Nora enters a Birmingham hotel with a clear goal but events from Nora's past start to bleed into the present when a blizzard descends.

This is a fearless novel, it does not shy away from taking characters down paths you don't expect and embracing the strange.

Really enjoyable.

Hokey Pokey might be the first book I've read set in 1920s Europe, or atleast that I can recall.
Mascarenhas does a superb job of setting the scene, everything from architecture to dinner felt thematically perfect. Described in enough detail to picture the moment and maintaining the story pace without unnecessary verbiage, I'm pleased to have encountered this author.

I absolutely hated Oxbow which was obviously the authors intent. I physically recoiled in disgust on several occasions, so well written was this arrogant, pompous character.
For the better half of Hokey Pokey I was not a fan of the main character Nora either, her cold outlook was at odds with her motives and it wasn't until her entire history had unfolded that I found a reason to root for her.

Instead I was engulfed with the mystery of the vanishing Hotel guests, possible ghost sightings and lore of the 'Hyring'. I'd not heard of such a creature before and an (admittedly not extensive) internet search leads me to believe this is a fantasy of Mascarenhas creation. If so kudos, I very much enjoyed it and recommend you read Hokey Pokey if not only for this.

It was interesting to read from a woman's perspective in 20s Europe where the cultural etiquette strictly forbade women from drinking alone or travelling without business priorities or escort companions.

I will forgive Mascarenhas the one clumsy reveal- a cheap plot tie that left me somewhat disgruntled, for the majority of Hokey Pokey was intriguing and the ending vindicated my reaction to the collection of bad seeds comprising the characters.

There is unexpectedly grim body horror to be found in this novel, scoring extra points for an altogether fun read

On the face of it, this is a glamorous Golden Age murder mystery - but that conceals a darker truth and this develops into a fantasy gothic horror. Not at all what I expected and having enjoyed The Thief on the Winged Horse immensely, this didn't quite hit the spot for me, though it is still very well written I wasn't absorbed on the same way.

Firstly, let me say that this is not my kind of read. I completely missed the 'horror' part in the description which is solely down to me.

As befitting the roaring twenties, Birmingham's Regent Hotel is rather opulent; just the kind of place to sip evening cocktails. Nora Dickinson has booked in, but under a pseudonym which is completely unlike her, but she's on a mission. secretly shadowing a famous opera singer. When a snow storm confines everyone to the hotel and isolates them from the outside world, Nora's grip on reality loosens and darkness descends.

Now, this wasn't one for me at all, and I take full responsibility for choosing it. Having said that, I didn't realise until some way through and started off full of enthusiasm. What I think was the 'horror' part of the book didn't bother me too much but I really struggled to stay with the story. I had to force myself to keep reading and it didn't really do anything for me - in fact, I reached the end with a feeling of relief. While it wasn't for me, I couldn't fault the author's succinct writing and so I'll give this one 3*.

My thanks to the publisher for my copy; this is - as always - my honest, original and unbiased review.

Enjoyable slow-burn mystery.
The first half (third?) of the book felt all together too long for me, as I almost decided to DNF. In the end, the way the story is set up works really well, but while reading it made for a very confusing experience.

I expected a, closed-room, Agatha Christie-like cosy crime book and this was more supernatural mystery.

Potentially the most disappointing DNF I’ll ever have.
I genuinely love both of the author’s previous books so expected this to be the same and I just couldn’t do it. It felt nothing like their previous work and I don’t think the synopsis paints the right picture for it at all. There was so many times where I would find my attention waning because the descriptions were so long and none of it felt relevant or helpful in understanding the scene. I read the first 10% about 3 times and all I can tell you is that there’s a hotel and some people who I have no visual picture of but all seem overly suspicious and conveniently placed at the same time. It felt like I’d skipped to chapter 9 and missed all the world and character building foundations. Maybe it makes sense later on but I think to still have no idea or intrigue at 15% is a sign it’s not for me.

This is a wonderfully clever story that starts out as a fairly run of the mill mystery set in a 1920s hotel but it soon develops in to something, very, very unexpected. A fun read with original ideas and great characters.

Dr Nora Dickinson, psychoanalyst, is spying on Berenice Oxbow, opera star, in a Birmingham Hotel where they are snowed in. Is this doctor-patient or something more sinister? Nora’s former lover, Leo, is married to Berenice, so perhaps this is a revenge-persecution-murder story? But Nora is there at Leo’s behest, seeking to find out if Berenice is unfaithful. Why would he do that? Partly this is just because he can coerce Nora into doing things for him, but primarily it is because Nora is a consummate, in fact quintessential, mimic and possessed of total recall. She is a human Dictaphone capable of reciting complete conversations in the voices of the participants. An ideal spy. This talent, it transpires, is due to her being a “Hyring”, a mythical being that can take on human form (an aspect of its mimicry) and eats people. Perhaps this is a love triangle story? But, putting all the pieces together, what we have is a bunch of people trapped in a location with a killer on the loose, which is a classic trope in the murder-mystery genre.
The first section of the book covers the setup described above. It is February 1929, in the English Midlands, and the writing style is quite evocative of that period. It is a bit slow, or perhaps just a bit indulgent. It cuts away from there to describe Nora’s childhood, filling in details about the “Hyrings” and her family connection to them. It has elements of a horror story but doesn’t really get its teeth into it (to coin a phrase). Returning to the Hotel, the pace picks up and a nice twist is revealed. The events are logical within the plot and the ending is satisfactory. However, although there is an element of mayhem, it never rises to the hoped for thrilling level of horror. Overall, it is an intriguing read, and quite entertaining.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

(review contains spoilers)
I went into this book pretty blind purely on the basis of having loved 'The Psychology of Time Travel. Even if I'd studied the blurb though, there's no way it could have prepared my expectations.

The author's writing style is once again a perfect balance of easy to read and lush with detail letting you paint a picture of the strange Birmingham hotel and the guests within.

I loved being tricked by the early unreliable narration of Nora and where it all led as the book suddenly changed pace and tone when the truth was revealed to the reader. Even then I was doubting what was real and what was delusion. The ending left me with a smile as Nora found her true self and wasn't afraid to ask for what she wanted anymore. The 'monster' wins in a way but so she should!

Hokey Pokey by Kate Mascarenhas
Publication date: 8 June 2023
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for providing me with an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
~~~~~
February, 1929. The Regent Hotel in Birmingham is a place of deception and glamour. A psychoanalyst checks in under a pseudonym: Nora Dickinson. Though she doesn't see herself as a liar, she is following the famous opera singer, Berenice Oxbow, to spy on her. But when a terrible snow storm isolates the hotel – and its guests – from the outside world, the lines between nightmare and reality begin to blur...
~~~~~
I was expecting murder mystery in an isolated hotel. Instead, I got gory and bloody supernatural horror... It took me by surprise but I can't say I minded!
All of the main characters are unpleasant, selfish and of dubious morality, which I loved. The writing was really evocative and I loved the hotel setting, with secrets behind every door. It felt creepy, claustrophobic and dark.
But there is another timeline when we flash back to Nora's childhood and early adulthood, where we come to understand how she became who - and what - she is now. I wish there had been more development of the lore and background to flesh out the supernatural elements of this book.
And I also wish the pacing had been better balanced, because the ending felt a little bit rushed.
But all in all, I had a great time reading this and I flew through it. I'd already read The Psychology of Time Travel from this author and I'm looking forward to picking more of her books.
~~~~~

Thanks to Netgalley and Head of Zeus for the e- ARC.

This books starts as a murder mystery/thriller as we follow Nora Dickinson, young psychoanalyst, sent on spying the famous opera singer Berenice Oxbow. Well the beginning was quite slow, I was confused at some point what I am actually reading. Then we came to part, which is about the childhood of our main character and oh man I was hooked. I could not stop reading.
This twisty story made me surprised at the end. It was really unique and interesting read.
4 stars from me, it would be 5 if the beginning would not be that slow

Based on the blurb, and the first few chapters of the book, you might be forgiven for thinking you were about to read a ‘Golden Age’ mystery so you will be surprised – as I was – to find yourself embarking on a quite different journey into something dark and macabre. The author’s debut novel The Psychology of Time Travel, which I read in 2018, had elements of mind-bending fantasy but Hokey Pokey takes the reader into the realm of horror. It becomes clear that evil stalks the Regent Hotel.

Part one of the book introduces us to Nora who, as well as being a psychoanalyst, has a remarkable ‘gift’ but one which can be used for good or ill. (No prizes for guessing which in this case.) The origin of this gift the reader learns more about in part two of the book which takes us back to Nora’s childhood and has a fairytale quality reminiscent of the Brothers Grimm allied with a real sense of the macabre. Although set in a village near Birmingham, Nora’s home deep in the woods wouldn’t be out of place in Transylvania. This section includes a particularly gruesome scene which, if you’re squeamish, you may find disturbing although I guess no more than watching one of Shakespeare’s more bloody plays.

Part three of the book fills in more of the background to Nora’s mission and her rather disturbing motivation for embarking on it whilst the final section of the book provides just about everything fans of Gothic horror could desire. Personally, if I’d known what was in store I’d have checked out of the Regent Hotel soon after arrival.

— 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 —

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: Hokey Pokey
𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: N/A
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫(𝐬): Kate Macarenhas
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Historical Mystery
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: 8th June 2023
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝: 4th June 2023
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 3.25/5

Well, this wasn’t what I expected!

With a description that states ”A grand hotel, a famous opera star and a psychoanalyst with a hidden agenda” and an art deco front cover, I expected a glamorous murder mystery, whereas in reality Hokey Pokey is a transcendent and morbid ghost story with supernatural elements

I really enjoyed the murder mystery aspect and wish it had the same strong focus in the last half of the story that it had in the first.

I also enjoyed the main character, Nora, who was a female psychoanalyst which was a rare occurrence in the historical setting of 1929.

I’ve actually read a Kate Mascarenhas novel before (The Psychology of Time Travel) and find her writing really good, it has such a compelling quality, but my favourite aspect is the fascinating exploration of characters that are so truly unique to the world of fiction.

Whilst this story has a lot going on to make it stand out from the crowd, I found the story way more weird than I expected and whilst it was still enjoyable, I think I would have enjoyed it more if it was more grounded.

—Kayleigh🤍
@ Welsh Book Fairy🧚‍♀️✨

Hokey Pokey by Kate Mascarenhas was not quite what I was expecting and the synopsis of the book certainly gave very little away.

At a grand hotel in Birmingham Nora a psychoanalyst checks in having followed the famous opera singer, Berenice Oxbow, from Zurich to Birmingham, she's determined not to let her out of her sight. She has been tasked by the opera singers husband Leo to spy on her and report back on any unfaithfulness.

But when a terrible snow storm occurs and everyone is cut off from the outside world, Nora's childhood resurfaces in nightmarish lines and Nora's past catches up with her in vampiric ways.

I found I was losing interest at the beginning as I could not really get what was going on but perseverance paid off when Nora's childhood story became more apparent.

The book is well written very descriptive and I liked the characters of Berenice and Nora despite their portrayal. There were plenty of gory twists and turns to keep interest going once I had got through the first half.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy.

When Nora Dickinson checks in to the Regent Hotel in Birmingham in 1929, she is planning to spend her short stay following the reknowned operah singer Berenice Oxbow. Berenice's husband has asked Nora to do this for him as he believes she may be cheating on him. When a snowstorm hits and cuts the hotel off from the outside world, Nora's stay becomes very different. Forced to face her past and who she really is, Nora's story takes a dark and disturbing turn.

It's taken me a few days to process this and try to figure out what I want to say - it's a hard book to review! I've seen a few reviews commenting that the blurb doesn't really paint the most accurate picture of the genre and content of the book, and whilst I can see what people are saying, both of Kate Mascarenhas previous books have had a supernatural/fantasy like element to them, so it shouldn't be a huge surprise to see that again here.

I was definitely drawn in to this one. It was really strange book to read, because on one hand I didn't feel particularly enamoured of any of the main characters, but on the other hand trying to figure out what was real and what wasn't had me hooked.

It's clear from very early in the book that Nora is a troubled young woman. She is the epitome of an unreliable narrator, but acknowledges this at stages in the book, and begins to doubt herself. Her actions and the way she treats peole don't endear her to a reader, but you at the same time you understand that her behaviours are the result of her troubled mind and so can make allowances for her. Berenice was also not particularly endearing, however I did appreciate her determination to live her life her way.

Plot wise this one is more of a slow burn than an action packed ride. It's not really a murder mystery, but more focuses on Nora's journey to rediscover her inner self. I think her struggles to disover for herself what was real and what was her mind is what makes the book.

As with her previous books, Mascerenhas' writing is exeptional here. There is a lot of description and detail embedded in to the story, but not in such a way that it over powers the story itself.

A very enjoyable read, and I think anyone who has enjoyed Kate Mascarenhas' earlier books will definitely appreciate this one too.

Thanks to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

He was paying her to spy, but he must realise that, more than the money, Nora wanted to hear she was indistinguishable from the Icon. I've missed you being her. It was a victory to hear him say it. It made her want to cry. [loc. 401]
On a cold night in February 1929, Nora Čapek checks into the Regent Hotel in Birmingham under a pseudonym. She's there to follow opera singer Berenice Oxbow, who's married to Nora's fellow psychoanalyst Leo Cadieux, and report back to Leo. Nora has a unique gift: she recalls everything she hears, and can repeat every word she's ever heard, verbatim, in the style it was first spoken. "Because of this she saw herself as truthful." But she has a number of secrets to conceal, not least her own nature. On the other hand, Leo has convinced her that her memories of an unsettling childhood in an English forest, some time before the First World War, cannot possibly be real. They are, he asserts, fantasies rooted in her difficult relationship with her mother. Only gradually do we discover that Leo is wrong, and that Nora's 'fantasies' are the key to her nature.

Nora's not the only one with secrets. A fellow guest, Arthur Crouch, has lived in the hotel for years, claims to know every inch of the building, and says there's a well in the cellar that will bestow forgiveness on any who drinks from it. He seems to know a great deal about the staff, too. And Berenice draws all eyes to herself on her first night in the hotel, when she seems to go into a trance and declares that 'a lady with flowers tattooed on her forearm' is in terrible danger. When she's escorted from the dining hall, Nora returns to her own room to apply panstick to her distinguishing mark, a tattoo of a chrysanthemum surrounded by little pink dots, like nettle rash. It's worth noting that Hokey Pokey, in this instance, is the name of a cocktail made from absinthe and stinging nettles (recipe provided). Arthur treats Nora to several of these.

The shifting relationships between Nora and Arthur, and Nora and Berenice, begin to feel even more claustrophobic when trains to and from the city are cancelled due to a freak snowstorm. And Nora's goal metamorphoses, from listening to -- and 'recording' -- every word Berenice says (or sings), to a desire to know Berenice for herself.

This was an original, and extremely atmospheric, horror novel: beautifully written with considerable psychological depth, and revealing its secrets with tantalising langour. It's a love story, a story of professional rivalry, a tale of the supernatural: I liked it very much.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance review copy, in exchange for this full honest review. UK publication date is 8th June 2023.

This is a surprising read you start off thinking it is a detective story trying to find out if a famous wife is involved in adulterous behaviour but it is much more than that.
A dark fantasy novel with a surprising conclusion.

First things first, thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy for the book and for giving me the chance to read it.

Overall, it is an entertaining and easy to read book, something that is appreciated when you are not a native English speaker. The writer's prose is beautiful and narrative, so the plot is easy to follow and also immerses you completely in the setting and era of the book.

However, the main problem for me is that the book is not what I expected. I thought I was going to find a very Agatha Christie-esque murder mystery, but it ended up being something more akin to supernatural horror, which is not my kind of book at all. Also, the pacing of the book is strange and sometimes takes you out of the narrative a bit: the beginning of the book is slow and too long, while the end feels rushed. It devotes too much space to some parts while others happen too fast, and sometimes that is annoying for the reader.

Even so, I want to highlight the characters, which are interestingly constructed. I loved following their stories and the way in which some of them converged with others as the story progressed, so much so that I would have liked to know more about them. This, coupled with the twist at the end, means that I liked the book despite it not being what I expected it to be.

In conclusion, it is a fun story that can captivate anyone who comes looking for something full of horror and supernatural, as well as interesting characters. For me, personally, it is a three star read for everything I've said.

I requested this book based on the cover and the description which made me expect a stuck at a house party ( or hotel in this case) due to the weather vibe from the 1920's an Agatha Christie type feeling. This wasn't at all what I got. This was more a supernatural horror book and should really be marketed as such. It really wasn't my thing and I wouldn't have requested it if I has known. I struggled through the start where it seems to drag and came so close to not finishing I just didn't enjoy it sorry.. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Hokey Pokey is a dark and unnerving horror novel that packs a genuine thrill factor and an engrossing storyline. I found myself, at first, liking our protagonist and her undercover persona, however we quickly learn that there is a lot more to Nora than meets the eye. Full of gory twists and turns, this book blends fantasy and historical fact to create a stunning portrait of hotel life.

I also found this vaguely reminiscent of the pandemic and lockdown, with everyone being stuck in the hotel due to the storm, raising questions about how human nature fares under pressure, and how madness can ensue when people are forced into confined spaces and restricted of the freedom to wander.

I read this whole book in once sitting and this just goes to show how enthralled I was. I have read previous novels by Kate Mascarenhas and whilst continuing her brilliance at blending realism and not-so-realism, this is a very different vibe from those I have read before and I have to conclude that this was an extremely brilliant venture into the world of horror writing.