Murder at the Hotel Orient

**THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER**

🛎'A writer of exceptional promise' Daily Mail

🛎'A clever and satisfying thriller in a wonderfully decadent setting' Elly Griffiths

🛎 'Excellent...combines some first-class Agatha Christie-esque plotting with a few sensual scenes that would make Monsieur Poirot blush to the very ends of his moustache' Daily Telegraph

In modern Vienna, the infamous Hotel Orient glitters at the heart of the city, luring lovers inside for an evening of debauchery. Behind its velvet curtain, cameras are forbidden, aliases are required, and every guest has something to hide.

For those seeking illicit liaisons, Sterling Lockwood is the perfect concierge. Sultry and poised, she's the ultimate keeper of secrets, including her own.

But when dawn breaks and two of the anonymous guests are found dead in their suite, Sterling must break the Orient's sacred code of discretion, turning detective to find a killer and clear her own name.

Alongside Fernando, her quick-witted friend and bellhop, Sterling steps beyond the hotel's stained-glass doors, venturing from grand coffee houses where power whispers between porcelain cups, to dimly lit bars where the curious seek rapturous oblivion, and risking everything to solve an impossible case.

A spicy whodunnit with Golden Age style, set in a timeless location inspired by a real Viennese no-tell love hotel. 🛎

Readers love Murder at the Hotel Orient:

'One of my favourite books of 2026!' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'A captivating heroine' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'What a spicy treat!' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

*Alessandra Ranelli's Murder at the Hotel Orient was a Sunday Times Number Eight bestseller in Hardback in the first week of May 2026.

Alessandra Ranelli is an American author living in Vienna, Austria. Her work focuses on life's great passions: love, lust, and loss. As such, she's been known to kiss and tell. Alessandra's crime writing is influenced by her love of old Hollywood glamour and Golden Age mysteries. It's a cocktail made from a generous pour of bourbon, an ounce of film noir, and a dash of bawdy humour - served in a rocks glass with red lipstick staining the rim. Murder at the Hotel Orient is her debut novel.