I'd never read a novel by Vincent Starrett until I was offered the chance to acquire an inscribed copy of The Great Hotel Murder (1935), which was an expansion of a magazine story called Recipe for Murder and was subsequently filmed. Hotel settings are, to my mind, a pleasing Golden Age trope, and I couldn't resist the chance to buy the book. Now I've read it, I'm glad I did.
A man is found dead in a locked hotel room (although it should be said that the 'locked room' element of the plot is not really significant). It soon turns out that he persuaded one Dr Trample to change rooms with him. Curious. Why did he do that, and what was the reason for his death? Soon Riley Blackwood, journalist and breezy man about town, is on the case.
The great strength of this story is that it is very readable. Starrett favours dialogue and he is good at writing it, so things move along at a smart pace from start to finish. This is important, because it helps to maintain interest even though some of the plot ingredients are commonplace. I didn't know quite what to expect from Starrett as a novelist, but this novel is enjoyable enough to make me feel I'd like to read more of his work.
There is interesting discussion of this book online: although I don't entirely share his views about the book, I commend Jim Noy's blog post about it which itself contains links to further useful posts by Aidan Brack and Kate Jackson. Otto Penzler, who does very good work in reviving long-lost titles, reprinted this book not so long ago, so it's easy to find. And in my opinion, it's worth finding, a sound example of American Golden Age fiction.
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