The 14 Dilemma

Pierre Chambrun Mystery #12

by Hugh Pentecost

Hugh Pentecost. Worldwide paperback 1990 First Thus. Pristine/Mint, . No spine crease, shiny and bright, minimal age tanning. Private Collection

Genres: Mystery

184 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1976

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

[Leo G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good a the others I have read in the series. Perhaps because of the particular political topics it seems not to have aged as well. Still enjoyable.

[Bev · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pierre Chambrun is the master of all he surveys at New York's legendary Hotel Beaumont. Nothing is allowed to interfere with the comfort of his guests and the smooth-running efficiency of his hotel staff. Nothing that is until the Watson family shows up for an all-expenses paid week of luxury courtesy of the Carlton's Creek lottery. It all starts as a dream for George, Helen, and twelve-year-old Marilyn--a sumptuous suite on the exclusive fourteenth floor, rubbing elbows with sheikhs and French movie stars and Greek millionaires along with brainy chess champions and the rich and idle; a new wardrobe; and a night at the theater.

But then Marilyn, a lovely young girl who can neither hear nor speak, sees the wrong thing at the wrong time and winds up brutally murdered. More deaths follow and it's all Chambrun can do to keep his fourteenth floor from becoming the most luxurious morgue ever. Before it's over he will take on a hard hat protest group, a former Nazi collaborator, a killer-for-hire, the U.S. State Department, and anyone else who gets in the way of his search for justice for a young girl who just wanted the joy of experiencing new things.

Chambrun's staff are more like family than employees and when the killer makes things personal and threatens Chambrun's secretary as well as another staff member, the gloves come off and the hotel manager pulls out all the stops to save his people and see that the villain is made to answer for his crimes. His experience in the French Resistance during World War II comes in mighty handy.

This is the twelfth installment in Pentecost's series starring Pierre Chambrun. It's exciting and fast-paced, but a fair amount of belief suspension is in order. A hotel manager who can hold off known international killers and government heavies? Not a fairly clued mystery, but it is interesting to see how Chambrun handles the situation and manages to discover the culprit. ★★★ for a solid, fast-paced mystery.

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.

[Susan]

DNF at 100 pages