Hector Harrow is the concierge of Cavengreen Hotel, a five-star establishment in the English county of West Yorkshire. He is 73 years of age and has worked at the hotel since he was 16.
Harrow is asked to deliver extra ice to suite 7. After knocking on the door and not receiving an answer he cautiously goes in. He discovers a blood-drenched body lying lifeless on the floor.
Irascible Detective Inspector Arjun Raj from Police Headquarters in Leeds arrives promptly. It is obvious he believes the most likely suspect of a murder is the person who has discovered the body. He grills Harrow unmercifully.
Harrow who maintains his innocence is riled that anyone should think otherwise. He decides – as the police appear so incompetent – that he will investigate. The amateur sleuth, an avid reader of Agatha Christie novels, begins with the supposition that every member of staff and every guest is a suspect.
Helen, a friend and former publisher, urges him to keep notes that could be refined into a book once he has solved the case. He records his interviews and observations onto a dictaphone. Surprisingly, The Concierge is the raw draft transcribed from the recording device.
Readers who persevere … coping with the repetition and grammatical errors by a narrator who has OCD and whose formal education was somewhat basic … will be rewarded with an astonishing twist at the end.
The Concierge is a challenging, courageous debut novel by both novelist and publisher.
Reviewed by Clive Hodges
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Abby Corson has been a luxury travel and lifestyle writer for over ten years, with her work featuring in magazines and newspapers like Vogue, The Age and The Herald Sun.
When she started to write novels, she quickly realised that she couldn’t keep her propensity for glamour from creeping into her tense, gripping stories – and so, her signature ‘chick-lit thriller’ genre mash-up was born.
Born in Manchester, England, Abby moved to Melbourne in 2012. She now juggles her passion for writing her so-called chick-lit thrillers with the demands of raising her one-year-old daughter, and her fast-paced job at one of the country’s most popular radio stations.
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