The Grand Hotel by Scott Kenemore

This is more of a series of short stories linked together by the conceit of a tour around a hotel with the rather strange concierge than a full tale.  It is a good idea but I found that the "reveal" at the end was unsatisfying as it is flagged up very early on in the tale and signposted again after each vignette.  From the first room and it's macabre inhabitant you know pretty much what is going on so most of the tension leaks out of the pages.

We visit a series of different locations within the winding corridors of the hotel and the descriptions of the faded grandeur are handled well (in fact it reminds me of a hotel we stay at regularly that has gorgeous glimpses of an elegant past faded and never to be reclaimed) placing you in the scene.  The individual residents of each location are varied and have ever stranger stories to tell about a moment in their lives that led them to take up residence here.  Some are more effective than others but it is the conclusions reached afterwards by the little girl that are astonishing, in the most part (I certainly did not agree with many of her pronouncements).

The writing is well paced and characters do come alive within their own individual stories.  There is a creeping sense of unease generated through the multiple threads but nothing that really keeps you awake or gets the heart pounding.  It is a fairly sound tale but not one that makes me want to really reach for any further books by the author.