An Unwanted Guest
Author Bio:
The Opening:
From the Cover:
It's winter in the Catskills and Mitchell's Inn, nestled deep in the woods, is the perfect setting for a relaxing--maybe even romantic--weekend away. It boasts spacious old rooms with huge woodburning fireplaces, a well-stocked wine cellar, and opportunities for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, or just curling up with a good murder mystery. So when the weather takes a turn for the worse, and a blizzard cuts off the electricity--and all contact with the outside world--the guests settle in for the long haul. Soon, though, one of the guests turns up dead--it looks like an accident. But when a second guest dies, they start to panic. Within the snowed-in paradise, something--or someone--is picking off the guests one by one. And there's nothing they can do but hunker down and hope they can survive the storm.
It's winter in the Catskills and Mitchell's Inn, nestled deep in the woods, is the perfect setting for a relaxing--maybe even romantic--weekend away. It boasts spacious old rooms with huge woodburning fireplaces, a well-stocked wine cellar, and opportunities for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, or just curling up with a good murder mystery. So when the weather takes a turn for the worse, and a blizzard cuts off the electricity--and all contact with the outside world--the guests settle in for the long haul. Soon, though, one of the guests turns up dead--it looks like an accident. But when a second guest dies, they start to panic. Within the snowed-in paradise, something--or someone--is picking off the guests one by one. And there's nothing they can do but hunker down and hope they can survive the storm.
The Structure of An Unwanted Guest:
When we first arrive at Mitchell's Inn it seems that we are in for a cozy weekend with maybe a little domestic intrigues and interpersonal conflicts. Think again! Things deteriorate rapidly as bodies begin to accumulate. What could be the cause? There's no way he did it, or did she? Maybe there is an unknown party that came in out of the cold to wreak havoc on these unsuspecting vacationers. If anything it is a weekend getaway that some of them will never forget.
My Takeaway:
Overall this book kept my attention. Time and again it made me think of Agatha Christie stories like And Then There Were None, or Murder on the Orient Express. An Unwanted Guest was an engaging read, however unlike the Christie stories it brought to mind, a careful reader picks up on who the killer might be a bit more easily than any Agatha Christie novel I've ever read.
Who Should Read An Unwanted Guest?
If you enjoy a little suspense but not the bone chilling type that strays into horror, I think you'll enjoy this one. Should you be a reader that loves red herrings and twists and convolutions that make it impossible to determine "Whodunit," I'm not so sure that this will be the read for you.
