“… we may never know how much we can change the character that we were born with, or the influences left upon us by the ways that we were raised.”
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There are plenty of mixed reviews on this one but I had tons of fun! The Murders in the Endicott Hotel by David Murphy is both a classic whodunit along the veins of Hercule Poirot as well as a fun foray into what makes us who we are. All in all, this book is downright fun and engaging, and totally worth checking out if you’re interested in claustrophobic settings, political manipulation, and murder!
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Pros: The plot was engaging and the theme was extremely interesting. The question of what creates a monster is a tough one to answer, and I enjoyed that this book didn’t try to. As much as the “normal” characters wanted to claim that they had the answers, we still have so much to learn about the human mind, and many characters found out the hard way!
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Cons: I found some of the characterization to be a bit inauthentic and a bit cartoon-y which took me out of some of the scenes. Gia’s character especially felt a bit over-characterized and honestly a bit hard to read. I also felt that with so many characters and relationships, it was extremely hard to connect with any of them.
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3.5/5 ☠️ – A fun, slightly gory, mystery that kept me guessing until the final bloody end!

This book presents a fascinating premise—a modernized "whodunnit" mystery, blending elements of a locked-room thriller with the ethical dilemmas of rehabilitated serial killers. Set in a luxurious, remote hotel in Alaska, the story follows five "cured" serial killers who are released as part of a billionaire's experiment, only to face a new murder mystery. While the idea is intriguing, the execution leaves something to be desired.

The pros of this novel include its unique premise. The concept of rehabilitated killers trying to reenter society is fresh, and the tension around whether one of them has resumed their dark ways keeps the reader engaged. This setup taps into deeper questions about identity, morality, and whether people can truly change, making the stakes feel personal and relevant to modern discussions around criminal rehabilitation.

Additionally, the locked-room mystery in a snowed-in hotel creates the perfect backdrop for suspense. The atmosphere is thick with isolation and paranoia, reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s best-known works. The detective, Walter Churchfield, provides the grounding needed to navigate the chaos of the unfolding murders. There’s also a plot twist toward the end that injects excitement and rewards readers’ patience.

However, the book has its cons. One major issue is the repetitive language. Descriptions often feel blunt and repetitive, detracting from the overall flow. Similarly, the motive for the murder is underdeveloped, lacking the depth that could make the twist feel more meaningful. There’s an opportunity for more exploration of the serial killers’ inner transformations, which feels missed. The ethical dilemmas are interesting, but the characters themselves could have been fleshed out more to heighten the drama.

In terms of writing, there are times when the book could benefit from tighter editing. Repetitions and awkward phrasing slow down the otherwise intriguing narrative, particularly in the epilogue, which feels out of place and unnecessary.

This was a fun semi-cozy mystery read! A modernized version of "whodunnit" game of clue. We start with five "cured" serial killers being freed from their life sentence with the help of billionaire Daniel Larch, who is conducting a event to celebrate the push of his miraculous drug in a remote luxurious hotel in Alaska.

The characters were good, the development and story was good and promising, but could see "whodunnit " from the beginning personally, although a couple times had me double guessing. There was romance, betrayal, poetry, murders and a little bit of cliche, but still fun.

Overall it was fun read, and I believe others will enjoy this if they enjoy cozy mysteries. I give it a 3.75☆

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book!

I was really excited to start this book, the premise, the title, the cover, were everything I was wanting to read. Unfortunately, the story itself was lacking and disappointing.

The characters were VERY similar and it was hard to keep them apart. Their killings were so similar it might as well have been only one person doing the killing. There was also very little regard for the evidence that was being presented. Something that was important was presented, and never spoken about again until the VERY end. I know mysteries sometimes do that but this one was just annoying with it.

I think the plot of this story was good and the premise. However, I found I hard to keep track of who was who and what was going on the more I read.

While this was an interesting story that started off very well, it became a mess. There was a lot of jumping around between characters with little regard for evidence or actual plot, and the writing just went everywhere and was repetitive at times. This could be a solid read with some more edits and maybe some reworking of some chapters.

Minor errors that needed to be edited but, it is an enjoyable murder mystery that is perfect for the fall weather

Wow the writing was terrible. And all over the place. Kept jumping from character to character so fast it was giving me whiplash. And the descriptions of the “reformed” serial killers? Gross. Might be the worst thing I’ve ever read. If I could give this a zero, I would.

The Murders in the Endicott Hotel started off strong but as the story went on I feel the characters went back and forth too much on trying to figure out who the killer was while not focusing on what evidence was left behind. I also felt the story had a strong finish but it went a little fast and just kind of ended.

4 men and 1 woman were released from prison after receiving brain surgery from Dr. Dlamini while undergoing psychiatric counseling from Dr. Wong. All 5 killers and part of an experimental procedure funded by the Pioneer Medical Technologies. Upon their release the owner of the company held a press conference at the Endicott Hotel located in Alaska. Once there people are being killed with only a few clues being left, but who in the group of 25+ people invited is the killer?

The Muders in the Endicott Hotel is so good. I recommend everyone to read this book as fast as they can because it's really good and the characters are fantastic and the story is an example of originality and creativity.

Okay, I know there's been mixed reviews on this one.

There are Alot of moving parts to keep track of, so this isn't something you rave through, but that being said, it was Alot.
And I love having a ton of characters in something like this.
But if they hadn't had them, it wouldn't have worked in my opinion.

This is a slow burn builder type detective mystery.
Some of the language used was a little repetitive, but not enough to stop reading because the actual story itself I loved.

This was a good murder mystery, but could use a little work editing.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me access to this book.

Sad to say but this was a disappointing read and if it hadn’t been through NetGalley I would’ve DNF’d it at around 20%.

There were too many characters I barely remembered who was who, the story and the motive was just so flat and boring which made the ending a big meh and the writing was just not my cup of tea. Especially the epilogue? What was that? The way it was written was so weird, and who CARES about these characters? It would’ve been a little better without it.

So no, not my favorite at all. Didn’t care when the characters got murdered because I didn’t get to like them before the killings. And most of them were jerks… It was like one dude who died that I thought “Aww… Not him. What did he do?” But other than that? No.

Too many cooks in the kitchen (or whatever that saying goes)

I feel like this book needs a few more edits. And a few more proofreads. In one chapter the “main” characters name was written as the start of the sentence (or in other parts of the sentence) for a whole page. It was crazy. Never seen that before (and not in a good way).

The story itself was okay but it was too grand for what it ended up becoming.

Content Warnings: Gore / Wounds; Corpses

Murphy's novel has some interesting ideas and a great premise. Unfortunately, the writing brings down the potential shown in said premise in several areas.

First, all of the characters are flat. Part of this flatness may come from the sheer number of characters. In addition to the 5 serial killers and the detective, there are 2 psychologists, lots of business people, news people, and lots of servants/employees. All of them receive the same superficial introduction, not all with a physical description, and all are engaged at one point or another in the story. It's a lot to keep track of in general, but even more so when they have no real distinguishing characteristics.

Part of the flatness also comes because the novel moves between a lot of dialogue with no breaks to a lot of action with no dialogue. Regardless of the focus, though, readers are consistently told things, not shown them. We are told about the surgeries, we are told about the crimes of the serial killers, we are told about political issues, but we rarely get to actually see the feelings or changes in others.

An additional, specific problem with the representation of the serial killers can be seen in Gia Ho, who is a crossdresser and/or transfemme. The fact that it's not clear from the novel which is true is a problem in and of itself. The depiction is not the most offensive I've read, but it follows a bad pattern of representation of this minority group with serial killers/the mentally ill.

I originally read this on Edelweiss but decided to review here as well since it was in the read now section.

The novel has good prose that flows easily but could use some polishing such as using varying descriptions and better explanations for certain scenes so they are easier to visualise.

At it heart the novel raises profound questions about identity and change, particularly whether people can truly reform and become new individuals or remain tethered to their past selves. This idea is explored and clever used by the author to induce tension in the novel by asking whether one of the "former" criminals have resumed their killing ways.

The story also delves into morality, with passages of deep intersection and themes of corporate greed.

Pros:

Unique Premise: The concept of rehabilitated serial killers and the ethical dilemma surrounding their release adds intrigue and originality to the story. This theme parallels real life discussions of rehabilitation of criminals and how strong punishment should be meted out.

Engaging Mystery: The locked-room setup, with a snowed-in hotel, creates an atmosphere of suspense and isolation, very reminiscent of Agatha Christie's snowy atmosphere of The Sittaford Mystry or the Orient Express.

The Detective: Walter Churchfield, the detective, is sharp and provides the necessary grounding in a chaotic situation. The portrayal of a detective is well done.

Twist: The plot twist at the end is very exciting and worth the wait .

Cons:

Repetitive Language: At times, the blunt descriptions become repetitive, like when referring to unknown characters (e.g., "the killer" or "the poet").

Motives: While the twist at the end is very exciting the motive for the murder is very weak. Perhaps more indepth thought into the mind of the killer and what motivated them to do the act is needed, a motive that is compelling enough to drive one to murder.

Possible improvement: The serial killers could have been explored further to highlight their transformation or lack thereof, making the stakes feel more personal. We see very little of their thoughts and feelings regarding the procedures done to them and how those thoughts changed before and after. Whatever we do see is not enough to form strong impressions.

Arc review. This comes out Nov 19 2024. I will always enjoy a good murder mystery. I enjoyed the detective throughout this book. So many fun suspects and possibilities it had your gears going the whole time. I highly recommend for any fans of clue and only murders in the building tv show. The plot and characters were fun but I do wish we as the readers learned a little more into the killers motive that is the only thing I really wanted more in this book but other then that this is a 3.5 for me. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this wonderful arc to review.

A very entertaining whodunit in an interesting setting. It’s a locked room mystery, but definitely a hell of a locked room. So many great suspects and possibilities for the killer, when it gets to the end and the reveal I felt a little disappointed that it was so straightforward and such a traditional choice. The ride getting there is definitely fun, though.

The Murders in the Endicott Hotel is built on an interesting and unique premise, many many murders, and a sharp but believable detective. I really like the thought put into this, and the eventual reveal of the murderer was very smart, but I had just a couple of qualms with the book. Murphy's writing style tends to bluntly describe the events of the story, which on its own is completely fine, but at point where there was only a nameless, genderless person to talk about (e.g. "the killer" or "the poet"), the writing came off as a little repetitive. And generally, I would have been interested to see a little more about the murderer's motive, or maybe a greater discussion of the surgeries and the tension between psychiatry and neuroscience. All in all, this was very entertaining and I was glad to read it! This is a 3.5 for me.

Thanks so much to NetGalley, the publishers, and the author for the opportunity to read this as an eARC!

This was an interesting and fun read. I enjoyed the writing style and the mystery.

Minor editing errors but a good and enjoyable book.