Room 29

I read my first Jennifer McMahon book (The Winter People) on my last trip, so how nice that The Night Sister came available at the library just before this one. Like The Winter People, The Night Sister expertly combines creepy surroundings with unhappy people in unhappy towns, creating an incredible environment for horror.

“For some people, Rose, it’s easier to pretend the things that frighten us most don’t exist at all.”

In the 1950s, the Tower Hotel (named for the huge tower the founder built in the back) in London, Vermont did booming business with tourists — some of whom came to see performances put on by the owner’s two daughters, Sylvie and Rose. By the 1980s, the interstate had come through, diverting traffic away from the hotel and the family allowed it to fall into disrepair — although Rose’s daughter Amy and her two friends, Piper and Margot — continued to explore the property. In present day, Amy and her family still live in the hotel — until Amy kills her husband and son one night, and then herself. Only her young daughter Lou survives, along with a photo of Rose and Sylvia upon which someone has written “29 rooms”.

McMahon tells the story from alternating viewpoints spread out over three decades: Sylvie & Rose in the 1950s; Piper and Jason (now Margot’s husband) in the 1980s and Piper, Margot and Jason in present day as they try to solve the mystery of Amy. I loved the way she told it — filling in piece by piece throughout the book. Very suspenseful and well done.