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 murder weapon links the crime to the hotel’s chief of security. But why would he use a knife with his initials on the handle? With her beloved home in disarray, Evelyn joins up with hotel employee (and her secret crush) Mac Cooper to get to the bottom of the case.
As Mac picks locks and Evelyn snoops around the hotel, they discover the walls around them contain more secrets than they previously knew. Now, Evelyn must force herself to leave the hotel to follow the clues—but when she and Mac set off to chase a lead, their car crashes and they barely escape with their lives. Someone snipped Evelyn’s brake lines, and now the stakes have become dangerously high.
Evelyn’s knack for sleuthing—and her playful imagination—are always hard at work, and she throws an elaborate party at the hotel where every guest is a suspect. But will the killer emerge from the glamorous lineup? If not, Evelyn just might find herself…next in line for murder.
This is S.K. Golden’s debut novel, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. At first, I didn’t like Evelyn. I didn’t like the way she treated Mac or the way she viewed her world. Snobby, pretentious, self-absorped, and not knowing the value of work. Not qualities I look for in people. Slowly, as the mystery progressed, I liked her more because her personality changed little by little. In the end, she was close to someone that I wouldn’t mind hanging out with. Evelyn really focused in on the mysteries and showed the reader that she had intelligence. I also like how she stood by her employees and her friends. I also think her love for her pup, Presley, is what kept me from really hating her. I mean, seriously? Who hates a dog lover?
The mystery was fine. I guessed the murderer fairly quickly, and would have liked more historical information about the Pinnacle, but overall the flow was very well written. I can’t wait for the next book and hope the Pinnacle is more prominently featured.
Overall I rate this novel 4 out of 5 stars.
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