The Socialite's Guide to Murder - S.K. Golden

 

3 stars

The hotel was her refuge, but scandal is afoot—and a killer stalks the halls in this charming series debut perfect for fans of Rhys Bowen and Ashley Weaver.

It’s 1958 and Evelyn Elizabeth Grace Murphy has not left the Pinnacle Hotel in fourteen months. She suffers from agoraphobia, and what’s more, it’s her father’s hotel, and everything she needs is there. Evelyn’s always been good at finding things, she discovered her mother dead in a Manhattan alleyway fifteen years earlier. Now she’s finding trouble inside her sanctuary. At a party for artist Billie Bell, his newest work is stolen, and Evelyn’s fake boyfriend (and real best friend), movie star Henry Fox, is accused of the theft. But just as Evelyn sets out to prove Henry’s innocence, she finds Billie Bell dead.

The Socialite's Guide to Murder gets advertised as a Poirot-like mystery novel, and me being a fan of everything written by Agatha Christie, I just could not wait to get into reading this murder mystery.

Yet, it turned out to not be as captivating as the Poirot novels, and here is why:

First of all, it is said that it is a adult mystery novel, but to be honest it felt more like a Young Adult book. They way it was written and the characters made it feel like we were talking about teenagers, and not adults. I would have loved that if it was meant to be a YA novel, but it isn't so I thought that was a bit of a mistake.

I had to get used to Evelyn in the first chapter but when I started chapter 2, I was hooked, and wanted to know what was going to happen. I missed the wow-factor though. The whole time while reading I though to myself: there needs to be more.

The characters were something I had mixed feelings about. I did not really know what to think of Evelyn and Henry. Evelyn I did not like at first and I actually started to like her more towards the end, while Henry I liked at first and started to get a bit uncomfortable with in the second half of the book. Mac I absolutely adored throughout the entire novel.

The ending was in this Poirot-like-style, which sounds great, but I think it is something only Agatha Christie can pull off. That made this ending a bit underwhelming. It could have been better described, and it felt very forced.

The last thing I want to say is, that I still enjoyed reading this book, and I would like to read another book about these characters, maybe if I see some growth in their personalities it would be something I enjoyed more.

Publication date: 11 October 2022