Upstairs At The Beresford (The Beresford Trilogy) by Will Carver

 

Upstairs at the Beresford by Will Carver.

Published 9th November 2023 by Orenda Books.

From the cover of the book:

There are worse places than hell…

Hotel Beresford is a grand, old building, just outside the city. And any soul is welcome.

Danielle Ortega works nights, singing at whatever dive bar will offer her a gig. She gets by, keeping to herself. Sam Walker gambles and drinks, and can't keep his hands to himself. Now he's tied up in a shoe closet with a dent in his head that matches Danielle's broken ashtray.

The man in 731 has been dead for two days and his dog has not stopped barking. Two doors down, the couple who always smokes on the window ledge will mysteriously fall.

Upstairs, in the penthouse, Mr Balliol sees it all. He can peer into every crevice of every floor of the hotel from his screen-filled suite. He witnesses humanity and inhumanity in all its forms: loneliness, passion and desperation in equal measure. All the ingredients he needs to make a deal.

When Danielle returns home one night to find Sam gone, a series of sinister events begins to unfold. But strange things often occur at Hotel Beresford, and many are only a distraction to hide something much, much darker…

***********

Once a grand affair, the Hotel Beresford offers reasonable rates to souls who prefer to avoid awkward questions, and it attracts a mixed clientele who are not put off by the rumours of sinister goings on inside its faded facade.

The Beresford's current residents include the enigmatic jazz singer Danielle Ortega; the troubled Walker family, whose father is currently lying in Danielle's closet with bashed head; a dead drug addict with a traumatised dog; a seemingly happy couple who will soon come to a very sticky end; and a reclusive writer tortured by his inability to make the words flow. On reception the manager Carol has her hands full keeping everything in order, especially with another conference in full swing on the third floor. And spying on them all is the hotel's charismatic owner, Mr Balliol, in his penthouse, with a keen eye for a very particular kind of deal. It is all business as usual at the Beresford... and the business is much darker than even the rumour-mongers can imagine.

Welcome back to Will Carver's Beresford! This time Carver heads into prequel country to provide a demon's eye view of the shenanigans hinted at as happening 'upstairs' in his previous book, The Beresford.

Carver is once again channelling dark and delicious Ira Levin vibes with Hotel Beresford that pay homage to Levin's Bramford (with a lovely side order of Sliver), which dial up the horror factor to the max. There is murder and mayhem, depravity and debauchery, and as much hatred and heartache as you could desire on the menu for the intriguing characters that play on the Hotel Beresford stage, and the twisty plotlines keep you very much entertained in the unsettling way that Carver does so well. I was hooked from the first page, and could not look away until the slickly contrived ending that brings the story full circle to where The Beresford begins. 

I am also delighted to report that alongside the thrills and spills, Carver also brings in many more of the themes in his earlier books with much greater depth than he did in The Beresford. He has such a sharp, incisive way of getting into the contradictions that come with the messy human condition, and amongst the veritable smorgasbord of knotty issues on offer here, there is a lot to get your teeth into. What would it take for you to consider trading away your soul? Can purgatory be worse than Hell? Can Good ever exist without Evil? What are Heaven and Hell, anyway? These are big questions, and Carver explores them beautifully, touching on faith, sacrifice, sin, innocence, and redemption, with lashings of pitch black humour, a page-turning plot, and little nods to book and screen references that make you smile.

It is menacing and mischievous, it is wise and witty, it is Will Carver at the top of his grisly game - and it is one of my favourite books of the year. I sincerely hope we get to see what lies in store for Floor Three next. More please!

Upstairs at the Beresford is available to buy now in paperback and ebook formats. You can support the best of indie publishing by buying direct from Orenda Books HERE.

Thank you to Orenda Books for sending me a proof of this book in return fir an honest review, and to Random Things Tours for inviting me to be part of this blog tour. 

About the author:

Will Carver is the international bestselling author of the January David series. He spent his early years in Germany, but returned to the UK at age eleven, when his sporting career took off. He turned down a professional rugby contract to study theatre and television at King Alfred’s, Winchester, where he set up a successful theatre company. He currently runs his own fitness and nutrition company, and lives in Reading with his two children. 

Will’s last title published by Orenda Books, The Beresford came out in July 2021. His previous title Hinton Hollow Death Trip was longlisted for the Not the Booker Prize, while Nothing Important Happened Today was longlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. Good Samaritans was book of the year in Guardian, Telegraph and Daily Express.