Murder at the Ivy Hotel

This is the debut children’s book from Irish author Emily Hourican.  The Ivy Hotel is a small but highly respected and much-loved hotel in Dublin.  The two main protagonists are sisters Meredith and Macy and they live at the hotel, together with their mother, who is the general manager.  When the hotel is taken over by new owners it looks as if there are going to be major changes.  However, what no one expected was for a guest to be found dead, and it was not from natural causes!  With the future of the hotel, the staff and the long-term guests at stake, the two sisters, together with their new friend Colin decide that they need to investigate, as the police think it was an accident.  What follows is a roller-coaster of a ride, with a wonderful cast of characters, but will they be able to solve the crime and save the hotel?

Crime has become one of the favourite genres of children’s literature, but it becomes increasingly difficult to find original themes and settings for the stories.  Luckily the author has brought us to the fresh territory of Dublin and what we would probably call a boutique hotel.  It definitely feels like somewhere you would like to stay, despite the incident.  Perhaps the closest equivalent that comes to mind is Agatha Christie’s “At Bertram’s Hotel”, which has that same sense of timeless gentility and service.  Whilst the murder is the central theme of the story there are also sub-plots around the potential changes to the hotel, together with the relationships between some of the characters.  Although I would not like to see any more murders in the hotel, I do hope that this band of crime solvers will be back in action before long.  This is a great read for all of those lovers of crime novels and will make a great addition to schools and libraries.