Murder at the Mayfair Hotel by C.J. Archer
Cleo goes to live with distant relatives at the Mayfair hotel, where she tries to solve a murder of a guest.
Mystery Genre
258 Pages
Published December 1st 2020 by C.J. Archer
ISBN 0648856119
Hardcover (unavailable)
Paperback ($8.99)
eBook (unavailable)
AudioBook ($19.95)
***This book interested me because I tend to like mysteries that are period specific and this author has a history degree!
*Summary with Spoilers*
Cleopatra Fox is an orphaned woman in Victorian London who has been living with her grandparents. Her mother married down and was cut out of the will to Cleo’s knowledge and now that her grandparents have passed on, Cleo will have to go live with relatives from her mother’s side. Relatives that she does not know and who are very rich. They live in a hotel that is actually her uncle’s ancestral home that they have renovated into one of the fanciest hotel rooms that Cleo has ever seen. She seems drawn to the assistant manager of the hotel, but accidently gets him fired when investigating a murder that takes place of a hotel guest the night after she arrives to live in the hotel. The staff at the hotel think that the servant who brought the guest her hot chocolate will be blamed as a means to close the case quickly. Cleo won’t let that happen and agrees to take on the mystery because she is so bored now that she lives in luxury. Cleo ends up finding out that the assistant manager who is the nephew of the manager of the hotel, it also the son of the police detective and was arrested as a young boy for stealing. When she accuses the handsome assistant manager of murder and brings up his past, her uncle is upset that he never knew this about him and was lied to. Thus Harry (the assistant manager is fired), but he doesn’t stay angry with Cleo for long after she apologizes, convinces him to help her find the real culprit AND nearly gets herself killed.
*In My Opinion*
Again, I could not help but compare this historical mystery with the other two that I read for this database (Jane and the Man of the Cloth & The Body in the Garden). I would say that this novel fell in-between the two. While I enjoyed it and I felt that it seemed more authentic than the Jane book had, it was not as fascinating of a puzzle nor as entertaining as the Lily Adler mystery. I also really liked how someone was poisoned in the book and the description of it was real! The victim was found covered in vomit and all sprawled out. YES! I hate when things are too neat and kept, so I appreciated the truth of what a poisoning would be like.
I liked the possible will-they-won’t-they of the relationship between Cleo and Harry. At the end of the novel Harry announces that he will be opening his own detective agency and Cleo reminds him of what a good team they made, so I think there will be more than enough for a future love story, but we will just have to see!
*Rating Received*
The book scored a rating in quality and popularity based on Jennetta’s Book Rating Scale.
Quality Score:
Popularity Score:
*Appeal Factors*
I felt that the language was very authentic and I liked the word usage that the author used. For instance when the main character was trying to say that a guy was looking down her dress, she said that he was fascinated with her décolletage! I had no idea what that word meant and had to look it up! I could guess, but it was fun. The story is fast paced and I think it would interest all the ladies looking for a good historically written mystery series!
*Book Talking Ideas*
Chapter 13, Page 228 – The smoldering eyes part with Harry and the will-they-wont-they moments
*Possible Book Discussion Questions*
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- What would we as women were doing to “busy our minds” if we were living in this time period?
- Did you think that Harry was the murderer like Cleo did?
*Author’s Website and/or Interviews*
*Book Reviews and/or Book Awards*
*Read-a-Likes*
Read-a-likes Include:
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- Body in the Garden by Katherine Schellman
- The Anatomist’s Wife by Anna Lee Huber
- The Deadly Hours by Susanna Kearsley
- House Party Murder Rap by Sonia Parin
- The House of Closed Doors by Jane Steen
*Tags for the Future*
#MayfairHotel
#CleopatraFox
#UncleRonald, #AuntLilian, #Flossy, #Floyd
#HarryArmitage, #SmolderingEyes
#Mr.Hobart, #Mrs.Kettering, #DetectiveHobart
#Décolletage
#Peter, #Harmony, #Danny, #Frank, #Goliath, #Edith