Lead Review (The Hotel Manager’s Guide to Murder)

• Book: The Hotel Manager’s Guide to Murder
• Location: Reykjavik
• Author: Erlendur Arason, Quentin Bates (Translator)

Review Author: tripfiction

The Hotel Manager’s Guide to Murder by Erlendur Arason. a witty, noir novel set in Reykjavik, Iceland

TR: Quentin Bates

The Hotel Manager’s Guide to Murder by Erlendur Arason is a brilliantly witty book, with a dark, slightly whacky humour. It’s also tense, with properly shocking moments, and more twists than a barley sugar sweetie. If the cover and title evoke a cosy crime book, I’d venture to say it is much more than that. It reminded me a little of Antii Tuomainen’s series of murder mystery books, but maybe that’s unfair because Arason’s novel has its own style

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Torfi knows that his meeting with the HR manager of Hotel Bristol in Reykjavik is likely to result in his redundancy, as part of a cost-cutting exercise. He has enough trouble at home and really wants to keep his job. In desperation he pleads, “But I know everything” – and his fate is sealed: he is awarded a promotion to Front of House Manager. Soon after, his boss hands him a wodge of used notes and winks at him. At this point he begins to realise that everything is not what it seems. His fears are confirmed when the body of a young man is found in the hotel and he is told to help cover up the death.

Meanwhile, Raggi is one of a group of homeless people who come to Hotel Bristol for a free breakfast each day. Are they unwitting witnesses to a crime that is being covered up – and does that put them at risk?

The story takes place in the city centre of Reykjavík during the dark days of winter. The descriptions of the setting lend an oppressive, claustrophobic atmosphere to the story, matching the mood of the main characters. The tension is cleverly leavened with moments of hilarity, until you can virtually hear them rolling their eyes and shrugging in disbelief. There might be a few unresolved issues at the end of the book but I’m delighted to know that this is the first of a series and can’t wait to discover what Torfi gets up to next. If this book doesn’t make you laugh AND bite your fingernails to the quick, I’ll eat my hat.

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