Where does this book belong? Like other readers, I embarked on this journey expecting a kitsch 1920s Agatha Christie style whodunnit. Snowed in Hotel - small group of characters, great style of writing. I feel a little deceived at the actual content story wise - fortunately I also love Fantasy and Sci-Fi genres so I was relatively happy with the way this panned out.

It's hard to write about this novel without giving spoilers, but I was jogging along nicely with the Agatha vibes until I got to part 2. Where it gets dark. Like - REALLY dark. Actually so dark (and this is a credit to the writing style) I had to put the book down and take a break (I think this was also due to the unexpected change of tone). In my Good Reads review I'm going to put a spoiler alert, because it probably needs a trigger warning.

If this sounds like I didn't enjoy the book you'd be wrong - I really loved the story actually - I just feel a little mis sold, and would have enjoyed the novel more if I'd have known what I was walking (or reading) up to.

It's very atmospheric, I really enjoyed the psychoanalysis of the characters and how this was woven into the tale, very gothic, unreliable narrator (or is she), all of thie things I really enjoy tightly knitted together in an enjoyable Fantasy Horror. This is a Fantasy Horror book gang - packaged up as something different. If you're in the market for a good horror - you'll enjoy this.

If you wanted a Historical WhoDunnit - you're about to be disappointed.

An atmospheric horror set in the early years of the 20th century. The Regent, home of the Hokey Pokey cocktail and the destination of psychoanalyst Dr Nora Dickenson. Nora is here to observe the opera singer Berenice Oxbow and report her findings to her former lover who just happens to be Ms Oxbow's husband. Sudden snow storms bind the guests to the mercy of the hotel and a mysterious predator who seems to know Nora and is keen to make her acquaintance again.

I finished this book 10 minutes before writing this... and I've been left with a feeling of - what on earth did I just read? So excuse the haphazard nature of my thoughts!

Firstly, the cover and the description of this book do NOT give a true idea as to what this book is about in my opinion.

I quite fancied a 20's murder mystery set in a hotel. The blurb literally says:

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 and Nora will find herself face to face with a past she thought she had long left behind...

But what we get instead is an almost horror story.

Trigger warnings: this book has dismemberment and cannibalism. I am not exactly feint-hearted but I know what I like and I do not like either of these things. Had they been included in the description or some form of inclination, I would have been able to make a judgement call early on.

I was also quite surprised that when I tried to find out what a Hyring was - I figured it was some form of mythical creature based on folklore - I couldn't find anything other than a load of IT recruitment sites.

I openly admit, this was first read of a book by this author - potentially I would have been more prepared if I'd read one of her previous works?

Did I enjoy this? No. Even at one point, The Bloke turned to me and asked - "Are you ok? You're not enjoying that are you?"

BUT I can appreciate a good story even if it's not my cup of tea. The writing is good and I think it was constructed well - the whodunnit was not obvious to me at all and take out the horror elements, I probably would have enjoyed it enough for 3.5/4 stars. But the lack of disclosure threw me enough - I would never have read it had I realised what I was signing up for.

It was surprising and intense. I really enjoyed it, and being set in 1929 just added to its charme.

Very enjoyable, or disturbing, take your pick.

Gosh.... this was much darker than I expected! A great sense of location - loved the descriptions of the hotel - and a very atmospheric novel. Beautiful descriptions and some brilliantly dark characters. I do think there's a bit of a disconnect between the cover and blurb and what's actually between the covers. This is a darker, more gothic and quite twisted tale than I'd anticipated. A good read, nonetheless, although outside what I'd usually read.

February 1929, set in The Regent Hotel in Birmingham, a glamorous, cocktail drinking murder mystery.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I requested to read this one, I wanted something out of my comfort zone. Even though it was horror, it was also mythical.

I enjoyed getting to know Nora, our FMC. I was engrossed in her childhood and what lead her to where she was. I was shocked at what she had to endure!!

The chapters were nice and short and Kate’s writing kept you turning those pages as you had to know what the hell was going on.

I don’t want to say too much but 100% recommend this, if you want something dark, mysterious and set in the 1920s!

Thank you Netgalley & Head of Zeus for supplying me a copy for an honest review

Makes me want to try a Hokey Pokey Cocktail now too.

What’s your favourite cocktail? I’ve got to love a White Russian!

Unfortunately I didn’t enjoy this book and didn’t finish it. From the start I found the main character difficult to believe in:The premise of the story was exactly the type of book ,and I loved the setting but sadly this time it just didn’t work for me,I appreciate the opportunity to have been sent a copy however.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5355980260

This just about hit four stars for me. A very readable psychological thriller with a supernatural twist. The creepy atmosphere built up well from the beginning. Setting the action in a snowed in hotel is a great touch which builds up the claustrophobia nicely, a la The Shining. The narrator is intriguing and I'm not sure I've come across anyone like her in other books. But it just didn't have the depth, especially towards the end, to tip it across from being good to being great.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC.

I should have loved everything about this book. A supernatural gothic-esque murder mystery set in the 1920s. But it fell flat for me.

It was a beautifully descriptive book but none of the characters held my attention and I felt nothing toward them. There wasn't one likeable character among them. (No sorry there was one, Enid, but she was more of a background character).

This book was a slog to read but I know people will love it and maybe if I'd read it during darker months I may have been more into it but, it just wasn't for me.

Not my usual read but I am so glad i did. It had me hooked the find out what was going to happen and I really loved the writing style. Would read more from the author.

I think the blurb could have been a little clearer. I went into this book thinking it would be a mystery, perhaps with a little bit of glamour, or even satire about the “bright young things”, but this quickly got replaced by a darker, more supernatural plot that wasn’t really for me.

Lurking inside this novel is something potentially rather interesting - heretically, I'd say 'chuck the Gothic elements and focus on the characters and the psychoanalysis'. As it stands, though, it's torn between faux-Gothic horror and 'a hotel where terrible things happen' cliche. I really wanted to like it, and I just couldn't.

I was a bit disappointed with this I’m afraid. Reading the synopsis I was rather expecting a murder mystery, what we actually get is more of a supernatural horror.
While it is well written, for me it gets rather bogged down with long descriptive passages. I don’t know if this meant that my mind wandered, but in places I felt that I must have missed parts of the plot as I’ve been left scratching my head in places.
Not for me, I’m sorry.

This is a twisty, dark, feat with a wild cast of characters. I thoroughly enjoyed. Huge thanks to the publisher for this ARC, via NetGalley.

I honestly don't know how to talk about this book without spoiling anything, but let me say: what a ride. I was pleasantly surprised... and disturbed.

Before starting it, I expected a typical closed-space murder mistery with a slightly creepy touch. Then, when I started reading it, I thought it would probably end up being a novel like "The seven deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle" (which I really liked). And indeed it was similar to Evelyn Hardcastle, but way more disturbing (in the best of ways) and less complicated. Reading Evelyn Hardcastle and keeping up with all the characters and changes. In this book, however, there's a good balance between mistery, details and action.

When I had read only like 50 pages I felt like I had already read like 200. The book is fast paced, with just the right amount of descriptions and details. You won't like the main character as a person: from moment one you will suspect her intentions, doubt her point of view and question her morals. That's what makes her so interesting as a character and a narrator. The psychology of all the main characters is very well developed, but in Nora's case that's specially true because the whole book's purpose is to make the reader know her. In the end, you want her to success, whatever she chooses to do, because you understand her.

The plot is intriguing, and makes you want to keep reading from the first chapter because you need to know what's going on. The author makes you feel that there's something off, something hidden, something you are missing. To me, that's the most important quality in a thriller(ish?) book: the ability to keep you intrigued and interested. And this book definitely does that. But it also adds a touch of horror, or maybe gothic fantasy? I don't know why genre to classify this in.

I really liked it. I wouldn't recommend it to everyone, but if you liked "The seven deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle" or "The Shining" movie (I have not read the book, shame on me) you will probably enjoy this one. PLUS, it's quite short (<300 pages), so even if you don't like it as much as I did, it will be an entertaining short read.

Finally, when you read the author's note, you can see how thorough the documentation process for the novel was. I specially liked the insight on female psychoanalysts.

I will definitely check other books by this author. Thanks so much to NetGalley for the eARC!

This book took me totally by surprise, I’ve never felt so deceived by a title and cover! It is dark, and bizarre and intriguing, and definitely not for the feint hearted. A unique and interesting story, but I got a bit frustrated with the feeling that I’d missed parts of the story somewhere and there were some unanswered questions that will forever bug me!

This was a surprising read, but an enjoyable one.

I have to say the cover and initial book blurb doesn't really give the full picture here. Yes, the tagline of "A grand hotel, a famous opera star and a psychoanalyst with a hidden agenda", is accurate but...that's leaving out a whole lot of weird, supernatural shit that dominates the book!

Luckily, I enjoy weird, supernatural shit, when it's written well. And this is written well. Hokey Pokey was a great page-turner, with a fun mystery and a very odd protagonist at it's core.

Great fun - I'll check out other books by this author.

PS - anyone else picture 'Hyrings' like those dog things from Ghostbusters?

Not really my cup of tea.
Very descriptive story which tends to bog it down a bit.
I was expecting a murder mystery but it is actually a fantasy horror story.
Like I said, it’s not my cup of tea.

What a deliciously dark read! Everything from the cover to the title drew me to this book although I would never have imagined where it would lead... A great read for those who can handle grotesque, stomach-turning scenes, and anyone who loves a mystery that keeps you questioning characters' intentions until the very end. Safe to say I'll be covering all mirrors before bed from now on!

Well, I absolutely loved this. The first part settled me in for how I expected the rest of the novel to go, then part 2 shakes things up, and from then on, I was truly on the edge of my seat the whole way.

Shocking scenes that are memorable and surprising, an intriguing backstory, lots of complicated but colourful characters along the way. This is hard to define in a genre, historical doesn't quite cut it- this really has everything and more!

An unforgettable rollercoaster ride that entertained, enthralled and disgusted in equal measure in the best possible way.

Superbly unique.