Many thanks to NetGalley and Allison & Busby Books for this Advanced Reader Copy and the opportunity to review “Murder at Claridge’s.” All opinions and comments are my own.

There’s bodies galore in “Murder at Claridge’s,” the third in the WWII-era hotel series by author Jim Eldridge. Including one very surprising one, that comes almost as a postscript to the rest of the story of murder and mayhem at one of the most prestigious hotels in the world.

Readers of history may recall that London hotels, especially the extra “fancy” ones, were home to some rather Important People during the war. We learn this rather quickly when there’s the gruesome killing of a foreign kitchen worker at Claridge’s, who just happens to be there waiting to carry out his assignment; assassinate one of the many foreign kings in residence at the hotel. This is the impetus for the arrival on the scene of the Honorable Edgar Walter Septimus Saxe-Coburg, more popularly known as DCI Edgar Saxe-Coburg of Scotland Yard. He’s always called in to work these sensitive cases because of the aristocratic connection, much to the chagrin of DCI Lomax, his enemy on the force, a fact well known to readers of earlier books.

Add in when things are not going his way for the head of a gang, that’s never going to end well. And our gang leader, “Hooky” Morton is going to deal with that in his own inimitable fashion. Cue main plotline #2. Hooky has plans for a lot of people, including the coppers who are giving him a very hard time. That will not bode well for someone we’ve come to know, as you’ll find out as the book winds down to its end. Hooky’s story has, shall we say, a fitting finish.

Oh, and did I mention the prostitution ring operating in the hotel? And the selling of fake officer commissions? And what’s Coburg’s “partner,” Sergeant Lampson’s cousin-in-law hiding from his wife? Pull up a chair and get comfy; there’s a lot going on in “Murder at Claridges.”

Jim Eldridge manages to keep it all straight for us, in fairly fast-paced fashion. Since this is a wartime-based story, you can pretty much guess there are going to be some wartime machinations at play here. Coburg even gets an audience with Charles de Gaulle. “Murder at Claridge’s” captures its time period well, the scenes of a bombed-out London reminding us of the terrible dangers that the citizens went through. Fans of WWII-themed mysteries should find this fits the bill nicely.

This is the third book I've read by this author and it didn't disappoint, love how there are twists and turns along the way.
Descriptive with a cast of good characters what more can u want

A reasonable historical crime thriller. I particularly liked the character of Rosa who brought a softness to an otherwise rather macho set of characters. The plot was very readable, I personally found the historical aspect and war references of most appeal.
Thanks to NetGalley and Allison & Busby for providing me with an Advance Reader's Copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

One of the Claridge's kitchen porters is found dead – strangled. He was a recent employee who claimed to be Romanian, but evidence suggests he may have been German. Detective Chief Inspector Coburg has to find out exactly who he was, and what he was doing at Claridge’s under a false identity. Once he has established those facts, he might get an insight into why he was killed, and who by. This author, who writes the Museum Mysteries series can do no wrong in my book. This story kept me glued to the pages from start to finish. His portrayal of the era and the hotel itself is enthralling. Every time I read a book by this author I am transported back in time and hate to come back to the present! Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review.

Detective Chief Inspector Edgar Saxe-Coburg is once again called in to investigate a murder in one of London’s top hotels. The hope is that his regal name and connection to the gentry will smooth the investigation with any of Europe’s exiled royals, many of whom stay at the hotel while war rages in their homelands.

There’s nothing cosy about this mystery series, indeed the depictions of the lives of real people trying to live through the Blitz can get quite dark, and yet it’s a relatively ‘light’ read in other respects. Perhaps because there is a very familiar pattern now to the series, and not so dissimilar from the author’s Museum mysteries either. Or probably because the story clips along at a pace, touching on dark topics but never lingering.

In this instalment we have mysterious murders of various immigrants, which feels a little too on the nose right now, to be honest. Then we have another plot strand dealing with London’s gangsters jostling for respect and territory both.

The main cast are all here, but there’s not a great deal of character development in either the book or the series in general. I don’t particularly like the way Rosa is written, she’s just a bit earnest somehow, and maybe even a little too ‘modern’. And I have to admit, I was rolling my eyes at DI Lomax having yet another appearance as the jealous, back-stabbing colleague convinced he’s hard-done by. Side-kick Sgt Lampson gets a nice little subplot, though, which I did think added to the period setting of the book.

I’m also not sure having Ian Fleming and brother as (minor) characters adds anything – it’s not unrealistic, per se, but it feels odd nonetheless. Similarly, I did also slightly wonder at some of the scenes given more emphasis than it felt they needed, such as the Princesses (Elizabeth and Margaret) giving a radio address, to add that ‘historical flavour’. Sometimes it just felt a bit like trying too hard, and definitely a little too much crammed in without any depth to it.

However, as I say, most of that can be allowed to sail over your head as the pace hurries along. I cannot, alas, feel anything other than jolted by the way DCI Coburg’s otherwise perfect policing is very unrealistically cast aside for one specific moment. I rolled my eyes yet more, thinking “Oh yeah – as soon as the plot needs it”, but it didn’t even seem that important. Certainly, the same result could have been handled with a little more thought and care, but it’s hard not to feel that these books are churned out a little too quickly for that.

Still, a diverting little read, and it does manage to capture the Blitz period mood well enough, with sufficient mystery to keep you guessing just enough. Not a must-read for me, but then I do keep coming back to the series for a less demanding kind of a read!

This is one intense, twisted, dark and addictive novel! Not only is this a very well-written book with wonderfully-interesting characters, but the suspense builds at just the right pace as the story unfolds. Compulsive, gripping and horrifying! Will keep you on the edge of your seat!

It is early in WWII in London. There are many European Kings, Queens, and politicians staying in the fancier hotels. Janos, a kitchen worker at Claridge's Hotel is found dead - strangled with a garrot! The hotel calls in Chief Inspector Lomax. However, almost immediately, the hotel asks for Detective Chief Inspector Edgar Saxe-Coburg, who will be more acceptable to the hotel guests. There are lots of important people staying at Claridge's, and they don't want a nobody hanging around. Unfortunately, Lomax is furious. However, Coburg realizes it would be good to ask for Lomax's help. At first, they think the killing had something to do with the ladies coming into the hotel through the kitchen to visit some of the men staying in the hotel, something Janos had objected to. Coburg believes that the method of killing might indicate the man isn't who he was pretending to be.

Then, Colburg finds out there is a man in the hotel who is selling military commissions, and not coming forth with the commissions. He manages to put a hidden microphone in the room and set up two police in the next room to write down what's said. This leads to finding out the man is also collecting money for stolen oil and gas deliveries from a local gangster. In less than two weeks, there are 7 bodies, three of them dead by garroting and the others shot. It soon appears that there are two separate cases going on, probably something to do with spies and a gangster war. However, the gangsters are willing to kill anyone in their way, including the police! Can Coburg solve the cases before someone shoots him or his wife?

3.7 Stars

One Liner: Interesting and entertaining but has too many subplots

An unsuspecting kitchen porter from Claridge’s has been murdered (garroted to be precise). He was a Romanian who did his job and kept to himself. Why would anyone want to kill him? Was he silenced or prevented from causing damage?
With WWII raging in the backdrop, many of the world’s important personalities are staying at Claridge’s. Inspector Coburg knows the case is more complicated than it appears. As if that’s not enough, he has to deal with another inspector who hates him, established illegal market dealers, and more!
Can Coburg get to the root of the case and solve the others before things get out of control?
This is the third book in the series and my first. It did take me a while to get hang of the characters. The book can be read as a standalone, though it would make more sense if we knew who was who from the beginning.
• There’s a bit of info dump at random places. I’m not sure I want to read the entire transcript of Princess Elizabeth’s radio speech. It doesn’t add anything to the story. A mention of it would’ve done the job.
• The story is most tell and no show, which works for a mystery. I got the information about the case without any elaborate descriptions.
• Coburg is a likable and amicable character. Lampson and Rosa were interesting, though I wish the women were better written. They needed to be fleshed out more.
• What didn’t work for me were the multiple subplots. Some were solved a bit too easily, and a few distracted me from the actual case. I understand the police and Yard usually have a lot going on at once, but we don’t need all of it.
• Moreover, the primary case wasn’t resolved the way it should have been. It felt a little bland and doesn’t satisfy the mystery lover in me.
• That said, I didn’t feel bored when reading the book, so I will read the next (and the previous ones) to see how I feel about the series. I rather liked Inspector Coburg, so he deserves another chance. ;)

To sum up, Murder at Claridge's is an interesting historical mystery set in the WWII backdrop if we ignore the excessive subplots. It would be fun reading the next books in the series.
Thank you, NetGalley and Allison & Busby, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own

Thanks to Allison & Busby and Net Galley for this ARC. Another great book in another great series form Jim Eldridge. I wasn't too sure when i first heard of this new series set in WW2 London but they are even better than the museum detectives! Looking forward to the next in both series'.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Allison & Busby for an advance copy of Murder at Claridges, the third novel in the Hotel Mysteries series, set in London in 1940 and featuring DCI Edgar Saxe-Coburg of Scotland Yard.

A kitchen porter at Claridges Hotel is garrotted. The hotel is home to several European royals and politicians in exile, so diplomacy in the form of DCI Coburg is called for. His first task is to establish who the victim was as he probably isn’t the Romanian he claims to be.

I enjoyed Murder at Claridges, which is a lightweight look at London during the Blitz. It is the first novel I have read by this author, so I had no preconceptions. Firstly I will say that it works as a stand-alone as I had no issue with joining mid series, everything is well explained and there are no hangovers from previous novels, or if there are, it’s not obvious.

The author does a good job of setting the wartime scene through various characters, their actions and what they see. It’s not profound but does the job, especially as readers have so many pictures of Ukraine as a reference point in terms of bomb damage and personal suffering.

The author’s approach to structuring his novel is not to my taste. It constantly switches point of view and plot line, so all the to-ing and fro-ing never gave me a chance to really sink my teeth into the narrative and get wholly immersed. There are two main plots, the garrotting and the doings of a local gangster, but various subsidiary crimes come to light as well. There is a lot going on, but the resolutions are decidedly inconclusive. It’s probably realistic, but not very satisfying for the reader.

I didn’t like the way the female characters are portrayed, either overly emotional or duplicitous. Even Coburg’s wife, Rosa, who wants medical training is not taken seriously. The men, obviously, are out doing manly things.

Murder at Claridges is an easy way to pass a few hours.

WWII London is a happening place and Claridge's is no exception! In this new Hotel Mystery, DCI Coburg must take over another touchy murder, a kitchen worker killed on site. With several exiled members of Europe's royal families, the hotel wants to keep the investigation quiet but Coburg will have a difficult time since the dead man is a refugee working under an assumed name. As he investigates, he discovers affairs, political intrigue and other criminal behavior.

The characters are so well done and wartime London comes to life, I love Jim Eldridge's historical mysteries. Thank you to #NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of #AMurderatClaridges.

I received this ARC via Netgalley and Allison & Busby, in return for an honest review. While the fourth book in this series, it is easily read as a standalone. I delight in any book by the author, Mr. Jim Eldridge. In this WWII English series, the London Blitz is well underway and things look bleak for everyone except the Germans. Multiple governments are in exile in London with spies, counterspies, and infiltrators everywhere. Add in war profiteers and black marketers to make a very unpleasant and dangerous time to be a London resident or a police officer.
Several plots and subplots are woven into this story. The book begins with a black marketeer/criminal gang leader discovering discrepancies in his books and resolving to make the guilty party pay. In the meantime, Mayfair Detective Inspector Lomax receives a call that a Romanian kitchen staff person has been garroted outside the luxury Claridge’s Hotel. Delighted with an opportunity to solve a murder that raises his personal profile, Lomax is disgusted when the police leadership reassign the case to his perceived arch-nemesis. Aristocratically born Detective Chief Inspector Edgar Saxe-Coburg doesn’t set out to be the ‘go-to’ choice for aristocratic crimes but he does have the ability to navigate the murky waters of the upper crust. When a second person is garroted and there’s no direct link between the two cases, DCI Saxe-Coburg decides to enlist DI Lomax’s help in working the cases. Lomax sees this as another opportunity to be slighted but agrees to go along.
Saxe-Coburg’s wife, Rosa, is volunteering as a London ambulance driver since her evening work of singing and playing piano has mostly dried up. When her co-worker is killed by a building collapse and Rosa visits his widow, she’s horrified to find a third garroted body. What do they all have in common and how does the black market, the Free French, the governments in exile and the British government’s maneuverings all tie in?
Mr. Eldridge, once again, does an excellent job of drawing the reader into the time and the place. There are lots and lots of characters and you do wonder how he’ll manage to tie up all the loose threads. He does so in his usual well-written and well-researched manner. The story is engaging and I truly felt I was in that place and time. I look forward to the next book by Mr. Eldridge, either in this series or his Museum series.

It’s the 1940s and London is in the middle of wartime. A kitchen porter has been killed at the famous Claridge’s and the case is assigned to Detective Chief Inspector Coburg at Scotland Yard.
Hi wife is a famous singer who is moonlighting as an ambulance driver to help the war efforts. Coburg will use his wits and influence to solve this mystery of who done it and why.

This is not the first book in the series but I had no trouble jumping right in. The lives of many characters intertwine in this mystery and we’re left guessing right until the end. A very good read.

Thanks to the author, Allison & Busby and NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is the second book I have read in the Hotel Mysteries series by Jim Eldridge, and there is a lot going on. As always, I appreciate Eldridge's historical accuracy for this time period. I always learn fascinating tidbits about England during WWII.

But back to the plot or plots. Firstly, a kitchen worker has been strangled at Claridge's Hotel, but this is no ordinary murder...a garrote was used. The book takes place during WWII and many of the crowned heads of Europe as well as exiled government officials have taken up residence at the luxury hotel. Could this murder be tied to one of these VIPs? Detective Chief Inspector Coburg is called in to investigate. But that's not all. There also is a subplot dealing with feuding gangsters; another with a prostitution ring/person selling military commissions running out of Claridge's; and another with Coburg's sergeant's son, who has fallen in with a bad crowd; a small one about the sergeant's cousin. We also read again about the intense resentment that DCI Lomax feels for Coburg (Backstory: The powers-that-be want Coburg on this sensitive case even though Lomax was first assigned the case; this also happened in the second book. Coburg is the brother of a earl). This is a good addition to the series, but I do think there was way too much going on. Having said that, I will read subsequent books in the series.

Thank you to Allison & Busby and NetGalley for providing this ARC copy in exchange for my honest review. Murder at Claridge's will release April 21.

Third in a series with detective chief Inspector Coburg, this story takes place in 1940 London where a kitchen porter has been strangled. Complicating matters is that the hotel is filled with exiled Eastern European royalty. The hotels requests Coburg to investigate because of his notoriety and connections to the nobility. Conspiracies, cons, and wartime secrets abound.

I struggled with the points of view in the beginning. We followed the victims, a gangster, several police officers, Coburg’s wife, and the inspector. It was hard to know who our MC was because no one was given more attention than another.

The pacing was slow and the historical setup was heavy handed. For example, Princess Elizabeth’s entire radio speech was printed in order to set the wartime stage and there were long conversations about the RAF and the Luftwaffe to explain the nightly bombing. Facts about the case were told to one character and repeated to another and at times it seemed like the multiple investigations dragged.

There was little inward reflection by Coburg or anyone else. It was hard to know what anyone felt, so I couldn’t care about them. Maybe the previous books built up these personalities, but here they were just going through the motions. The resolution to the primary case felt rushed, and it often felt like I was reading a report of what happened instead of a novel.

I want to start off by saying how superb the setting was. I’ve read a number of historically set mysteries and often times they don’t capture the essence of their time period. Murder at Claridge’s was an absolute treat in this respect. The plot was interesting, too, especially since there was a lot of action, however, I really struggled to delve deeply into it and didn’t retain much. With so much going on, I found it hard to connect with any of the characters which is a big must for me. So much of the writing remained on the surface. I must point out that I hadn’t realized that this was the third book in the series. An oversight on my part. I might feel differently if I started from the beginning. Given how much I enjoyed the old-timey vibe of the book, I might do this in the future. I definitely recommend this to people who like a plot-thick book.

Thank you to Allison & Busby and NetGalley for providing this ARC copy in exchange for my honest review.

Fancying something slightly different from the normal crime/thriller department, I thought that this one might do the trick. For once, I was proved right, not that I am usually wrong mind you.
An enjoyable period crime story, although some may find it a little light, but I enjoyed this nice easy read..
Certainly an author to keep in mind if I fancy something similar in the future.

I do enjoy the hotel and museum series by Jim
Eldridge - the characters are very personable (for the most part!) and you feel you’d like them in person. This one felt like it had a lot of action, and yet I felt slightly left short... we never found out exactly who did the garrotte murders, or why the Romanian kitchen porter was chosen (other than maybe he worked in Claridges, but why him?), the gangster thing petered out instead of delivering a satisfying court case, and whatever happened to the prostitution ring/black market skimming/selling commissions? If there had been a little more tidying up, this would have been an excellent 4 or maybe even 5 stars for me.

I received a free ARC copy of this via NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.

I'm a big fan of Jim Eldridge's museum mystery series, which features a male retired police detective and female archaeologist investigating murders at—you guessed it: British museums!— in the late 1800s. I somehow had missed the fact that he also writes a hotel mysteries series set in WWII London where the murders happen at—you guessed it: British hotels! This new-to-me series is every bit as engaging as the one I've been following. The different setting and cast of characters gives reader access to a world very different from the one in the museum series.

In this volume, a kitchen worker has been murdered outside Claridge's. This poses certain problems as a great many leaders and royals from mainland Europe have taken up residence in Claridge's after fleeing their home countries. DCI Coburg, the younger brother of a member of the aristocracy, is called in to take over the investigation because higher-ups trust him not to ruffle feathers while investigating. Coburg find that the kitchen worker is essentially a man without an identity, whose presence in Britain may or may not be a threat. Coburg also finds himself investigating a prostitution ring serving Claridge's residents (more need for not ruffling feather).

The pacing here is lively. The secondary characters are well-developed, and the depictions of life in London during the Blitz are both stark and moving. If you enjoy detective or WWII fiction, you have a real treat ahead of you. Read Murder at Claridge's—and check out Eldrige's museum mysteries as well. You have many happy hours of reading ahead of you.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.

Jim Eldridge’s Murder at Claridge’s features his “Hotel Detective”, DCI Edgar Saxe-Coburg. This book is the third in the series, with previous books dealing with murders at the Ritz and the Savoy. Eldridge is currently writing two series: these Hotel Detective novels set during the Blitz and the “Museum Detective” mysteries set in late Victorian times. Both are excellent.

There are several strands to the novel, starting with a gangland leader, Hooky Morton, dealing with a disloyal subordinate. There is also a kitchen porter at Claridge’s who doesn’t make it past the end of Chapter two. Eldridge does a brilliant job of using these two events as the triggers for tragic sequences. We also see Saxe-Coburg’s wife, Rosa Weeks, a famous singer, in her role as a volunteer ambulance driver. Again, that gets woven into the tapestry as it impinges upon the other threads. Claridge’s was the home to several exiled royal families during WWII and the owner, Rupert D'Oyly Carte, is keen that Edgar leads the investigation into the porter’s murder. Edgar’s upper-class background helps to open doors and his diplomacy encourages cooperation, much to the disgusted jealousy of his rival, DI Lomax.

The novel is fast-paced, covering just one week, and there are no slow chapters. The plot is taut and we feel involved. I think Eldridge’s skill here is the natural dialogue: there isn’t lots of shouting, nor running around – people move apace but there are no melodramatic foot-chases or car-chases around the streets of London. Death was a common event during the Blitz and that’s how it’s treated here. I think it’s fair to say that Jim Eldridge is one of my favourite authors and I was delighted to receive an Advanced Readers’ Copy of the book to review – thank you, Allison & Busby.

#MurderatClaridges #NetGalley