Murder at the Dolphin Hotel

by Helena Dixon

Genres: Crime, Historical Fiction, Mystery
Pages: 252
Series: Miss Underhay #1
Rating:

Synopsis:

June 1933. Independent young Kitty Underhay has been left in charge of her family's hotel, The Dolphin, on the tranquil English coast. She's expecting her days at the bustling resort to be filled with comfortable chatter with chambermaids as they polish the mahogany desk and glittering candelabras of the elegant foyer. Everything must be perfect for the arrival of a glamourous jazz singer from Chicago and a masked ball that will be the cultural highlight of the season.

But when several rooms are broken into and searched, including Kitty's own, she quickly realises that something out of the ordinary is afoot at the hotel. Soon rumours are flying in the cozy town that someone is on the hunt for a stolen ruby. A ruby that Kitty's mother may well have possessed when she herself went missing during the Great War. And when the break-ins are followed by a series of attacks and murders, including of the town's former mayoress, it seems the perpetrator will stop at nothing to find it.

Aided by ex-army captain Matthew Bryant, the Dolphin's new security officer, Kitty is determined to decipher this mystery and preserve not only the reputation of her hotel, but also the lives of her guests. Is there a cold-blooded killer under her own roof? And what connects the missing jewel to the mystery from Kitty's own past?

Helena Dixon’s Murder at the Dolphin Hotel is a competent enough mystery that I found mildly entertaining. I think that damns it with faint praise a little, but unfortunately it’s how I feel: I had a good enough time reading it, but it wasn’t compelling enough to stand out or stick in my head, it was just one of those competent pseudo-classic mysteries that are pleasant enough to read once, but not to knock your socks off.

And to be clear, that’s sometimes what I want, and also I know other people are far bigger fans of that than I am. The undemandingness is a feature! I just didn’t latch onto it as much as I hoped, e.g. onto the main characters or their relationship, and I found it maybe a little bit too obvious. I’d probably have rated it a little higher if I’d rated it right away after finishing, but with a day of reflection in between, that feels a tad too generous.

So for me, not a stand-out, though enjoyable enough at the time I was reading it.

Rating: 2/5 (“it was okay”)