Customer Reviews

Chelsea Girl Murders (A Robin Hudson Mystery)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

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

I'm a guy, so perhaps I'm not the target audience for this series, but I really enjoyed "What's A Girl Gotta Do". I liked the irrelevant character of Robin Hudson -- who can't love a character that uses poision ivy for personal protection! (Reminds me of something from P.G. Wodehouse -- another favorite author.)

Since then I've checked my bookstore every few months for the latest in the series. I recently read "The Chelsea Girl Murders" and I think the series has lost some of its fun. Perhaps because Robin has "grown up", gaining responsibilities. Perhaps it's because many of the characters from earlier books aren't here but in passing. Or, perhaps because she's no longer using poision ivy. It's still worth a read, but it's not as good as the earlier stories.

It's a very funny, but overly fantastic,mystery set in Manhattan in the Chelsea Hotel (with a lot of Chelsea Hotel history thrown in). The adventures are too wild to be believable. I buy all Sparkle Hayter's and all Janet Evanovich's, but I have to admit that Evanovich is better. Hayter tries too hard to make every character eccentric, zany or wacky in every way but maybe that's the way Manhattan is. The Trenton characters are more grounded in reality. I find that Robin Hudson comes more vividly to life whenever her background in Minnesota intrudes (which it doesn't in this book).
Incidentally I noticed a reference to checking mail for anthrax (page 20 of the paperback) and this has a 2000 original publication date.

It is a mystery, but the characters, especially Robin Hudson, spend most of their time working on other problems. Robin, the protagonist, has her apartment burned, moves into the Chelsea Hotel where her friend Tamara has an apartment, and discovers one of the strangest groups of people in the world. Tamara is out of the country through most of the book but her circle of friends are at the center of the weirdness. Tamara's revenge-seeking girlfriend and her underground railroad for lovers make for an interesting life for Robin--and a fun read for us.

This is not serious mystery, this is fun--seeing people in a slightly cynical 20's view, and experiencing the angst of trying to create a relationship in a world which seems set on making all relationships fail.

I'm not sure I solved the mystery before Robin did, but mostly because I lost track of the mystery and got involved with the characters. Read it for fun and don't get hung up on the plot.

The Chelsea Girl Murders and Hayter's Last Manly Man hit me at a time when I was struggling with self-discovery years after I thought I already had found myself. So, Hayter's work is a total delight. Afterall, who struggles more than Robin Hudson to do the right thing, try not to let the past screw up the present and be open to the possibilities of tomorrow?

In The Cheslea Girl Murders, of course Robin finds herself in a mess and her conscientiousness dictates that she sticks her nose into things to save people from themselves. Pretty whacky plot.

No matter plot, though, three characters stand out that are a blast to get to know. Phil -- the super from Robin's recently burned down building. He espouses a philosophy that has helped me greatly: bads things happen so worse things won't. Suddenly I have hope! And so will you. Maggie bedevils Robin, while at the same time teaching her about herself. Than there's Tamayo. Everyone knows her; you should, too.

Hayter keeps the pace up, as usual, but her plots are getting a little nutty. However, her characters are sublime.

I really enjoyed Sparkle Hayter's other book, Naked Brunch and picked up all of her books. This one to me was not as tight as the earlier books in the series IMO. I still liked it, enjoyed taking another journey with Robin, but it didn't do as much for me. I definitely like the Nice Girls Finish Last a bit more.

I like how Sparkle Hayter throws amateur detective Robin Hudson into a ridiculous situation involving a murder and then has her figure her way out of it. Most mysteries are more straightforward, less wacky, and not as interesting. In my novel, the humor/adventure story "Bounties", I too have a female main character. And like Sparkle Hayter, I keep the plot going with humor, but of a different sort. A lot of her humor is in the wacky characters, whereas I try to generate laughs with funny dialogue and some physical humor. But hats off to Sparkle Hayter for choosing such a unique setting for a mystery.

Sparkle Hayter's Robin Hudson is rapidly becoming one of my favorite characters in the sub genre that is hard boiled humor romance mystery (for lack of a better term). If you enjoy Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series then you'll enjoy this one. Hudson works for a large liberal (is there any other kind?) news network, and the double dealings and office politics from her employment situation alone make the series worthwhile. Author Hayter used to work for several such organizations, and her descriptions of life at the all news station rings true. Her love life is about as messed up as Stephanie Plum's or Casey Jones (another series I recommend), and while some of her mystery situations seem over the top, there's still enough threat of real danger and believable bad guys (and gals) to keep up the suspense.

In this novel, which is the 5th in the series, Robin's apartment is burned down by one of her older neighbor's electric Ascension of Jesus display when it develops a short circuit. Taking her few rescued belongings and her grandfather's old rifle (purely for sentimental value) she moves into the famous Chelsea hotel, home to the artists and bohemian eccentrics in New York.

Before she can settle into her new (borrowed from a friend) digs and start her vacation she encounters dead philandering artists, mute Zen bodybuilders, former girlfriends of her own former boyfriends, and young lovers on the lam. As usual her only choice is to jump in where others fear to tread and try to solve the mysteries involved. Definitely recommended.