, this is more of a look at Chastity's inner thoughts. With very little dialogue for the main part, we are treated to her observations, of what is happening and of those involved.
Chastity and her police colleagues are celebrating a birthday in the bar of Hotel Cartagena. Twenty stories up, this is a bar where the beautiful people usually congregate as they socialise whilst looking out onto the Hamburg harbour. What begins as a regular celebration, albeit somewhat awkward for Chastity, as she has quite intimate knowledge of more than one of her companions, soon turns into a night of terror. Twelve armed, masked men burst into the bar, and suddenly there's a hostage situation.
Buchholz cleverly interweaves the back story of the hostage takers, with flash backs to the life of a man who has experienced nothing but pain and trouble in his relatively short life. As the reader learns more about the motives for the situation, our loyalties begin to shift. Same for Chastity, she cannot help but be a little attracted to the number one hostage taker, and her contempt for their main target is quite obvious.
This is a relatively short novel that packs a massive punch. Along with the tension of the hostage situation, there's some dry and quite fabulous humour, and as Chastity's own discomfort rises, so does that of the reader. It's really really clever stuff this. It is utterly compelling throughout.
Once again Simone Buchholz, ably assisted by the excellent translation from Rachel Ward puts on quite a performance. This is a top-notch, supremely plotted thriller with characters who leap from the page. This starts with a steady pace, with some long and descriptive musings from Chastity and then becomes faster and faster until the prose is staccato, and so sharp that my heart was pounding.
Addictive, extremely hard to put down. Another fabulous chapter in what has become a favourite series of mine. Highly recommended.
April 27, 2021
Each writer has a distinctive style of writing, around which they create stories with distinct vibes. Simone Buchholz peppers her story with bold strong sentences, that suite the story that is centred around the streetwise and flawed Chastity Riley. Very cleverly she creates layers of tension and mounting pressure within the reader by reducing the narrative to short snappy sentences, almost poetic looking text, that creates a breathless sense of urgency and the narrative fizzles as a result.
Chasity is the perfect heroine for this tale, not your typical heroine, hers a deeply troubled life, with a history of failed relationships, which makes her feel unconventional and rebellious. You can believe that she would land herself in this situation because trouble seems to follow her around and she is able to watch events as they swirl around her, her illness makes her feel detached from the ebb and flow of events. This adds depth to the story, it becomes a more assemble piece, which her colleagues doing all they can to bring a dangerous situation to an end and bring her to safety. As a reader I spent more time worrying about her than anyone else, because she is such a central character and anything happening to her would be a huge emotional blow and the writer plays on that, by ramping up the tension and teasing the reader, will she survive? Obviously you will have to read the book to find out? I felt on edge at all times, wondering, worrying and it felt that a real connection was made with the story, because of the writing made me believe that all the people in the room and those outside and everything to play for.
Many novelists would have chosen to concentrate on the claustrophobic atmosphere Chasity finds herself in, but this novel works so well because the writer gives us a background that leads to the terrifying events she finds herself in. The story gains depth and as we drift in and out of the present, our anxiety grows, as well realise all that we as readers stand to lose. So many have so much to gain and so little to lose, that you can never turn away from the growing threat of violence. My chest tightened when I fully comprehended that Simone Buchholz was a writer that delighted in putting her character in this situation that toyed with the stress levels of her readers, because in doing that she delivers a novel that you feel and absorb the real peril a much loved character is in.
Chasity is the perfect heroine for this tale, not your typical heroine, hers a deeply troubled life, with a history of failed relationships, which makes her feel unconventional and rebellious. You can believe that she would land herself in this situation because trouble seems to follow her around and she is able to watch events as they swirl around her, her illness makes her feel detached from the ebb and flow of events. This adds depth to the story, it becomes a more assemble piece, which her colleagues doing all they can to bring a dangerous situation to an end and bring her to safety. As a reader I spent more time worrying about her than anyone else, because she is such a central character and anything happening to her would be a huge emotional blow and the writer plays on that, by ramping up the tension and teasing the reader, will she survive? Obviously you will have to read the book to find out? I felt on edge at all times, wondering, worrying and it felt that a real connection was made with the story, because of the writing made me believe that all the people in the room and those outside and everything to play for.
Many novelists would have chosen to concentrate on the claustrophobic atmosphere Chasity finds herself in, but this novel works so well because the writer gives us a background that leads to the terrifying events she finds herself in. The story gains depth and as we drift in and out of the present, our anxiety grows, as well realise all that we as readers stand to lose. So many have so much to gain and so little to lose, that you can never turn away from the growing threat of violence. My chest tightened when I fully comprehended that Simone Buchholz was a writer that delighted in putting her character in this situation that toyed with the stress levels of her readers, because in doing that she delivers a novel that you feel and absorb the real peril a much loved character is in.
March 26, 2021
A hotel bar has been besieged by armed men. Amongst the hostages are a prosecutor, a retired officer, and a handful of active police.
Outside, their colleagues wait, hopeful they can put things to an end calmly and without losing some of their own people.
Inside, things are becoming increasingly tense.
Well, I didn't actually realize until today that Hotel Cartagena is actually the ninth book in a series. Huh! Fortunately, this latest from Simone Buchholz can be read easily on its own or as an introduction to the series as a whole.
We begin with a few short chapters that set the tone for the book, if not the scene. These short, clippy chapters don't immediately make it clear what's going on, but we do soon learn that the plot is one of revenge. And while Chastity Riley is our narrator, she isn't so much the focus of the book. Instead, we're taken back to the eighties where we meet a German named Henning.
Henning makes a life for himself in a not so legal venture and eventually lands in hot water. And he knows exactly who's to blame for his situation. His is a story that plays out through decades, leading to this one fateful night.
Buchholz and her work are new to me. Her style is pretty unique, if this book is any indication, influenced no doubt by classic noir detective novels and movies. Translated from German by Rachel Ward, who has surely captured Buchholz's aesthetic wonderfully!
Hotel Cartagena is a fast paced, frenzied crime fiction that bounces from Germany to Colombia and back again. The plot moves back and forth between Chastity and Henning. Ultimately, though, it's Henning who takes the lead. Which again makes this one a great one to start with if, like me, you're new to Buchholz.
If you do want to start from the beginning, though, there are only a handful translated into English so far. They are, in order:
Blue Night
Beton Rouge
Mexico Street
Hotel Cartagena
Outside, their colleagues wait, hopeful they can put things to an end calmly and without losing some of their own people.
Inside, things are becoming increasingly tense.
Well, I didn't actually realize until today that Hotel Cartagena is actually the ninth book in a series. Huh! Fortunately, this latest from Simone Buchholz can be read easily on its own or as an introduction to the series as a whole.
We begin with a few short chapters that set the tone for the book, if not the scene. These short, clippy chapters don't immediately make it clear what's going on, but we do soon learn that the plot is one of revenge. And while Chastity Riley is our narrator, she isn't so much the focus of the book. Instead, we're taken back to the eighties where we meet a German named Henning.
Henning makes a life for himself in a not so legal venture and eventually lands in hot water. And he knows exactly who's to blame for his situation. His is a story that plays out through decades, leading to this one fateful night.
Buchholz and her work are new to me. Her style is pretty unique, if this book is any indication, influenced no doubt by classic noir detective novels and movies. Translated from German by Rachel Ward, who has surely captured Buchholz's aesthetic wonderfully!
Hotel Cartagena is a fast paced, frenzied crime fiction that bounces from Germany to Colombia and back again. The plot moves back and forth between Chastity and Henning. Ultimately, though, it's Henning who takes the lead. Which again makes this one a great one to start with if, like me, you're new to Buchholz.
If you do want to start from the beginning, though, there are only a handful translated into English so far. They are, in order:
Blue Night
Beton Rouge
Mexico Street
Hotel Cartagena
March 24, 2022
Henning is a young man whose life is drifting and he leaves Hamburg on a freighter to work his passage. He stops off in Cartagena, Columbia, and works in a beach bar. His life improves when he sets up the local drugs cartel with contacts back home. He eventually is given a bar to run as his own. However, all good things must come to an end.
It is Faller’s 65th birthday and he decides to hold his party in a spectacular 20th floor hotel bar overlooking Hamburg dockland. The friends comprise mainly police officers or former police officers and the public prosecutor Chastity Riley. There are some other customers in the bar including the hotel’s owner Konrad Hoogsmart. Their enjoyment of the evening is interrupted by 12 armed men who hold them hostage.
The structure of the novel is unusual mixing up mainly short chapters with longer ones. The longer ones which cover Henning’s life in Columbia and activities within the bar slow the pace down and almost give a sense of time dragging. Counterpoint to these are the short chapters, some as short as a sentence or two speed the reader up with a sense of urgency.
Chastity Riley is our Heroine and what a character she is. Independent, intelligent, sassy and strong, a woman taking on men in a tough profession and succeeding. Chastity by name but not chaste by nature, even managing to flirt with the chief kidnapper, she has a modern and liberal attitude to sex and relationships.
The author has a very distinct and individual style of writing which brings a refreshingly different slant to standard noir. This is smart, carefully crafted and condensed to produce a real punchy package of a novel.
It is Faller’s 65th birthday and he decides to hold his party in a spectacular 20th floor hotel bar overlooking Hamburg dockland. The friends comprise mainly police officers or former police officers and the public prosecutor Chastity Riley. There are some other customers in the bar including the hotel’s owner Konrad Hoogsmart. Their enjoyment of the evening is interrupted by 12 armed men who hold them hostage.
The structure of the novel is unusual mixing up mainly short chapters with longer ones. The longer ones which cover Henning’s life in Columbia and activities within the bar slow the pace down and almost give a sense of time dragging. Counterpoint to these are the short chapters, some as short as a sentence or two speed the reader up with a sense of urgency.
Chastity Riley is our Heroine and what a character she is. Independent, intelligent, sassy and strong, a woman taking on men in a tough profession and succeeding. Chastity by name but not chaste by nature, even managing to flirt with the chief kidnapper, she has a modern and liberal attitude to sex and relationships.
The author has a very distinct and individual style of writing which brings a refreshingly different slant to standard noir. This is smart, carefully crafted and condensed to produce a real punchy package of a novel.
April 4, 2021
Well, this one is certainly something different!
I've been following the Chastity Riley stories from the beginning and thought I knew what to expect, but in this fourth episode Buchholz shakes things up somewhat. In fact she throws all the rules out of the window - the window being that of a 20th storey hotel bar above the Hamburg docks. That's where Riley has come with her collection of damaged friends and colleagues to celebrate Faller's birthday. Yes, it's an office party (of sorts) for Hamburg's CID and their hangers on, and as you will expect if you think about that for a moment, it turns out not to be an ordinary party AT ALL.
The gang's all here - introduced one by one: Faller, Brückner, Calabretta, Klatsche, Carla, Rocco, Stanislawski, Riley herself of course - with their placing carefully spelled out. Even before anything else happens, Riley notes the tensions and suggests that 'we have a situation'.
And then, hostage takers storm the bar...
This is therefore in many respects a very different book from the previous ones in the series, which all follow the patten of a criminal investigation - but also, very similar, in that the same people are present (except for one), the atmosphere - a kind of exhausted noir - is the same, and the ultimate motivation for what happens is rooted in the same criminal underworld.
We get the familiar punchy, irony-laden chapters narrating both events in the bar (from Riley's point of view - 'I'm just the rather confusing type of woman') and, going back several decades, the life of a man - Henning, later Henk - who is intimately related to what happens. His is a compelling life history, even though told in miniature (this is a short book and Henning is only part of it). Buchholz gives us, in a relatively small space, a deep feeling for this man who, on a whim, hopped on a ship and worked his passage to South America (you can still do that?), found a home, fell in love... and suffered unimaginably.
It's also a heist, because what happened to Henk underlies a complex, carefully planned operation in the attack on the hotel bar. We see this unfold, and some of the planning and preparation, at the same time as the police response and the dramatic endgame. One of the crew is missing from the bar: Stepanovic got distracted by a pretty face on his way to the party, so ends up shivering in a tent in the street, playing at being a hostage negotiator (it gives him an in, at least). Personal life and police work come into conflict as the various men with whom Riley is, or has been, involved (again, 'I'm just the rather confusing type of woman') endure the waiting, trying to work some angle with kidnappers or authorities).
And all the time, the clock is ticking.
We've seen all these characters before, generally in Carla and Rocco's bar. They are free spirits who have come and gone through the pages of Buchholz's stories. Now she has, rather cruelly, constrained them. It's almost a laboratory experiment, a test of how all the distinct personalities we've come to know and, yes I'll say it, love, will change under extreme conditions.
But Hotel Cartagena is much more than that. As I've said, Henning/ Henk's story is compelling and his development as a person is riveting and all to credible. The previous books sketched the Hamburg underworld for us as a pretty dark, dangerous place but Hotel Cartagena makes it seem like a kindergarten, compared with the more elementary, more ruthless world that Henk stumbles into.
As ever, Rachel Ward's translation here is sharp, lucid and colloquial. Some chapters verge on poetry, rendered in terse, rapt lines. In other places we get dreadful puns ('The Wurst is yet to Come' - literally true for one character). Always, the deadpan tone of Riley's internal monologue, the dry wonder at how bad things can get, is maintained, the effect building through the book until a final, unexpected climax that knocked me right off balance.
There's a change of pace, a rising of the stakes, in Hotel Cartagena, compared with its predecessors which makes it - and I would have thought this next to impossible - even better than they were, even tenser, even darker. At the same time I think there is also a sense that under the pressure, some block in Riley, something which has trapped her in her familiar sardonic circles, has shifted and she may be on the move. To what effect, we'll have to wait and see in future books - which I'm now very impatient for!
If you haven't been reading this series (in which case I envy you about to discover it all for the first time!) Hotel Cartagena would be a good place to begin, giving a taste of the mood and tone - and the characters - without being spoilery about earlier events.
I've been following the Chastity Riley stories from the beginning and thought I knew what to expect, but in this fourth episode Buchholz shakes things up somewhat. In fact she throws all the rules out of the window - the window being that of a 20th storey hotel bar above the Hamburg docks. That's where Riley has come with her collection of damaged friends and colleagues to celebrate Faller's birthday. Yes, it's an office party (of sorts) for Hamburg's CID and their hangers on, and as you will expect if you think about that for a moment, it turns out not to be an ordinary party AT ALL.
The gang's all here - introduced one by one: Faller, Brückner, Calabretta, Klatsche, Carla, Rocco, Stanislawski, Riley herself of course - with their placing carefully spelled out. Even before anything else happens, Riley notes the tensions and suggests that 'we have a situation'.
And then, hostage takers storm the bar...
This is therefore in many respects a very different book from the previous ones in the series, which all follow the patten of a criminal investigation - but also, very similar, in that the same people are present (except for one), the atmosphere - a kind of exhausted noir - is the same, and the ultimate motivation for what happens is rooted in the same criminal underworld.
We get the familiar punchy, irony-laden chapters narrating both events in the bar (from Riley's point of view - 'I'm just the rather confusing type of woman') and, going back several decades, the life of a man - Henning, later Henk - who is intimately related to what happens. His is a compelling life history, even though told in miniature (this is a short book and Henning is only part of it). Buchholz gives us, in a relatively small space, a deep feeling for this man who, on a whim, hopped on a ship and worked his passage to South America (you can still do that?), found a home, fell in love... and suffered unimaginably.
It's also a heist, because what happened to Henk underlies a complex, carefully planned operation in the attack on the hotel bar. We see this unfold, and some of the planning and preparation, at the same time as the police response and the dramatic endgame. One of the crew is missing from the bar: Stepanovic got distracted by a pretty face on his way to the party, so ends up shivering in a tent in the street, playing at being a hostage negotiator (it gives him an in, at least). Personal life and police work come into conflict as the various men with whom Riley is, or has been, involved (again, 'I'm just the rather confusing type of woman') endure the waiting, trying to work some angle with kidnappers or authorities).
And all the time, the clock is ticking.
We've seen all these characters before, generally in Carla and Rocco's bar. They are free spirits who have come and gone through the pages of Buchholz's stories. Now she has, rather cruelly, constrained them. It's almost a laboratory experiment, a test of how all the distinct personalities we've come to know and, yes I'll say it, love, will change under extreme conditions.
But Hotel Cartagena is much more than that. As I've said, Henning/ Henk's story is compelling and his development as a person is riveting and all to credible. The previous books sketched the Hamburg underworld for us as a pretty dark, dangerous place but Hotel Cartagena makes it seem like a kindergarten, compared with the more elementary, more ruthless world that Henk stumbles into.
As ever, Rachel Ward's translation here is sharp, lucid and colloquial. Some chapters verge on poetry, rendered in terse, rapt lines. In other places we get dreadful puns ('The Wurst is yet to Come' - literally true for one character). Always, the deadpan tone of Riley's internal monologue, the dry wonder at how bad things can get, is maintained, the effect building through the book until a final, unexpected climax that knocked me right off balance.
There's a change of pace, a rising of the stakes, in Hotel Cartagena, compared with its predecessors which makes it - and I would have thought this next to impossible - even better than they were, even tenser, even darker. At the same time I think there is also a sense that under the pressure, some block in Riley, something which has trapped her in her familiar sardonic circles, has shifted and she may be on the move. To what effect, we'll have to wait and see in future books - which I'm now very impatient for!
If you haven't been reading this series (in which case I envy you about to discover it all for the first time!) Hotel Cartagena would be a good place to begin, giving a taste of the mood and tone - and the characters - without being spoilery about earlier events.
December 16, 2019
Zum 9. Mal unterwegs und wieder gut wie eh und je!
Wenn man eine Rezension zu einem Band aus einer Reihe schreibt, ist es mir immer ein Anliegen die alten Fans abzuholen und die neuen Entdecker, die vielleicht mit den Protagonisten noch nicht vertraut sind und das ohne zu viel zu verraten! Oh ha!
Das Schöne an den Krimis rund um Chastity Riley ist ihre sehr eigene Art, sie ist eine Staatsanwältin mit Hirn und Füßen auf dem Boden der Tatsachen! Ja, ich finde auch, dass der Name für Hamburger Verhältnisse einfacher hätte ausfallen können… aber sonst ist ja alles perfekt!
Simone Buchholz ist eine Klasse für sich. Sie schreibt einfach gut – schnodderig und zugleich mit Niveau! Wie geht das? Ganz einfach, die Fälle sind gut und es ist kein Hamburger CSI, nein, eher verwegene und interessante Gespräche mit Zigaretten und Alkohol, die ans Ziel führen.
Und hier ein Einschub für die alten Hasen: Nicht wundern, denn dieser Fall ist etwas anders gestaltet als die Vorgänger! Macht aber nichts, der Lesespaß ist trotzdem gegeben.
Nun zu diesem 9. Fall, sofort ist man mitten im Geschehen drin. Zu Beginn trifft der Leser auf eine Horde wilder Männer, die böses im Sinn haben, mitten am Hamburger Hafen! Gepaart mit einer anfänglichen Geburtstagsparty (von Faller) auf der Chastity sich zunächst unwohl fühlt, da in einer zu schicken Hotelbar. Und dann passiert es – Maskiere stürmen die Bar und es gibt eine Geiselnahme! Rückblenden in die 80er Jahre bringen Dunkel in dieses Geschehen und auch in Chastitys Vergangenheit.Was hat das alles mit Cartagena zu tun? Lesen! Sonst verrate ich zu viel.
Muss man alle anderen 8 Fälle kennen? Es ist natürlich immer einfacher, aber ich bin überzeugt und ich finde auch, dass man nicht alle vorherigen Chastity Riley-Fälle kennen muss um hier im Text anzukommen. Die Spannung packt auch ohne Vorkenntnisse!
Fazit: Ein Krimi der aus meiner Sicht alles hat was er braucht: Niveau, Charm, Verwegenheit, Action und Spannung. Und natürlich für alle deren Herz für Hamburg brennt!
Wenn man eine Rezension zu einem Band aus einer Reihe schreibt, ist es mir immer ein Anliegen die alten Fans abzuholen und die neuen Entdecker, die vielleicht mit den Protagonisten noch nicht vertraut sind und das ohne zu viel zu verraten! Oh ha!
Das Schöne an den Krimis rund um Chastity Riley ist ihre sehr eigene Art, sie ist eine Staatsanwältin mit Hirn und Füßen auf dem Boden der Tatsachen! Ja, ich finde auch, dass der Name für Hamburger Verhältnisse einfacher hätte ausfallen können… aber sonst ist ja alles perfekt!
Simone Buchholz ist eine Klasse für sich. Sie schreibt einfach gut – schnodderig und zugleich mit Niveau! Wie geht das? Ganz einfach, die Fälle sind gut und es ist kein Hamburger CSI, nein, eher verwegene und interessante Gespräche mit Zigaretten und Alkohol, die ans Ziel führen.
Und hier ein Einschub für die alten Hasen: Nicht wundern, denn dieser Fall ist etwas anders gestaltet als die Vorgänger! Macht aber nichts, der Lesespaß ist trotzdem gegeben.
Nun zu diesem 9. Fall, sofort ist man mitten im Geschehen drin. Zu Beginn trifft der Leser auf eine Horde wilder Männer, die böses im Sinn haben, mitten am Hamburger Hafen! Gepaart mit einer anfänglichen Geburtstagsparty (von Faller) auf der Chastity sich zunächst unwohl fühlt, da in einer zu schicken Hotelbar. Und dann passiert es – Maskiere stürmen die Bar und es gibt eine Geiselnahme! Rückblenden in die 80er Jahre bringen Dunkel in dieses Geschehen und auch in Chastitys Vergangenheit.Was hat das alles mit Cartagena zu tun? Lesen! Sonst verrate ich zu viel.
Muss man alle anderen 8 Fälle kennen? Es ist natürlich immer einfacher, aber ich bin überzeugt und ich finde auch, dass man nicht alle vorherigen Chastity Riley-Fälle kennen muss um hier im Text anzukommen. Die Spannung packt auch ohne Vorkenntnisse!
Fazit: Ein Krimi der aus meiner Sicht alles hat was er braucht: Niveau, Charm, Verwegenheit, Action und Spannung. Und natürlich für alle deren Herz für Hamburg brennt!
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