The Fat Innkeeper (Mysterious Press) [Mass Market Paperback]

Alan Russell (Author)

Book Description

Series: Mysterious Press | Publication Date: August 1, 1996

Hotel detective Am Coulfield's life is more hectic than usual when the annual grunion run and a beached dead whale threaten to ruin the very post Hotel California's nature promotion.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The hospitable Am Caulfield is beset by more hostility in this amusing sequel to The Hotel Detective. Now house detective at San Diego's Hotel California, Am is enduring new Japanese owners, staff peccadilloes, bizarre conventions and a murder or two. Dr. Kingsbury, a guest who has made a career of debunking fraudulent New Age mentalists?some of whom are attending a Union of Near Death Experiences Retreat at the hotel?has been poisoned. Am joins forces (and karma) with comely reporter Marisa Donnelly to dig into Kingsbury's less-than-estimable past. At the same time, the house dick struggles to keep the portly new manager, Hiroshi, from imposing Japanese efficiency on the hotel's eccentric ambience. East finally meets West after Hiroshi falls for Am's beloved station wagon, a surfer's woody that runs well only near the ocean, and the hotel detective and the fat innkeeper become allies in tracking the killer. Russell and his readers have great fun as he contrasts Californian and Japanese philosophies, and likable Am bumbles along, holding true to his ex-surfer's outlook on life.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Phlegmatic Hotel California security director Am Caulfield resents the Japanese who purchased the historic oceanfront property and transformed his job. A beached whale in front of the hotel and a murder within exacerbate the already problematic communications between Caulfield and his Japanese boss. Life in the ritzy hotel cosmos continues, though, when Caulfield sabotages a swingers' "swap meat," digs into the background of the murder victim, and interrogates conventioneers who have had near-death experiences. The protagonist's banter, while not always humorous, remains light-handed, especially in scenes involving Japanese circumspection. From the author of The Forest Prime Evil (LJ 3/1/92); for larger collections.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Mysterious Press (August 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446403490
• ISBN-13: 978-0446403498
• Product Dimensions: 4.1 x 0.8 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,809,475 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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