✨This will be a great read for spooky season this year – especially for those who like an eerie suspense novel over outright horror.
✨I love a good isolated setting, and this one was super creepy with its Hitchcock-themed hotel which takes inspiration from Hitchcock’s Psycho house.
✨The cast of characters and the plot kept me guessing, and I was so surprised at the twist! I thought I had it figured out; I did not!

🌿Read if you like:
✨Spooky season reads
✨Isolated settings
✨Locked room mysteries
✨Whodunnits
✨Dark academia
✨Alfred Hitchcock

The Hitchcock Hotel had an interesting premise, but it just did not work for me. I couldn't seem to get fully into it and be fully immersed which caused me to DNF this one.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ebook ARC.

I enjoy watching Alfred Hitchcock’s films and television episodes, so this book immediately caught my attention on the NetGalley website.

Unfortunately, this was a definite DNF for me, because it’s written in present tense.

What a lovely, twisty mystery! I think Hitchcock would have given his nod of approval. It has me guessing until the end.

When a Hitchcock fanatic, invites his five college ex friends to his Hitchcock based hotel. A Hitchcock presents mystery takes place. Will there be a murder at THE HITCHCOCK HOTEL

A hotel that is based on Alfred Hitchcock and a reunion "of sorts" of six friends from college, with the plan of revenge for what happened, what could possibly go wrong?

This book has it all, a little romance, a little cheating and a whole lot of revenge plots. I was literally on the edge of my seat reading this book, with all the twists and turns you will be left guessing till the very last page.

Commence the suspense! A group of individuals are coming together to spend the weekend at the Hitchcock Hotel. What is the worst that could happen? (Insert sinister smile here).

By Chapter 2, numerous subtle hints and foreshadowing have been delivered. I was extremely curious to discover what transpired next.

The writing in this book evokes thoughts of Agatha Christie's writing, is replete with Hitchcock memorabilia, quotations, and references, and is simply marvelous. This makes me so excited for this novel as a great fan of Hitch and classic noir novels and films alike. Around chapter nine there was quite a turning point. A growing number of indications and clues are being unveiled. Local legends are beginning to materialize. Plenty of eerie occurrences are taking place. Undeniably, suspense is mounting.

Just when you thought you knew what was going to happen, someone is no longer with us in the story and it wasn't what I expected at all! From that point forward, I was even more curious about what was to occur. The story's numerous turns and surprises remained consistent with the thriller and suspense genre. Nevertheless, this work (in my opinion) has a minor flaw concerning law enforcement officers at some point. I'd be happy to discuss it someday once the book is published and thoroughly reviewed.

In general, this book was phenomenal. Wrobel has an impressive vocabulary and offers outstanding character development. This is required reading for any admirer of Alfred Hitchcock. As a person in their thirties with an insatiable passion for crime fiction and noir, I value this book in the year 2024 beyond all expression. The author undoubtedly did her research, and after reading this book, I will read ANYTHING she writes. This ARC is greatly appreciated, big thank you to Penguin Random House and NetGalley. I shrieked with joy upon realizing I had obtained this one! Very happy to have been given early access. I admire the Hitchcock quotations, statistics, and small tributes interspersed throughout the pages of this shocking new fiction novel. 

This is a novel that I would read TWICE and probably still discover something new. I think it'd make for a killer movie. Pun intended.

The story was fun and well-paced. However, as with any locked room mystery, there was a certain predictability to the outcome. I think the book is good but not something I'd go out of my way to recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing me with an ARC.

Do you love Alfred Hitchcock?! So does Alfred Smettle, who has created a boutique hotel dedicated to his favorite horror auteur. Sixteen years after graduating, a group of college friends decide to check in at The Hitchcock Hotel to catch up on old times. But not everyone will be checking out alive!

A super fun murder mystery that kept me guessing till the very end. Highest recommendation!

Entertaining locked room mystery for Hitchcock fans! The best part was the little bits of info about the acclaimed director sprinkled throughout the book.

Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the opportunity to review this book, The Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie Wrobel.

I started writing this review while still reading, so it was all fresh in my mind. That being said, I never (or at least almost never) write reviews with spoilers, and I won't start now.

At first, this book had me questioning the sanity of the author, so well done Stephanie- the writing was spectacular and consumed me immediately.
Right away she sets the tone... creepy and suspenseful, while making me both cringe, and curious to see what happens next. I AM the girl that wants the HEA. If something is scaring me or creeping me out, I need to know it gets better. It gets better, right?!
It does. The book was giving me almost an uncertainty and uncomfortableness, and simultaneously just kept getting better... right up until the end!
Although I had correctly guessed whodunit, the twists were nothing I could have imagined myself. I throughly enjoyed this book and recommend it to thriller enthusiasts and mystery readers alike- I easily give this book 5 stars!

Fun, quick easy read! The Hitchcock references were great and the story kept my interest until the end. If you are a Hitchcock fan, then I would reccemmend.

I was hoping this would be more of a creepy read given the setting, but it ended up being more of a locked-room mystery. Which is fine, b/c I shouldn't have assumed. But overall, I found the characters kind of annoying and I didn't particularly care about what happened to them. The mystery and plot were well-plotted and kept me interested in finding out what happened. I will say that I was overall happy with the ending, implausible though it was!

4 stars for the "Hitchcock Hotel" - I've personally had mixed results with author Wrobel, but I did like this one better than her previous which I barely finished. The premise of this one is strong - 6 college "friends" with baggage reunite at an Alfred Hitchcock themed, creepy hotel owned by one of them and one of them will be murdered, of course. I found all six to be rather unlikeable, but the callbacks here to "Psycho" and other old movies were a great hook - the hotel proprietor even gives off strong. Norman Bates vibes. It's a locked-room type mystery but I felt the twist was a little weak, still I liked the execution this one a lot - so recommend to mystery-thriller fans and those who enjoy old Hitchcock films. My sincere thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the complimentary DRC - my pleasure to review it.

"The Hitchcock Hotel" by Stephanie Wrobel had me completely hooked, earning a solid four stars from me.

First off, let's talk about Alfred Smettle's passion for all things Hitchcock. I mean, a whole hotel dedicated to the Master of Suspense? It's like a dream come true for fans like me! Wrobel's portrayal of Alfred's obsession and the homage to Hitchcock throughout the story had me nodding along in excitement. Plus, diving into Wrobel's writing for the first time was a real treat – she definitely knows how to keep readers on the edge of their seats.

The pacing of this book was perfect for me. I'm a sucker for horror and thrillers that keep me glued to the pages, and "The Hitchcock Hotel" delivered on that front. The creepy atmosphere was palpable, and I found myself eagerly devouring each chapter to uncover the next twist. Admittedly, not every character felt fully fleshed out, but it didn't detract too much from the overall enjoyment of the story.

And let me tell you, once I started reading, I couldn't put it down! This book was seriously binge-worthy, and the ending? It was so satisfying to see everything come together. Whether you're a die-hard Hitchcock fan or just love a good spooky tale, "The Hitchcock Hotel" is definitely worth checking out.

Six college friends reunite at the request of Alfred, the proud owner of a Hitchcock themed hotel. Alfred had a rough go of it after college, so everyone reluctantly attends to assuage their varying degrees of guilt. Some arrive while battling demons, some just want to get home to their kids, and nearly all of them are desperate to keep their secrets hidden. Alfred, meticulous host that he is, has plans for all of them. As we learn what really happened all those years ago to set Alfred down his dark path, everyone must decide what price they are willing to pay for the truth, and just how far they are willing to go to survive. The pacing was excellent and the plotting tight. Recommended for anyone who can't be spoiled on a Hitchcock film because they have seen them all.

I just reviewed The Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie Wrobel. #TheHitchcockHotel #NetGalley - What a good story - Being a Hitchcock fan myself, the story resonated Hitchcock throughout. Was quick reading, kept my interest and in the end - everyone got what they deserved.

As a Hitchcock fan myself, I had a lot of fun with the premise of this book - a man gathers his old college friends for a reunion taking placed at his themed hotel, and a murder mystery ensues. The atmospheric setting and references were my favourite part of the book!
However I felt the mystery itself wasn’t that memorable and it took halfway into the book for anything to actually happen; there’s also a flashback subplot to their college years where we know ‘something happened’ that keeps being alluded to. Overall a really enjoyable and bingeable read though, would especially recommend if you’re already a fan of hitchcock.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was incredibly disappointing. I was a huge fan of Stephanie Wrobel's previous two works. They were incredibly dark and gripping. This one was a step backwards in my opinion. This book is about a group of old college "friends" who reunite at a Hitchcock-themed hotel and "secrets" come to light. If this sounds incredibly generic, it is, and it was. This one offered nothing new in an already cluttered market of similar titles.

I did not connect with any of the characters. I don't believe these people were ever friends and the secret in the past was really uninteresting.

I'm beginning to suspect that Stephanie Wrobel's books just aren't for me. I didn't enjoy Darling Rose Gold at all, but I had to give this one a shot since it sounded a little more horror-y and therefore right up my alley. And … meh. This book has its interesting moments, but there's just something about her writing style that rubs me the wrong way. I'm not even sure that I can explain exactly what it is that I don't enjoy, honestly, but I think it has to do with how her narratives are overly melodramatic and there's a whole lot of thinking and talking but not a whole lot of doing since you find out about most of the action after the fact? I dunno. It's not a terrible read and I've certainly read worse, but I didn't exactly love it either.

But if we put aside my issues with Wrobel's writing, the premise for this book is outstanding. I've always loved the “old friends with dark secrets reunite for a disastrous weekend” trope, and when you add in a Hitchcock-themed hotel with a creepy proprietor? Yes, please! If Stephen King or Josh Malerman had written this book it probably would have scared the crap out of me in the best possible way, although they both write actual horror and not thrillers so maybe that's not a fair comparison.

There are really two main mysteries at play in The Hitchcock Hotel. What is Alfred's end game? And is one of his guests a killer? I mostly saw the answer to the first question coming but the build up to its reveal is fairly suspenseful – Alfred obviously has something nefarious planned but what? The answer to the second question took me completely by surprise, although it's perhaps lacking in the plausibility department. There are also several mini mysteries within the book (Who slashed the car tires? What happened to Dr. Scott? What happened to the phones?) that are solved along the way. Don't expect a particularly exciting climax to this book, however – the villain just kind of monologues it at the end. After you get over the surprise of who is doing the monologuing, there's not really much else there.

Oh, and the characters are mostly awful people. Alfred is probably the worst of the bunch, but his old friends aren't exactly saints. They're all hiding secrets and some of them are particularly heinous. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but if you need likeable characters this is probably not the book for you.

So, yeah. This one was just okay. It has a great premise and there's definitely some suspenseful parts, but the writing really put me off in places and the ending is lackluster. But if you're a fan of Wrobel's other books, don't let this review dissuade you from reading this one too – you'll probably enjoy it a lot more than I did.

My overall rating: 3.4 stars, rounded down.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review. The expected publication date is September 24, 2024.