Review of The Romanian Incident
Posted: 01 Aug 2023, 19:34
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Romanian Incident" by Simon King.]
The Romanian Incident by Simon King is a captivating story deftly crafted to thrill fans of crime fiction. The story swished me away to the 1970-ies and unfolded in a secluded hotel in the scenic mountains of Romania. Raging through the night, a winter blizzard cut the hotel off from the rest of the world. The morning saw Dan Steel, the agent of Isabella Manson, a withering American actress, dead in his hotel room. A young Soviet KGB agent and a retired British MI6 spy were boarding at the hotel and started investigating Dan Steel’s death. Before long, a member of the hotel’s staff was brutally murdered in the hotel’s kitchen. What was going on?
The Romanian Incident gripped me instantly with the atmospheric winter sceneries followed by an excursion to the history of the hotel and snapshot introductions of its guests. I enjoyed investigating the deaths of Dan Steel and the hotel’s handyman, shadowing the sleuths as they were interviewing the guests and exploring the clues. The story’s secluded setting in a hotel reminded me of Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap, but Simon King’s sleuths outwitted me in resolving the mysterious deaths. I liked the motley crew of international guests from all walks of life and their life stories. But most of all, I liked the sophisticated and witty sleuths.
I disliked nothing about this fascinating book. This suspenseful novel has a well-measured pace and focuses on the interviews of the hotel guests and the discovery of clues. I suspected a completely different outcome of the investigation, and the climax took me by a jaw-dropping surprise. Apart from typographical errors that invite another round of thorough editing, I cannot fault any aspect of this book. So, I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. Fans of Agatha Christie will be thrilled by this brilliant work of crime fiction. Any chance for a sequel?
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The Romanian Incident
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
The Romanian Incident by Simon King is a captivating story deftly crafted to thrill fans of crime fiction. The story swished me away to the 1970-ies and unfolded in a secluded hotel in the scenic mountains of Romania. Raging through the night, a winter blizzard cut the hotel off from the rest of the world. The morning saw Dan Steel, the agent of Isabella Manson, a withering American actress, dead in his hotel room. A young Soviet KGB agent and a retired British MI6 spy were boarding at the hotel and started investigating Dan Steel’s death. Before long, a member of the hotel’s staff was brutally murdered in the hotel’s kitchen. What was going on?
The Romanian Incident gripped me instantly with the atmospheric winter sceneries followed by an excursion to the history of the hotel and snapshot introductions of its guests. I enjoyed investigating the deaths of Dan Steel and the hotel’s handyman, shadowing the sleuths as they were interviewing the guests and exploring the clues. The story’s secluded setting in a hotel reminded me of Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap, but Simon King’s sleuths outwitted me in resolving the mysterious deaths. I liked the motley crew of international guests from all walks of life and their life stories. But most of all, I liked the sophisticated and witty sleuths.
I disliked nothing about this fascinating book. This suspenseful novel has a well-measured pace and focuses on the interviews of the hotel guests and the discovery of clues. I suspected a completely different outcome of the investigation, and the climax took me by a jaw-dropping surprise. Apart from typographical errors that invite another round of thorough editing, I cannot fault any aspect of this book. So, I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. Fans of Agatha Christie will be thrilled by this brilliant work of crime fiction. Any chance for a sequel?
******
The Romanian Incident
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon