Wednesday, February 22, 2012

The Grand Babylon Hotel by Arnold Bennett


The Grand Babylon Hotel


Situated discreetly down a side street on the Embankment of London, the Grand Babylon is an exclusive establishment that caters to the wealthy and titled. It is ruled by the three gods - " Jules, the headwaiter, Miss Spencer, the bureau clerk, and, most powerful of all, Rocco, the renowned chef " - and if there is one type of guest they completely abhor it is rich Americans.

When multi-millionaire American , Theodore Racksole and his daughter , Nella, come to stay the sparks begin to fly. It is Nella's birthday and she requests a filleted steak and a bottle of Bass for dinner, an order that Jules and Rocco take great pleasure in refusing. To solve the problem Theodore promptly buys the hotel but soon after strange things start happening. A German prince fails to arrive, Miss Spencer disappears, a young man attached to the prince is found dead........and the body also disappears. With the help of a nephew of the prince, Theodore and Nella set out to solve the mysteries.

What follows is a good old-fashioned detective adventure with a touch of romance thrown in . Highly improbable scenarios, nasty villains, kidnappings, secret passages with spyholes and lots of danger and lucky escapes make very entertaining and amusing reading.
Considering it was written and first published, in serial form, in 1902 I was impressed with Arnold Bennett's heroine. Nella is no timid Edwardian mouse , and although indulged and spoilt by her father, is a very independent and straight talking young woman who has no qualms about setting off alone in search of clues and waving a revolver in the faces of suspects.

Fun! I enjoyed it!

8 comments:

  1. I love the period, I love a mystery and this does sound good. I've heard of Arnold Bennett but not this book, so I'm off now to check my library catalogue.

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    1. I'm interested in reading more of his work and something less fluffy. Clayhanger seems to be the one most mentioned.

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  2. Sounds like a fun one. I don't thin I've read anything by Arnold Bennett.

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    1. This was the first of his I'd read and I don't think its typical of his work.

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  3. Oh, it sounds wonderful. This is the problem with hosting the Vintage Challenge....it keeps adding to my my TBR pile!

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    1. I didn't imagine I would read anything you hadn't read! Hope you'll enjoy if you do read it.

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  4. I've never read anything by this author, in fact, I'd never heard of him until I spotted your review. I am intrigued. This sounds like the sort of book I'd really enjoy.

    Enjoyed reading your review, as well, Cat.

    I hope I can find a copy here in this country. :)

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  5. Thanks Yvette - if you have an e-reader you can download free at Gutenburg or manybooks.

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