Random Killer

Pierre Chambrun Mystery #14

by Hugh Pentecost

The night before an interview with a terrorist, a reporter is killed at the Beaumont HotelFor a madman with an itch to kill someone famous, there could be no better venue than the Beaumont Hotel—Manhattan’s headquarters for the international elite. The omniscient manager Pierre Chambrun oversees the landmark, with the help of his press man, Mark Haskell. When the rich and famous arrive, Chambrun and Haskell can help them hide from the limelight or bask in it. But it’s difficult to keep a low profile when death comes to call. Geoffrey Hammond is one of the world’s most respected—and loathed—television journalists. A fearless questioner of presidents and kings, he is in New York preparing an interview with an infamous Middle Eastern terrorist. But when the room service waiter comes to collect his breakfast tray in the morning, the journalist has been strangled. It will take all Chambrun’s powers to solve this mystery—especially since the future of the Middle East is at stake.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

223 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1979

About the author

Hugh Pentecost was a penname of mystery author Judson Philips. Born in Massachusetts, Philips came of age during the golden age of pulp magazines, and spent the 1930s writing suspense fiction and sports stories for a number of famous pulps. His first book was Hold 'Em Girls! The Intelligent Women's Guide to Men and Football (1936). In 1939, his crime story Cancelled in Red won the Red Badge prize, launching his career as a novelist. Philips went on to write nearly one hundred books over the next five decades.

His best-known characters were Pierre Chambrun, a sleuthing hotel manager who first appeared in The Cannibal Who Overate (1962), and the one-legged investigative reporter Peter Styles, introduced in Laughter Trap (1964). Although he spent his last years with failing vision and poor health, Philips continued writing daily. His final novel was the posthumously published Pattern for Terror (1989).

Reviews

[Libbeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I collected loads of this Keyhole Crime series when I was young. They are numbered and take up a lot of shelf room, albeit they now live on a shelf in the attic. Many times over the years I have been tempted to just give the whole lot away but I'm glad I kept them, especially as I see they have become a bit of a collectors item. One day I will treck up to the attic and look at the summaries on the backs, as that is the only way I will remember what each one was about, and log them on Goodreads. Most of them are so old that no summary is offered on Amazon etc.

Hugh Pentecost was the pseudonym of Judson Philips (1903-1989), an American writer who also wrote thrillers under his own name.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy this series- I like the characters and the hotel setting. The only hiccup with this one was there was no follow-up on interviewing the elevator operator in the hotel who would have faced the mysterious killer when he entered the elevator. The operator who was ‘Zorba’s’ relief operator was questioned about physical characteristics but said the man was behind him in the car- anyway, good series- I would actually rate this a 3 ½ rounded up.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was just ok. Lots of characters to try and keep track of and a surprise visit out of state and away from the Beaumont - which was only a little interesting.