Series
Publication
Headline Book Publishing (1997), 406 pages
Original publication date
1996
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Description
Internationally acclaimed Martha Grimes once again turns her hand to crafting a story of such rich atmosphere and intricate suspense that she transports the reader to a world unlike any other. A once-fashionable, now fading resort hotel. A spinster Aunt living in an attic. Dirt roads that lead to dead ends. A house full of secrets and old, dusty furnishings, uninhabited for almost half a century. A twelve-year-old girl with a passion for double-chocolate ice-cream sodas, and decaying lake-fronts, and an obsession with the death by drowning of another young girl, forty years before. Like all important events in the past, there are repercussions and ramifications in the present. In the world as seen by Martha Grimes, those repercussions simmer and seethe and wind their way through hearts and souls. The ramifications can be subtle. Or exhilarating. Passionate. And they can also be deadly. Hotel Paradise is a delicate yet excruciating view of the pettiness and cruelty of small town America. It is a look at the difficult decisions a young girl must make on her way to becoming an adult and the choices she must make between right and wrong, between love and truth, between life and death. It is a novel with extraordinary range and depth that ultimately becomes a thrilling morality play. With its narrative grace, its compelling characters, and its moment-to-moment suspense, Hotel Paradise is Martha Grimes at the top of her form.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member justchris
Finished today: Hotel Paradise by Martha Grimes. I've read a few of her Inspector Jury novels and found them interesting, but not enough to zealously pursue the entire series. This novel was very good, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Narrated by a 12-year-old girl in a small town investigating the
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mysterious death of a 12-year-old girl forty years ago, it reminds me a great deal of To Kill a Mickingbird. That same exquisite portrayal of largely unspoken events with only limited understanding by the protagonist and a wonderful internal monologue that certainly sounds realistic and often quite amusing. This is an even-paced exploration of small-town life, growing into maturity, and the mysteries of life. Unlike many modern novels, this story does not rely on myriad characters, crescendoing suspense and danger, or fast-paced, multitudinous, and ever-twisting plotlines, with everything neatly displayed and wrapped in a bow at the end. This story ends with greater clarity and understanding, true, but many details remain only hinted at or unresolved, reflecting the fact that life consists of many uncertainties, even at the best of times. Show Less
LibraryThing member EmScape
Every time I read this book, I love it a little bit more. Grimes' 12-year-old protagonist, whose name we do not learn until the last chapter, investigates the local mystery of the death by drowning of another 12-year-old girl 40 years ago. She traverses the area around her small Appalachian town of
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Spirit Lake, speaks to interesting people, and describes her adventures in a way that is both poetic and true to her age. In fact, one of the most remarkable things about the book is the voice of its narrator. She is at once wise beyond her years, immature, and precocious. She admits she is not privy to information about sex, the proper names of flora and fauna, or the seemingly contradictory motivations of the grownups around her. However, she seems to get on best with people who are much, much older than her and has a way of getting them to talk to her like she is a person instead of just a kid. She muses about herself and what qualities she must have to be able to blend in at some times, and at other times inspire folks to take notice. I just love her, if you can't tell. When I was younger, I used to pretend I was her and try to start conversations with old folks. Unfortunately (for me), she had much more interesting people around to talk to! Show Less
LibraryThing member Camethyste
I tried to read this and just couldn't get into it. So much description and so little happening. It left me bored and I only managed to read 88 pages.
LibraryThing member krsball
One of my favorite books by a favorite author. Great story.
LibraryThing member cyderry
This was the second book that I picked for the 12 hour mystery-thon. I tried and read 85 pages but the story and style just couldn't grab my attention. I could never recommend this book to anyone. I do not see what the hype about this series could ever be about..
LibraryThing member 391
Hotel Paradise is a very pretty, meandering book. The writing style is excellent but does occasionally get very dreary. The mystery is more of a background to the story, a place holder set out to stabilize things while we get to tour through the vast cast of characters.
LibraryThing member SandiLee
Hotel Paradise was better than I expected though not as good as some of the critics quoted on the cover claim. The characters are engaging, the setting is rich and clear, and the pacing is well done. When she's not waiting tables at the hotel owned by her shut-in great aunt and run by her
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industrious mother, twelve-year-old Emma helps the sheriff write parking tickets, sips soda at the town diner, and generally pokes her nose in where it doesn't belong. Fascinated by a young girl who drowned mysteriously 40 years prior, Emma sifts through old newspapers, visits the girl's abandoned family home, and interviews just about everyone over 40 in her town and the next. Like young Flavia De Luce of The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, Emma doesn't relate to kids her own age, but keeps to herself and lives more in her own head than anywhere else. Although I'm a Flavia fan, Grimes writes Emma so believably it's easy to forget all about Flavia while reading. I wouldn't say Grimes writing is "poetry" as one critic suggests, but Emma is fully human - excited, confused, variable, in love with her mother's cooking, growing up in fits and starts, and sometimes questioning her own sanity - and I'm looking forward to finding out where she goes next. Show Less
LibraryThing member Condorena
Interesting book but slow over all.
LibraryThing member nmele
Bored by her series mysteries? This is a different, very interesting mystery and coming of age novel set somewhere kind of rural and kind of scenic. A fun read.
LibraryThing member Ma_Washigeri
I'm waiting for the third book Martha Grimes has written about Emma Graham to be posted from America. Meanwhile I am re-reading this and Cold Flat Junction. I suspect these books are set in scenes the author is familiar with from childhood because the writing evokes the place and time so richly.
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This might be why I place them so high in my estimation - far above anything else I have read by the same author. I am totally captivated by the 'I' of the story and love the shifting sands of knowledge through the books and how the books both stand so complete without pinning anything down. My partner read them in the 'wrong' order and enjoyed them just as much - in fact he rated Cold Flat Junction highest and I put Hotel Paradise marginally on top. Show Less
LibraryThing member EdGoldberg
I originally liked Hotel Paradise. I liked the descriptive way it was written. I liked the 12 year old protagonist who had the insight of an older person. I liked the idea that Grimes started the book by our protagonist saying she thought she knew who killed Fern but then didn't mention Fern again
But that, too, was a problem because the book dragged. I stopped reading at page 217, not wanting to read another 130 pages to get to the end. The plot inched along instead of moving at a reasonable pace.
I'm a Martha Grimes/Richard Jury fan and the book flap of Hotel Paradise got my attention, but the book just couldn't hold it.
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for another 150 pages, so you got to wondering.But that, too, was a problem because the book dragged. I stopped reading at page 217, not wanting to read another 130 pages to get to the end. The plot inched along instead of moving at a reasonable pace.
I'm a Martha Grimes/Richard Jury fan and the book flap of Hotel Paradise got my attention, but the book just couldn't hold it.
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LibraryThing member Ma_Washigeri
I'm waiting for the third book Martha Grimes has written about Emma Graham to be posted from America. Meanwhile I am re-reading this and Cold Flat Junction. I suspect these books are set in scenes the author is familiar with from childhood because the writing evokes the place and time so richly.
Show More
This might be why I place them so high in my estimation - far above anything else I have read by the same author. I am totally captivated by the 'I' of the story and love the shifting sands of knowledge through the books and how the books both stand so complete without pinning anything down. My partner read them in the 'wrong' order and enjoyed them just as much - in fact he rated Cold Flat Junction highest and I put Hotel Paradise marginally on top. Show Less
Language
Original language
English
ISBN
0747251355 / 9780747251354
Physical description
406 p.; 7.05 x 4.37 inches
Pages
406