I read an eARC of this book on NetGalley so thank you to the author and publisher.

This novel certainly succeeds as a love letter to Hitchcock, indeed I found myself watching two of his films during the two days I spent reading this book. The references are prolific and entertaining and showing a deep love, respect and affection for the work of this director.

In this book we follow a group of former university friends who have been invited to stay at a hotel owned by one of their group for a long weekend. The person in question, Alfred has created a hotel that pays homage to his namesake. He purchases real film props, memorabilia, replicas to create an ambience immersed in the director’s films.

However everyone has secrets and their own agendas. Across the weekend, suspicious things start occurring, things going missing, things left in rooms… tensions rise, tempers start to fray and things become stranger as we look to the characters’ pasts to explain the terrors they face in the present.

I was hooked early on in the book, the tension and atmosphere was fantastic. However the last 1/5 of the book didn’t quite pay off for me. I still really enjoyed it though as I was completely gripped for most of it!

A clever and interesting novel that is wonderfully themed.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance reading copy. I really liked the description and level of detail about Hitchcock, and the premise was certainly a good one - 5 friends receive an invite to their old friend from college to stay at his Hitchcock themed hotel. Unfortunately I didn’t like any of the characters and the murderer at the end was a surprise I must admit but even they were unlikeable despite their reasons. It took me a while to get into it.

I'm a big dan of Stephanie Wrobel, and I think her writing has gotten even better with each book! The Hitchcock hook here really had me, and I truly had no idea where we were headed for most of the book. An excellent piece of suspense writing that I'll be recommending!

As a fan of Alfred Hitchcock films, this is a book I really wanted to read and it did not disappoint.
The Hitchcock Hotel is the venue for a reunion of six friends, a remote mansion dedicated to Hitchcock, including an aviary full of crows, a cinema screening Hitchcock films around the clock, and rooms full of film props and memorabilia. The owner and manager is Alfred Smettle, a massive fan of all things Hitchcock. On the first anniversary of the hotels opening, Alfred invites his college friends who he has not seen in years. The friends all studied films together, and Alfred feels they will be the perfect guests to appreciate his hotel. The guests themselves are not so sure.
It does not take long for the tension to build, this book is full of suspense, and of course, there are surprises along the way, until a dead body is found.
This was a psychological thriller, full of plot twists, and an unexpected ending. Thoroughly recommended.

The premise of this book had everything I like a creepy hotel, a group of friends with secrets, a grudge and Hitchcock. It does deliver on all of these but I didn't find it as intriguing as I expected to. All the characters are unlikeable and it just seems unbelievable that they would attend this event. The twists were good and I genuinely didn't guess the ending and was shocked. Overall I did enjoy the story and would recommend if you like a character driven mystery.

Hugely Entertaining..
Alfred Smettle, Hitchcock aficionado extraordinaire, has purchased the house on the hill - considered from afar during University days - and has transformed it into The Hitchcock Hotel. Every piece of memorabilia devoted to the great man himself. Alfred lives and breathes the place. Alfred also has plans. For the first anniversary of the creation of the hotel, Alfred organises a reunion for his university friends. And, they will all comply with the invitation but what then… Secrets will out in this superbly crafted psychological suspense come whodunit with a credible, often wholly unpleasant and carefully drawn cast of characters populating a slow burn, menace laden plot drenched in atmosphere and riddled with Hitchcockian references, twists and surprises galore. Hugely entertaining.

3.5 rounded up

So, this was a weird one for me.

With a predictable plot that’s been done to death and filled with unlikeable characters and one of my most hated tropes, I’m really surprised at how much I enjoyed this propulsive and readable book. It’s a compelling testament to Wrobel’s writing! 

I didn’t go to University, and am in my 30s, but find myself drawn to dark academia in fiction. While I have a hard time believing that folks would hang on to baggage from this era, I do enjoy the campus setting and drama. The setting of New England in the fall compounded the sense of atmosphere. All the characters sucked but, for the same reason a whole generation embraced Gossip Girl, there’s a perverse entertainment in watching horrible things happen to horrible characters.

I predicted the ending early on and while the motivation made sense, I struggle to suspend disbelief about the some of the practicalities of it.

This book succeeded in doing what it set out to do: entertain. If you’re looking for a fun (kinda campy and a bit predictable) autumnal thriller, you could do a lot worse than this. I enjoyed reading this cover to cover on a rainy day!

I was privileged to have my request to read this book accepted through NetGalley. Thank you, Michael Joseph/Penguin Random House!

The Hitchcock Hotel follows Alfred Smettle who owns The Hitchcock Hotel. He loves Hitchcock and the hotel is a shrine to him with film screenings, memorabilia and an aviary with fifty crows. On the hotel’s first anniversary Alfred decides to invite the college friends he studied film with after not seeing each other for 16 years. Everything is fine until weird things start happening such as mobile phones going missing and food being poisoned. The guests are trapped in the hotel and someone is determined to make their stay as similar to a Hitchcock movie as possible.

I thought this would be creepier than it was considering the vibes of Hitchcock. This was a pretty basic thriller and it wasn’t as exciting as I thought it would be. On the other hand the writing was good, the story was easy to read and the characters were okay.

This was just really good fun.
I loved the idea of a whole hotel devoted to Hitchcock, and felt I learnt a bit about him along the way.
The cast of 6 were mostly unlikeable, but that's mainly due to their toxic friendship and how they view each other. I do love a good toxic relationship in a story!
Some nice surprises along the way, and a few creepy moments.
The pacing felt spot on to me.
I'll be recommending this one to others ASAP.