Asylum Hotel
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
When a mysterious figure shows up in the photograph an architect takes of the derelict Seabrink Hotel, ghostly encounters and murder are unleashed.
Aubrey Spencer loves photographing classic old buildings and abandoned places that hold old secrets. The Hotel Seabrink, perched overlooking the sea, is one such place. Currently abandoned but scheduled for a major renovation, it has a torrid history. Back in the 1920s it hosted A-list celebrity clientele, and now the locals insist it is haunted by the ghosts of two young women who died there. When Aubrey goes to photograph the site before the renovation begins, she bumps into a man named Dimitri Petroff, a minor online celebrity who shares her fascination with old buildings, the Hotel Seabrink in particular.
When he is found dead the next day at the base of a cliff, the police are quick to close the investigation. But Aubrey feels unsettled by locals who claim he was murdered and that it’s not the first time someone interested in the hotel was killed. As she digs deeper into the property’s dark history (and its origins as an asylum) as well as Dimitri’s professional rivalries, she becomes mired in an unsolved murder case from several decades earlier, one with eerie parallels to the contemporary case. But someone is determined to keep her from discovering the truth—at any cost.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This atmospheric standalone from Blackwell (The Paris Showroom) offers supernatural mystery fans a hearty helping of murder, ghosts, and doomed love at a long-abandoned hotel overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Southern California's gothic Hotel Seabrink was built by the fabulously wealthy T. Jefferson Goffin during Hollywood's golden age as a destination for such screen legends as Clark Gable and Judy Garland. Now, it's a rundown landmark on the brink of renovation. Photographer and architect Aubrey Spencer takes a trip to immortalize the building before it's updated and is surprised to run into well-known YouTuber Dimitri Petroff, who's there to do research for his upcoming Netflix series about abandoned buildings. There's instant chemistry between the two—until Dimitri turns up dead the next morning. Aubrey then notices a ghostly presence in one of her photographs and calls in her friend, Nikki, to help determine if something paranormal is at play. Soon, the pair learns that Dimitri's death parallels a still unsolved murder at the hotel involving Goffin. After a captivating setup, Blackwell weighs things down with a few too many subplots, but she pulls it all together in the end. It's an agreeably spooky ride.
