Ivy Nichols is the night clerk at Hotel 1911. The hotel was once her family's home before all the money was lost. Since it was her mother's family and her mother disappeared when she was in Second Grade, Ivy is keeping her relationship to the hotel's former owners to herself. She would like to find out more about the family though since she believes that the mental illnesses that have plagued generations of her relatives had their start there. Ivy herself suffers from anxiety and panic attacks.

Ivy's best friend is the chef at the hotel. When he is accused of negligence for allowing seafood to contaminate the meal of a severely allergic guest who dies, Ivy is determined to clear her friend's name despite knowing nothing about being a detective.

As Ivy looks into the lives and relationships of the hotel guests, she find lots of suspects. The woman's son resents that his mother holds the purse strings and is stopping him from making what he sees as a great investment. Another guest was a school friend of the victim who wants to try to rekindle a relationship with her. Still another guest doesn't want the son's investment idea to be realized since it would totally ruin his plans for an adjacent property. Then there is the organic farmer who supplies vegetables to the hotel who would also be ruined if the son's plans are realized.

This was an interesting mystery with an interesting main character. It was nicely paced and the suspense built through the story.

Out September 8th, Murder at Hotel 1911 is the debut novel for author Andrey Keown. Unfortunately, this book is not set in 1911, which many readers will think, and the story could have benefitted from if it had been. The hotel itself sounds lovely, and having the staff dress in period costume is a fun extra.

Ivy is an unusual character. She is not one hundred percent sure of what she is doing most of the time, she has many issues mental and emotional in her life, and she has secrets that keep her on her toes. She is deceitful with her father, employer, and sometimes her friends, not that she has all that many. She is rude, pushy, and not overly smart but seems to think she is because she can quote Jung. She has the attitude of a teenager going through puberty. The hotel where she works used to be in her family, and why this needs to be kept a secret is never explained. Why she is lying to her father about where she works, her medication, and her therapy aren’t explained either. Overall, Ivy isn’t the type of character readers expect in a cozy or like.

On the other hand, the mystery of Ivy’s past and a current murder keep readers wondering and forces them to finish the book. Other characters were interesting, but more background for these individuals would have made the book enjoyable. The story could have benefitted from a better description of the historic hotel, and those who work there. Background is the main missing piece of this book, and hopefully, this will be rectified in subsequent additions.

Readers were left with no doubt as to whom the murder victim would be, or how the victim would die. Suspects were plentiful, but the perpetrator of the crime was never in doubt. The police are portrayed as bumbling idiots, which is insulting to real investigators everywhere. Many questions were left unanswered, and this made it challenging to like Murder at Hotel 1911. I can only hope that the author will grow along with her characters, and future books in this series will become more engaging and entertaining.

I am sorry to say that I did not enjoy this book as much as I had hoped but I do believe that the author has a good base for future books if she can tweak her characters and make the stories tighter and more believable. I will welcome the chance to visit the Hotel 1911 again.

This book is first in a new series, I’d call it a cozy mystery. I like the quirky characters and their relationships. It ended leaving me wondering more about Ivy’s history and the old family home turned hotel. Will look forward to the follow up.

In Murder at Hotel 1911, the death of a hotel guest from anaphylactic shock causes suspicion to fall on hotel chef George. His friend Ivy Nichols, the hotel's receptionist, knows the damage that this accusation could do to George's career, and so launches an investigation. As Ivy digs deeper into the lives of the different hotel guests, she discovers connections between them, and many potential motives for murder.

Murder at Hotel 1911 is a solid cozy mystery. I like that Ivy has panic attacks -- it's a form of representation I don't often see in cozy mysteries, and it's also a condition that could present a challenge for an amateur detective. I like the way Keown handles this aspect of Ivy. The book talks a bit about Ivy's experiences with therapy and medication, so that you can see her mental health situation is very much a part of her everyday life, but doesn't take over her story completely. Ivy's panic attacks also come into play at key moments, and I thought the author did a good job of putting us in Ivy's shoes without overdramatizing the experience.

I also like the concept of the 1911-themed hotel. I found that charming, and of course, it provided lots of potential for the plot, with secret passages and other such cool architectural features. The big reveal was also a surprise -- I didn't see it coming at all.

My main downside for this book is that I found it too slow. It took me almost a month to finish reading it, and in the second half, I found myself skimming a bit. The investigation meandered, and while I appreciated the representation of Ivy's mental health situation, I also felt that the novel focused too much on her personal life rather than on the mystery. In particular, Ivy's history with the police detective, and Ivy's realization about her mother were interesting, but a bit too drawn out. And while I found Ivy's family connection to the house an interesting character feature, I sometimes felt like the book was more interested in diving into that mystery than in the actual murder. All these details make the book work as the first in a series, to really introduce us to the main character, but they work less well as a standalone.

Cozy mysteries also depend a lot on its characters to draw you into their lives, but while the hotel guests and Ivy's co-workers certainly started out colourful and interesting, their personalities flattened as the story went on. Even the crux of the mystery, which is Ivy's relationship with George, didn't feel strong enough. We know she cares deeply for him, because she goes to great lengths to prove his innocence, and later on, there are hints of a romance developing between them, but I never really felt the heat, of either the romantic tension type of the BFF type. 

Overall, the book isn't bad, it just didn't hook me as I'd hoped it would.

+

Thank you to the publisher for an e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

This story of Ivy Nichols' Mystery is amazing. I didn't knew that it will come up so good and satisfying. The vintage feeling and warmth of these book is one of the things I super love. Can't wait to more on Ivy's mystery world.

Wealthy Amelia Swain and get son Jeffrey book into the Hotel 1911. A hotel that is made to look from the 1911 era.
The chef is informed that she is allergic to shellfish. Soon she is found dead. So the main suspect is the chef, George, but Ivy Nichols, his friend and hotel receptionist knows him to be innocent so she investigates.
The story is told from her point of view and so we get all her thoughts which usually sounds like some teenager not an adult of 28.
For me there was too much about her mental struggles and Jung and not enough of a mystery.
This is a lightweight modern cozy mystery.
The blurb does not indicate that this is story set in modern times, unfortunately, as I find novice investigators revealing the truth before the dumb police irritating.
ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I found it hard to connect to Ivy. The strange thing is, it was because she was the only one that seemed to care that the hotel's chef had not accidentally contaminated the food of a highly allergic hotel guest.

Ivy does a lot of introspection, about her past, her panic attacks, who had means, motive and opportunity to kill Ms Swain. It makes this mystery dark and heavy-handed. Not really my thing, I prefer the lighter cozies, where means, motive and opportunity are discussed with one or several friends.

Interesting theme though, that Ivy tries to find out more about her mother by working at the house that was once owned by her family.

Murder at Hotel 1911 by Audrey Keown is a hotel clerk, prone to panic attacks, who turns amateur detective to solve a murder. 28 year old Ivy Nichols, receptionist at the Hotel 1911, where she was abandoned when she was a small child, informs the chef that one of the guests has a deadly allergy. When the woman drops dead at dinner, the police are quick to blame the chef and a vast mistake. Ivy sets out to save her friend and prove this was a real murder. This was a very good book and the first book by Audrey Keown that I’ve read. The Hotel background was very interesting. There were many suspects and clues yet the book remained a mystery to the end. Thank you to Net Galley for an advanced reader’s copy.

The hotel is easily the best and most impressive part of this story otherwise I feel the book fell flat. Part of the issue was with the main character and how she is portrayed - as I’ve seen others say, it feels like she is a child at times… but nope! She’s an adult. This was a fun mystery, but I really expected more from this story!

This was an okay book. My favorite thing was the house/hotel itself.

Ivy works at a house converted into a hotel that roleplays as though it is still 1911. When one of the guests dies from haven eaten dinner, the chef is blamed and Ivy works to show that the chef didn't include shellfish in the food.

Ivy bored me and she felt flat. All of the character interactions felt flat. The house, with its history and hidden passage ways, is a far more interesting character. If I could, I would have rented a room.

This review is based on an ARC provided by Netgalley for an honest review.

2.5
It’s nice to read a cozy mystery for a little escapism. This one was okay but was missing the humor I enjoy in a cozy. I felt it also had too many characters to really do justice to any one of them.

This was a light mystery with a great cast of characters, and was very atmospheric of the era. It was a great escape for an afternoon.
Many thanks to Crooked Lane Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Ivy works at Hotel 1911 in an old mansion that used to belong to her family. While she is at the front desk, she hears a blood curdling scream where a murder just took place. The author adds in a cast of quirky characters, plus Ivy’s panic attacks and some red herrings, to sweeten the mystery. Well written, and hopefully the first in a series.

Review for 'Murder At Hotel 1911' by Audrey Keown

Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Crooked Lane Books.

This title will be available to purchase on August 11th.

This is the first book that I have read by this author. I am looking forward to reading more of her work.

This book sucked me straight into the storyline from the start and kept me turning pages until the ending. A very interesting crime novel.

A fantastic cosy mystery that I read in a few spaced out hours filled with murder, mystery, red herrings and crime. A true page turner.

THE book is very well written and I found it was very descriptive throughout really putting me in the scene.

THE characters were all very compelling and well rounded as well as (mainly) likeable, realistic and strong. I would love to read more books with these characters in!!

I thought I really had worked out the 'who dunnit' and am very pleased to reveal that I was wrong!! This is always a bonus as it puts me off books where I have already worked out what was going on or who did what.

I recommend this book to fans of crime and murder mysteries.

272 pages

£10.44 to purchase on kindle. I think this is a ridiculous price for any ebook and unfortunately, even though I loved this book, I would never pay that... Hopefully it will come out at a much more reasonable price.

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Great book! With great characters! The author did a good job drawing me into the story from the very first chapter.

A quirky character with a history of panic attacks decides to take a job at a hotel which once was the family home of her ancestors. Hotel 1911 is just that, a period hotel, complete with staff dressed as they would be in 1911. Ivy Nicholas wants to know more about her ancestors especially her mother who went missing long ago, but her father doesn't want to discuss her Morrow relatives. When a guest dies from anaphylactic shock, possibly from an allergic reaction to something she ate, Ivy feels she needs to clear her friend and chef George. Trying to rein in her own insecurities, Ivy stumbles her way through the case bouncing from one suspect to another, until she finds herself in danger. The first in a new series and I am curious as to where this one will go.

Murder at Hotel 1911 is an enjoyable read with likable characters. I found the book to have too much detail, which, in my opinion, was unnecessary and often distracted me. Ivy, the main protagonist, is amiable enough. She’s sweet and directed. The murder(s) are thought provoking but when the murderer comes to light, its anticlimactic. Thank you Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

This isn't a bad book in so far as the plot is good and the characters interesting. A wealth but unpleasant woman is found dead in a period style hotel and the receptionist becomes amateur sleuth the try to.clear her friends nane. However at times it feels a bit too much like a self help psychology book rather than a mystery novel. Far too many references to Carl Jung and his ideology in my opinion.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for this copy in return for my honest review.

The simultaneous occurrences of past and present are alright, The overall story is okay, however I hope there was more mystery in it, one that can make me like curious or think what is going on. But I like it either way. Thank you netgalley and crooked lane books

family-dynamics, friendship, cozy-mystery, mystery, law-enforcement, Chattanooga

Having spent some time there, I find it hard to think of Chattanooga as a small town. Smaller than Cleveland, but really?
I guess it just wasn't something that caught my interest. The was a mystery, but the greatest part of the book was the college age main character struggling with her panic attacks and other personal issues. The victim was easy to figure because she was clearly portrayed as an elderly virago, the police detective was a caricature of a controlling drama queen, the accused was pretty well done but it took forever for any forensic evidence to materialize. The characters were all well drawn and interesting. There were misdirections and red herrings, but all the ramblings of personal angst just seemed to take away from the mystery.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley.