Murder at Midnight - John Ukah

I always enjoy a good murder mysery, so I was excited to read Murder at Midnight. Set in a hotel with a limited cast of suspects, it follows in the footsteps of some of the great detective stories.

Murder at Midnight

Alex Simpson, an ex-police officer, decides after a bout of typhoid fever to take a break in a serene and therapeutic environment. The last thing he expects is to be called upon to solve a murder at the Kinging Guest Lodge. But that is what happens, when the delectable and vivacious Maria Marshall is found dead in her bedroom at midnight.

The gallery of characters living at the guesthouse and thrown into the mix, do not make his task of solving this chilling and brutal murder any easier …

My Review

Alex Simpson has stayed at the Kinging Guest Lodge before, when he did there were two deaths at the hotel. Even so he returns for another stay. He starts to get to know the other guests at the lodge and settle into his stay.

Of course, as with all good murder mysteries, we start to see tensions between the various characters and people who potentially could be killed or be killers. The actual murder didn't occur straight away, but that gives the reader chance to get to know some of the people in the book.

Once the murderer strikes Alex starts to investigate and try to get to the bottom of the mystery. Fortunately, as he is an ex-policeman himself, the other guests are quite keen to unburden themselves on him without his needing to ask too many questions. 

For a murder mystery to work for me, I either need to be able to solve it, but without it being too easy. Or, I need to be surprised by the killer, but for it not to be unbelievable. This time around I was surprised by the killer, but it worked and made for an enjoyable read. My only real criticism was that there was another incident that occurred further on in the story. It didn't really fit in with anything else and was probably intended as a red herring. It didn't really work as such for me, so much so that I'd actually forgotten all about it until it was mentioned again at the end of the book.

Over all this was a good read and I enjoyed it. I assume that this is the first in a series, I'd be more than happy to dip into other titles when they are released. 

Purchase “Murder at Midnight” on Amazon: United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Japan, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Australia, and India. 

It is also available on Smashwords, Kobo, Apple, Barnes & Noble (Nook), Okadabooks, and major online stores. 

Okadabooks is mainly for buyers in Africa.