Chelsea Girl Murders (A Robin Hudson Mystery) [Deluxe Edition] [Hardcover]

Sparkle Hayter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 27, 2000 | Series: A Robin Hudson Mystery

Robin Hudson, accident-prone television executive, is back, taking refuge in New York's Chelsea Hotel after her apartment burns down. She immediately becomes mixed up in an escapade involving two brattish young lovers and a mysterious group of Eastern European bandits.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Robin Hudson has reason to believe that the only cosmic order ruling her existence is Murphy's Law. What else could a woman think when her pious, next- door neighbor's electric Jesus display shorts out and burns down their East Village apartment building? Bad enough that she's just returned from a disastrous PR trip for TV network WNN. Who knew that touching Thai children's heads put a curse on them, or that in Russia, an even number of flowers is appropriate only for a funeral, not for a dinner party? Who knew that certain colleagues are plotting to oust her from the network, and that Pierre, her recent French fling, isn't calling. Now she's homeless. It's a good thing her friend Tamayo has offered her the use of an apartment in the famed artists' haven, the Chelsea. A little peace and quiet in an artistic setting is just what Robin needs.

But when a teenager named Nadia shows up on Tamayo's doorstep eager to be reunited with her fiancé, courtesy of Tamayo's underground lovers' railroad, Robin finds herself playing nurse to a spoiled-rotten Juliet. And when Nadia goes missing before her Romeo (Rocky) arrives, the next person at the door is enough to cross anyone's stars: Gerald Woznik--art dealer, lecher, and all- around cad, who stumbles across the threshold and inconsiderately dies.

Between finding Nadia, feeding Rocky, and fending off the police, Robin embarks on a one-woman campaign to solve the woes of the world--and opens a sizeable can of worms. What was socialite Grace Rouse doing clinging to the Chelsea fire escape the night Gerald was murdered? Why is art doyenne Miriam Grundy lying about meeting Nadia? And who is the "Baby" that everyone is talking about?

More comic novel than mystery, The Chelsea Girl Murders takes its readers on a rollicking jaunt through the Big Apple. Whodunit isn't nearly as important as what's-Robin-gonna-do-about-it, and some of her solutions are pricelessly funny. As in her previous Robin Hudson outings (Revenge of the Cootie Girls, Nice Girls Finish Last, What's A Girl Gotta Do, The Last Manly Man), Sparkle Hayter's observations on New Yorkers and their loony obsessions have just the right dash of caustic wit. Fans of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum can add another star to the pantheon of Northeastern femmes formidables. --Kelly Flynn --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Robin Hudson's temporary relocation to New York's Chelsea Hotel (after a fire in her apartment) plunges her into a case of murder, art theft and cultural miscommunication in this latest installment in Hayter's series (The Last Manly Man; Nice Girls Finish Last; etc.) featuring the irrepressible and irreverent reporter-turned-television executive. Robin takes shelter in her friend's studio at the Chelsea, only to find that her refuge is also a stop on a modern-day underground railroad, a loose association of folks who assist women from closed cultures to escape arranged marriages. Hudson meets Nadia, a young woman who has fled her native "Plotzonia" in order to track down and marry her true love. Nadia has brought with her a 15th-century icon, possibly stolen during WWII, which she intends to sell in order to finance her new life in the States. Unfortunately, a group of Plotzonian rebels also want the icon, believing it will mystically aid their revolution. When Nadia flees after a shady art dealer dies in the hotel, Robin's search for the woman brings her into contact with the Chelsea's eccentricsAincluding Maggie Mason, a feisty, vindictive artist with whom, Robin discovers, she shares an ex-lover. As they trace back the stops of the "railroad," the two must contend with Nadia's would-be suitor, Plotzonian revolutionaries and performance artists. Hayter deftly incorporates the rich lore of the Chelsea Hotel into another amusing mystery sure to delight her fans. Agent, Russ Galen. (May)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Turnaround; Limited edition edition (March 27, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 190198298X
• ISBN-13: 978-1901982985
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,591,492 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another delightful Hayter book!, June 14, 2000

By 

Dela1970 "Dela1970" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Chelsea Girl Murders: A Robin Hudson Mystery (Robin Hudson Mysteries) (Hardcover)

It's always such a pleasure to read Sparkle Hayter's witty, fast-paced prose and heroine Robin Hudson's quirky, irreverent commentary on the world around her. This is one of the few authors I rush out to buy in hardcover as soon as the book is released, and I've yet to be disappointed.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Move into the Chelsea NOW!, June 19, 2000

By 

Kathy Blumenstock (Washington DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Chelsea Girl Murders: A Robin Hudson Mystery (Robin Hudson Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Once again Sparkle Hayter invites readers to share a slice of zany life with Robin Hudson, her sleuth-cum-TV-newsie.

Forced from her apartment by a fire, Robin and her tabby cat, Louise Bryant, find sanctuary at the Chelsea Hotel. Naturally the stay is not uneventful, what with a man dying at Robin's feet, a young woman who appears, then vanishes, and a host of characters, each with their own odd agendas, each of whom seems a likely suspect for murder, mayhem and more. Of course Robin tries to solve the murder, find the missing girl and tie up the tag ends of questions galore, all against the backdrop of the storied hotel. Sparkle Hayter sprinkles tidbits of the hotel's history like tasty croutons, painting a vivid picture of a special place to live and dream.

I wont give away the scene with the nuns, or the trek through Central Park, you'll just have to laugh your way through them yourself. The witticisms and brilliant "wish-I'd-said-that" lines sprout like the poison ivy Robin likes to grow for protection from burglars.

When I finished this book, I was disappointed to look up and find I did NOT live in the Chelsea after all. If you've ever lived in NYC, this book will evoke the good memories; if you haven't, you'll feel as if you did, cursing at cabs and mingling with the sidewalk masses.

"The Chelsea Girl Murders" is a good-humored escape from the boring Monday-Tuesday-Wednesdayish reality most of us face daily. Luckily Sparkle Hayter and Robin Hudson provide the Maximum Daily Requirement of laughter and fun.

If you have not read the previous Robin Hudson books, start here and work your way back. You will not be disappointed.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A plesant read, June 9, 2000

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Chelsea Girl Murders: A Robin Hudson Mystery (Robin Hudson Mysteries) (Hardcover)

In the Big Apple, Robin Hudson is a forty-one-year-old power player who heads programming for the Worldwide Women's Network. She travels to more countries in a month than most families visit in their lifetimes. A fire forces Robin and her cat Louise Bryant to leave their East Village apartment. They move into a friend's apartment at SOHO's Chelsea Hotel.

Robin has no time to mourn her loss of possessions. Instead, she immediately becomes involved with the problems of two eloping teenagers who are running from their menacing families. Dangerous looking thugs seem to line up the streets chasing after the runaways. Robin vows to keep them safe, not yet realizing the risk she will take for this wonderful cause.

Robin is an interesting person who many readers will admire because she has a quirky charm that is beguiling. The entertaining heroine is zany, hip, quirky, and most important in this age of the disposable friendship, loyal. The story line is unusual, at times surreal, but always enjoyable as Robin co-stars with New York in the offbeat THE CHELSEA GIRL MURDERS. Sparkle Hayter lives up to her first name with this sparkling story that will appeal to urban amateur sleuth fans.

Harriet Klausner