Murder at the Hotel Orient
Hardback Published on: 30/04/2026
Price: £16.99
Synopsis
In modern Vienna, the infamous Hotel Orient glitters at the heart of the city, luring lovers inside for an evening of debauchery. Behind its velvet curtain, cameras are forbidden, aliases are required, and every guest has something to hide.
For those seeking illicit liaisons, Sterling Lockwood is the perfect concierge. Sultry and poised, she's the ultimate keeper of secrets, including her own.
But when dawn breaks and two of the anonymous guests are found dead in their suite, Sterling must break the Orient's sacred code of discretion, turning detective to find a killer and clear her own name.
Alongside Fernando, her quick-witted friend and bellhop, Sterling steps beyond the hotel's stained-glass doors, venturing from grand coffee houses where power whispers between porcelain cups, to dimly lit bars where the curious seek rapturous oblivion, and risking everything to solve an impossible case.
Publisher information
- Publisher: John Murray Press
- ISBN: 9781399823180
- Number of pages: 336
- Dimensions: 238 x 154 x 34 mm
- Weight: 528g
- Languages: English
Customer Reviews
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An electric debut!
Intricately plotted, with surprises behind every door, Murder at the Hotel Orient is as witty as it is mysterious, with the most swoon-worthy cast of chara... READ MORE
Check into 2026’s most mysterious and saucy mystery…you’re in for a very good time!
Back in 2023 I had the privilege of meeting Alessandra Ranelli at Capital Crime and really enjoyed hearing about her book and its setting - Vienna’s infamo... READ MORE
Decadent, mysterious and addictive
A Perfect Escape to Vienna
This locked room mystery places a very modern protagonist in the classic setting of the Hotel Orient, home of rotary phones and temperamental elevators. It... READ MORE
Entertainment golden age style mystery
Well I’ve learned something today! This golden age style tart noir thriller is set in the present in what I now know is a real hotel in Vienna. Hotel Ori... READ MORE
Not for the prudish!
This was an unusual read and not for the prudish! Sterling Lockwood, concierge at the Hotel Orient, a pay by the hour establishment where discretion is key... READ MORE
Evocative mystery
Set in the modern day this delightfully quirky love hotel harks back to the Golden Age of movies, a place where cameras are forbidden, identities are hidde... READ MORE
Raunchy, clever, and well-crafted; a modern take on Golden Age mysteries
Vienna-based debutant Alessandra Ranelli offers something rather different with her first mystery: a raunchy whodunnit which upturns expectations and layer... READ MORE
The darker side of Vienna
As the author says in the dedication, the book is extremely "slutty", but not graphic. The novel has a slow start and a very odd sense of humour.
The Ho... READ MORE
Moody, dark and a little bit smutty
In the dedication the author apologises to her English teacher for her first book being a bit smutty. She was right it is smutty and kinky, somewhat morall... READ MORE
Twisty Mystery
A fun, twisty mystery. I really enjoyed it. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC.
Stylish, twissty and spicy
Wow — Murder at the Hotel Orient completely took me by surprise. At first, I thought Alessandra Ranelli’s lush, almost gothic prose might be a bit too much... READ MORE
Different !
Different ! That’s one way to describe this book!
Classic crime full of twists and more than a hint of spice thrown in for good measure .
The Hotel Orie... READ MORE
Five stars!
Murder at the Hotel Orient by Alessandra Ranelli is a sharp and atmospheric book set in modern-day Vienna, where secrets are currency and every guest hides... READ MORE
ding dong ?️!
A riotous debut novel with a vivid setting in Vienna‘s Hotel Orient, a pleasure Palace reminiscent of Weimar period Germany.Our protagonists are Sterling L... READ MORE
Evocative and Sassy
I was hypnotised by this clever and original thriller. The characters are strong and the setting is unique and well drawn. It's a fun and exciting read
clever, quirky and twisty mystery
This book was not what I was expecting but was exactly what I needed! Fun, flirtatious, fascinating and frothing with frivolous flirtation and heaped up wi... READ MORE
A new take on the hotel whodunit
This is a new take on the hotel-based whodunit. Perhaps not the setting that Agatha Christie would have used and not my own preferred genre. However, the s... READ MORE
European noir
Set in a glamorous hotel in Vienna, the Hotel Orient asks all guests to leave their phones and cameras in a safe before they can go to their room, everyone... READ MORE
Brilliant Vienna mystery
I loved this book, it is so fresh and interesting, and really funny. Sterling Lockwood, an American with a mysterious past, is the concierge of the Hotel O... READ MORE
A fund and brilliant debut!
Murder at the Hotel Orient by Alessandra Ranelli is a fun read and a brilliant debut!
It centres on the Hotel Orient in Vienna. I didn’t realise, but ... READ MORE
seductive mystery
Hotel Orient is a sultry, stylish mystery that oozes charm and danger in equal measure. Set in Vienna’s most infamous love hotel—where anonymity is sacred ... READ MORE
Love the dry humour
This was a murder mystery with a touch of dry humour. Set in a hotel that specialised in providing a room for an illicit liaison, two bodies are found dea... READ MORE
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