1 of 8
Security
229 pages; Algonquin Books
Although not yet open to the public, Manderley Resort is already known for its tight security. Here, a movie star can hide away during a breakup, a hedge fund manager can secretly meet a mistress, and a dignitary who's committed terrible atrocities can check in, comforted by the fact that his "transgressions are of no interest." Days before the grand opening, however, a housekeeper on the 15th floor is trying to clean a blood stain out of the pristine white carpets. Add to this that the electrical system is not fully wired and the dishwasher has been mysteriously sabotaged. And, oh, yeah, there is a killer in a Halloween movie mask wielding a large knife and an all-access key card that allows him to enter (almost) every room and ride the top secret elevator. The new manager, Tessa, an icy, beautiful and, of course, haunted alpha female, has her work cut out for her as the staff of the Manderley is murdered one by one in this incredibly witty, darkly comic debut novel by Gina Wohlsdorf. Told from the perspective of a mysterious observer in the hotel's security room, the murder and mayhem unfold in the video feed of multiple hidden cameras, creating a literary split screen on the page—a clever, effective device that breaks the page into two, three and four columns of simultaneous action. An ingeniously plotted, postmodern granddaughter of an Agatha Christie novel.
— Domenica Ruta