The latest Robin Hudson mystery is the most bizarre, wacky rollercoaster ride yet. The plot of all Robin Hudson books are like a literary Marx Brother movie, but more than any of the other titles in the series, this one should be stamped "Check Reality at the Door".
If you've never read a Robin Hudson mystery, don't start with this one. Start with "What's a Girl Gotta Do?". It helps enormously to be familiar with the lead character's past adventures. It's obvious from the beginning that author Sparkle Hayter is preparing her regular readers for a change in venue and much of the best parts of the book are tieing up loose threads in Robin's past.
Having given fair warning, now let me say that if you are looking for the mystery equivalent of Theater of the Absurd, you've found it. The story begins with the burning of the NYC apartment building of protagonist Robin Hudson, head of programming for the fictitious Worldwide Women's Channel of a fictitious Turner Broadcast - like cable empire, by a cheap, plastic religious icon with faulty wiring. Robin, who previously worked as reporter of the Inside Edition-esque branch of the All News Network section, has just returned from a world tour during which, in typical Robin fashion, she apparently insulted and offended numerous heads of state and business moguls by violating cultural customs with the regularity of the Marquis de Sade in a convent. And speaking of convents...
No, this is too soon and at least half the fun of a Robin Hudson novel is the outrageous twists and turns and giggle-provoking surprises that spring from the page — and Sparkle Hayter's overloaded imagination. It will ruin nothing, however, to mention that the title of the book comes from a landmark hotel noted for housing the eccentric; famous artists, novelists and others noted for their less than conventional behavior and failure to conform to society's expectations. And oddly enough, a large part of thematic story line is about how Robin doesn't really fit in.
Robin is on a forced vacation and is looking forward to an opportunity to consider her future. Among other things, her Japanese-American comedian friend, Tamayo, has introduced her to a Parisian physicist named Pierre. Pierre speaks and understand little English; Robin speaks and understands even less French. They both immediately hit it off. Now Robin is trying to convince herself that the brief affair is over because they could never resolve the differences between their two cultures -- national, social and business. When her apartment burns, she takes advantage of the open invitation of Tamayo (who's off on a world tour of her own with her significant other) to camp out in Tamayo's place in the Chelsea Hotel. Shortly after her exhausted arrival, she's awakened by a strange,earnest young man banging on the door and demanding to be let in to meet "his girlfriend." No sooner does Robin fall back to sleep after sending the "man-boy" on his way, than the door is opened by a petulant young woman who apparently also has an invitation from Tamayo and is involved in a romantic Romeo and Juliet-like escape from an arranged marriage — as soon as her boyfriend shows up at the apartment.
After that, the plot becomes complex.
While I've enjoyed the Robin Hudson mysteries enormously and snatched this one up in hardcover without a second thought, I found myself slightly bothered by the ODTAA (One-Damn-Thing-After-Another) plot. For one thing, Robin made several extremely dumb choices and while she often made mistakes in the previous books, she rarely made the kind of stupid mistakes that brings to mind Romantic heroines in white nightgowns or Fox Muldur. In this one, I almost felt that Hayter was rushed, saying to herself like a modern Scheherazade "And then what happened?" It's not as polished as the earlier titles and I fear Hayter has fallen into the slump that hits many mystery writers attempting to produce a book a year. I was far more interested in the subplot of Hayter and her personal problems and the dispersal of her former neighbors, than the primary plot involving the mis-connected lovers, foreign agents, a dead art dealer and the art party of the year.
If you collect Hayter, then you'll want this in hardcover. If you feel you need a total escape from the insanity of your life, the insanity of Robin Hudson's latest adventure is perfect.
If you simply like Hayter, then you may want to wait until this one comes out in paperback. Don't get me wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed it. But I don't feel it's a strong as the others.
The Chelsea Girl Murders is still a rollicking indulgence in the Marx Brother's school of plotting, however, it's not as polished as her previous work. It's a bit like "Duck Soup" after "A Night at the Opera."
Oh, and about the nuns. Let's just say there are nuns; they don't sing; they bake. And eventually they're in handcuffs...
I think I've said enough.
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