Lazarus Hotel (Worldwide Mystery)

Rating:
Summary: Disappointed mystery fan...
Review: Although this book does pay homage to the great Christie classic, Ten Litttle Indians (or And Then There Were None), it had none of the gripping and believable suspense that made Christie's so remarkable. The premise was promising and intriguing; however, the story ultimately felt contrived throughout. The conclusion, in particular, fell flat for me, as there was a distinct lack of suspense and the feeling that everything had to be tied up in a neat little bow with everyone (but one) living happily ever after. As much as I love a good (and even mediocre) mystery, this will probably be the first and last Bannister book that I will read.

Rating:
Summary: Not Quite an Homage to Christie...
Review: This book is not an homage to Christie the way "A Thousand Acres" might be seen as a work retroactively illuminating "King Lear." In no way does Bannister seem to encapsulate any of the features that made "Ten Little Indians" such an amazing work of mystery literature. Instead, she's written a rather dull and plodding mystery, one that replaces "Whodunnit?" with "Who cares?"

Let's face it, no one is going to be able to improve upon "Ten Little Indians." Even Christie's play, along with countless film versions, have changed the ending to a trite "tie up all the loose ends" phenomenon, where the "good" characters get a happy ending. The great thing about "Ten Little Indians"--something that Bannister doesn't seem to understand--is in its resisting of the formula.

Rating:
Summary: Not Quite an Homage to Christie...
Review: This book is not an homage to Christie the way "A Thousand Acres" might be seen as a work retroactively illuminating "King Lear." In no way does Bannister seem to encapsulate any of the features that made "Ten Little Indians" such an amazing work of mystery literature. Instead, she's written a rather dull and plodding mystery, one that replaces "Whodunnit?" with "Who cares?"

Let's face it, no one is going to be able to improve upon "Ten Little Indians." Even Christie's play, along with countless film versions, have changed the ending to a trite "tie up all the loose ends" phenomenon, where the "good" characters get a happy ending. The great thing about "Ten Little Indians"--something that Bannister doesn't seem to understand--is in its resisting of the formula.

Rating:
Summary: Locked Hotel Floor Mystery
Review: This was the first book I read by Jo Bannister and probably the last. Before I explain why, I first have to give credit to Jo Bannister for her tight writing style and the ability to move the action along without long descriptions of the surroundings (as some authors seem prone to do today just to add extra pages to their book).

A father, upset about his daughter's suicide, decides that by bringing together people he feels responsible for her suicide will somehow heal his pain.

The father convinces a family friend and psychologist to hold a "Personal Discovery" retreat as a means to getting these people together so that he can show them just how much they let his daughter down. This is where the author lets her readers down.

Amazingly these people all show up through a variety of schemes, with none of them being believable.

Richard Speke, a journalist who tried to save the young woman when he sees her car go off a bridge into the river, was sent to the Personal Discovery weekend per the request of his TV station when they discovered he could no longer perform his job duties of overseas reporting now that he feels responsible for letting the young woman die.

Will Furney, the young woman's ex-fiance, won his invitation in a competition, even though he can't remember entering any such competition.

Sheelagh Cody, the young woman's schoolgirl friend, was sent per an invitation from a client when they claimed she showed an interest in that client's recent Personal Discovery weekend.

Tariq Straker, the young woman's agent, decided to attend based on a recommendation from a friend who found a course like this fascinating.

Tessa McNaught, a doctor, was requested to join the group to write about her assessment of this kind of weekend therapy, but it eventually turns out that she was the young girls doctor and lover.

Larry Ford, a washed-up tennis pro turned coach for the young woman, was sent to the retreat per the request of his current employer who felt he needed to learn some tact.

Joe Lockhead, aka the young woman's father, also appears as part of the group.

If you can look beyond how the author gets all these people to show up, there is still the problem of how they don't recognize each other or at least some of them. The young woman's coach, agent, and long time friend should have recognized the young woman's father immediately. Also, if the young woman's father felt these people were responsible for her suicide, shouldn't they have recognized each other from the funeral?

Eventually, they all discover that they all had some unresolved guilt in the suicide of the same young woman. When Larry tries to leave, the group discovers that the power has been turned off to the elevator for the weekend and they are locked in. That night, the pychologist winds up with her head bashed in by a rolling pin.

Thrown in as a red herring is a young boy living in the not quite finished hotel who makes his way around through the elevator shaft.

The discovery of who is actually behind the attempted murder of the phychologist as well as other attempted murders during their confined stay is written with great skill and suspense but was overshadowed, at least for me, by the contrieved way they are all brought together.