Murder at the Savoy is the second Hotel Murder historical mystery by Jim Eldridge. Released 21st Oct 2021 by Allison & Busby, it's 352 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. (Paperback format released 17th March 2022). It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
This is an engaging and well written mystery supposedly set in 1940s London as the blitz is heating up. The main protagonist, a well-heeled Scotland Yard DCI and his colleagues are trying to solve a stabbing murder at the Savoy in the bomb shelter during the bombing by the Luftwaffe. The mystery itself is well wrought and the characters are well delineated and distinct. The historical aspects of the story, however, along with the dialogue and the mores of time as written are distinctly modern and completely anachronistic. I found my suspension of disbelief severely hampered by very modern dialogue or attitudes. This wouldn't normally be a problem, but is more of an issue for historical fiction. The story is also fairly gritty for a historical cozy mystery, and includes on page descriptions of blood and fairly graphic murder (a throat slashing).
Although it's the second book in the series, the necessary character backstories are provided and the mystery itself is self-contained, so it can be satisfyingly read as a standalone. It's an undemanding and pleasant read for fans of British historical mysteries with the aforementioned problematic anachronisms. The third book in the series was published in April, 2022, so the series as a whole is a good candidate for a weekend binge read.
Three and a half stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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