Murder at the Priory Hotel by Merryn Allingham - Book Review

Murder at the Priory Hotel by Merryn Allingham

Series: Flora Steele Mystery #4 (Standalone)

Publication Date: 8th July 2022

Genre: Historical Cozy Mystery 

3.8 Stars 

One Liner: Good continuation to the series; light cozy mystery 

Sussex, 1957: 

Flora Steele and Jack Carrington are back in the fourth installment of the series. The Priory Hotel is being reopened by Sally and Dominic, her business partner. On the day of the reopening, the lead singer, Beverly, of the rock n’ roll band Tutti Frutti drops dead in front of the crowd. 

With a not-so-positive history, the hotel suffers from canceled bookings. Sally is worried that her investment will sink into nothing. When Flora and Jack have no option but to investigate the case, they come across information that puts just about everyone on the suspect list. 

Will the duo solve the case and save Priory Hotel from losses? Are they putting themselves at risk yet again? 

My Observations: 

We are back at Priory Hotel, but the book keeps the case interesting. Despite the same setting (as in the first book), the story doesn’t feel repetitive or boring. 

Flora and Jack have a slight change of characters, with Jack being more eager to solve the crime. Of course, we need Flora to find the clues for us. 

The writing seemed a little slower than in the previous books. It could also be that I was more tired (which I was), and that affected my reading. 

We have enough red herrings and suspects in this one, but the danger quotient is slightly less. I like how it has been incorporated into the story. 

There’s a development in Flora and Jack’s friendship, and I’m hoping it will continue in the coming books. 

As always, we meet the recurring characters, and some of them have developments in their lives. I always like it when side characters’ lives are also given importance. 

The book works as a standalone, but the reader might be confused about the range of characters introduced in the first few pages. There are references to previous cases, though none of them affect the current case. 

To sum up, Murder at the Priory Hotel is a light cozy mystery and a little less dangerous than the previous ones. Looking forward to the next book. 

Thank you, NetGalley and Bookouture, for the eARC. 

#NetGalley #MurderatthePrioryHotel