Death
at the Old Hotel
A Brian McNulty
Mystery
Con Lehane
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-312-32300-X (031232300X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-32300-4 (9780312323004)
Publication Date: June 2007
List Price: $24.95
Synopsis (from
the publisher): Tensions are high and the dangers multiply as New York
City bartender and man-about-the-mean-streets Brian McNulty---always a
sucker for the plight of the little guy---joins forces with a motley
crew of workers from the old Savoy Hotel.
McNulty has once more run afoul of the powers that be in the New York
City hotel and restaurant industry and finds himself exiled to a
down-at-the heels hotel in, for him, the far reaches of
civilization---Manhattan, west of Eighth Avenue. Not long into his
tenure, a vicious attack on one of his fellow bartenders raises the
stakes and puts everyone on edge, and it doesn’t take much
for the hotel manager to provoke the outraged workers into a strike.
Once they hit the bricks, all hell breaks loose, and it isn’t
long until the bodies start to fall.
The cops focus in on two of McNulty’s pals, a renegade
Irishman and a pretty, young waitress from Brooklyn, both with closets
full of secrets and buckets full of problems of their own. McNulty
thinks the cops, as usual, are barking up the wrong tree, but
that’s the least of his problems. The hits in this particular
instance have angered the gods of gangsterland, and someone has
determined that McNulty is a problem.
Review:
Bartender Brian McNulty comes to the aid of Barney Saunders, a fellow
barman, in Death at the Old Hotel, the third mystery in this series by
Con Lehane.
It is Christmas-time in New York City. The hotels are all booked up and
the restaurants have reservations for holiday parties. The bars are
crowded – which is good news for Brian McNulty who tends bar at
the
Savoy Hotel. When
goons attack his friend Barney, Brian decides it is time to make this
outrage his business. Barney, Brian and others have
been trying to get new blood in the union hierarchy because the
present bosses are blatantly corrupt as are the hotel owners who
trade favors and money with each other and members of the mob. Brian
believes this is why Barney was beaten as he had been more vocal
than others about the problem. Neither Brian nor Barney are anti-union;
in fact
they feel they need the union, just not a corrupt one.
When one of the
Savoy’s nastier bosses creates an ugly scene with one of the
waitresses on an exceptionally busy night, the kitchen staff, wait
staff, bus boys and bartenders walk out and start a picket line the
next day. Everyone except Barney, that is, who has gone
into hiding. Brian tries again to talk to the union bosses, but is
told to get out and follow the union’s orders. No more talking!
But when the talking stops, the murders begin. Not only does Brian feel
he
has to investigate the disappearance of Brian, he commits himself
to help solve the murders that follow.
Lehane seamlessly interleaves several storylines in Death at the Old Hotel,
including illegal immigration, the problems of a divorced couple with a
teenage son, an illicit love affair, and even an alley cat, into an
intriguing murder mystery. There are any number of suspects, and
McNulty – the bartender and confidant – must distinguish
between what is true and what isn't in order to solve the crimes.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Death at the Old Hotel and to Breakthrough Promotions for providing a copy of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2007 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.
Mysteries in this series ...
Beware the Solitary Drinker
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), 2002
ISBN-10: 1-59058-016-8 (1590580168)
What Goes Around Comes Around
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover), 2005
ISBN-10: 0-312-32298-4 (0312322984)
Death at the Old Hotel
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover), 2007
ISBN-10: 0-312-32300-X (031232300X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-32300-4 (9780312323004)
Omnimystery keywords for Death at the Old Hotel
...
Location(s) referenced: New York City.