The Socialite’s Guide to Death and Dating - Pinnacle Hotel Mystery #2

 

The Socialite's Guide to Murder is the second Pinnacle Hotel murder mystery by S.K. Golden. Due out 10th Oct 2023 from Crooked Lane Books, it's 336 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. 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 a refined and engaging cozy mystery with a young wealthy girl/woman who lives her life within the confines of her father's very posh hotel due to her agoraphobia, which she's trying to mitigate with therapy and by forcing herself outside. It's all lace curtains and silk stockings, social calendars and parties, until circumstances thrust her into the middle of another investigation. 

The writing style is simple and direct. The characters are well rendered, albeit often fairly superficial. Main character Evelyn is a spoiled little rich girl, but nevertheless stands by her friends. She does develop over the course of the book, and it's an actively ongoing series.

This will likely appeal to fans of Ashley  Weaver and Anna Lee Huber, although this series is set in America in the late 1950s and not Victorian England. There are a number of anachronisms, and often the dialogue seems to be cosplaying 1958 and not actually set during the time period. I am also not sure how accurate the availability of psychiatric treatment and therapy was for general anxiety in the late 1950s in the USA and couldn't find much resource info with a cursory search. All that being said, however, it *is* an entertaining and readable book with a good plot and pace.

The unabridged audiobook version has a run time of 10 hours, 4 minutes and is narrated by Amara Jasper. She has a well modulated rich alto voice and does a number of character voices distinctly and well. Her British accent(s) are not always flawless, but the characters are competently rendered and certainly don't distract from the read. I found her voice soothing to listen to and suited to the read overall.

Three and a half stars. Escapist comfort reading. There are two books in the series so far, so it would make a nice choice for a short binge/buddy read.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.