Hotel Cartagena by Simone Buchholz

In Chastity Riley’s latest adventure, our favourite Hamburg detective is not her usual unbending self. At a colleague’s birthday party in plush Hotel Cartagena, her sarcastic streak is sparked off when her former lover orders a piña colada. ‘I jam my left hand into the pineapple, sharp as a dragon’s teeth,’ she says. The pineapple bites back and sepsis sets in, just as men in suits show up with sawn-off shotguns. Injured and vulnerable, Chastity finds herself one of numerous victims of a hostage situation. Gradually, she sinks into agonising delirium, unable to protect herself or others.

‘Among the hostages is Konrad Hoogsmart, the hotel owner, who is being targeted by a young man whose life –and family –have been destroyed by Hoogsmart’s actions. With the police looking on from outside –their colleagues’ lives at stake –and Chastity on the inside, increasingly ill from an unexpected case of sepsis, the stage is set for a dramatic confrontation ... and a devastating outcome for the team ... all live streamed in a terrifying bid for revenge.’

In a neat twist, police officers become the accidental victims of villain on villain crime. Among a random group of captives held in the hotel’s 20th floor bar are Chastity and her close colleagues and friends. Some of them are also her lovers, past and present. Together they form a socially complex, emotionally involved team. Everyone knows everyone else’s weaknesses. Hotel Cartagena stands alone, due to its riveting plot and the startlingly original writing style Buchholz uses to interpret her protagonist’s mental state. However, it is an advantage to have read the first three books in the English translation Chastity Riley series.

Chastity has reached a point in her personal and professional life where she has too much negative history, too many scores to settle and too few different and exciting experiences ahead of her. She has become so inward-looking that the prospect of going to a new and fashionable venue, instead of the low-life dives where her co-workers usually gather, confuses and repels her. When her descent into delirium begins the effect is cathartic. Toxic memories are dredged from the depths of her consciousness and spewed out in the form of lyrical prose.

While Chastity chronicles dramatic events in the bar and the frightening progress of her sepsis in first person, a parallel third person narrative recounts the history of a drug empire with its roots in Cartagena, Columbia. There is a sense of inevitability, as social outsiders are manipulated and lose control of their destinies. The ‘before’ and ‘now’ are linked by short chapters with quirky titles, recording the rise of the drug lords, from 1984 to the present. There is a strong contrast between the style and pace of the two narratives. When the connection between them becomes clear during the exciting conclusion, the reader senses that rough justice has been done.

Chastity’s delirium is conveyed by a fascinating stream of consciousness monologue. Readers will enjoy picking over her deepest thoughts, which gradually expand from her own circle of friends to the other, unknown hostages. While her condition worsens, the repetition of musical phrases gives a poetic rhythm to her speech. Meanwhile, the developing plot proves there is wisdom in her apparently random observations, such as ‘Nobody ever got rich by being a good man.’

Rachel Ward’s sensitive translation expertly supports Buchholz’s adventurous prose. The cover design by Mark Swan gives an initial impression of glamour and sparkle, but a brilliant visual pun hints at the darker side of Hotel Cartagena.

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SBN 13: 978-1-913193-54-6

EPUB: 978-1-913193-55-3

Price: £8.99