Hotel Paradise

By Martha Grimes

Group Reviews/Comments:

Loved this book. Loved the protagonist’s world. She was a good detective; she went out and figured stuff out, she was driven to do this. Great characters and loved her relationship with them. This is a story of a neglected child who has made her own world–a family–from the community around her. Great sense of a small town community.

Lovely! Beautifully written coming of age story with a mystery interwoven (could have been stronger). Sad sense of loss permeates but still room for a comic edge. Excellent characters, perceptive and elegant.

I was very frustrated reading this. Why was Ree-Jane so privileged? How did Lola Davidow get such sway over the hotel? Very frustrated that nobody cared about Emma. But I liked the writing, the characters and details. Writing was very good but the mystery wasn’t really there. Frustrating and sad, but good writing about a small town.

I enjoyed the first half but then it began to grate on me. Too overwritten. Needed a better editor. The precocious 12 year old writing did feel honest.

I couldn’t finish it. Too long, too much detail.

Suffered from too much detail. Read first third and then skipped to the end.

There is something so intriguing about the way a 12 year old thinks! But incredibly confusing.