Murder In Luxury

Pierre Chambrun Mystery #16

by Hugh Pentecost

Rich, beautiful, lonely and in trouble, Valerie Summers arrived at New York's luxurious Hotel Beaumont dragging a trail of murder that baffled even the Beaumont's legendary manager, Pierre Chambrun. First, her mother, then a man she had crush on, then her husband, then her best friend, then a punk in her apartment--and now a dead cop in her hotel room. Was she the terrified victim of a killer with a grudge...or a monster hidden behind a lovely face?

Everybody is playing wild guessing games, but it's clear there's a killer out there, mad as a hatter, deadly as a cobra, circulating in Chambrun's world--watching...and waiting.

Genres: Mystery

182 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1981

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

[George · Rating 3 out of 5]

#16 in the Pierre Chambrun, manager New York's luxurious Hotel Beaumont, mystery series.

Valerie Summers, rich, beautiful and in trouble, arrived at the hotel dragging a trail of 3 murders in 3 days. Was she a victim of a killer or a monster with a lovely face? Chambrun and his PR manager work to defend Summers from an aggressive police detective.

[MARLENE RANTZ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bravo, Hugh Pentecost! An excellent mystery with a surprise murderer and a surprise ending, and if they have not already done it, it would be very good material for a motion picture!

[Marcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Haven't read one of these for a few decades. Definitely dated but still a good story. I like the interesting characters.

[Dottie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a great mystery, and a suprise endung

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light reading who done it. I've read another in this series. It was a nice read as well.

[Lexi · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining and fun book. The mystery was so-so, but the dialog was funny and the setting charming. I'll be looking for more Pentecost mysteries.