Midnight at the Barclay Hotel is the perfect gateway book for young readers to get their first taste of the mystery genre. This is listed as “middle grade” (eight to 12 years old or thereabouts) but even slightly older readers will enjoy the twists and turns as well.
Even better for Colorado readers, the story takes place in a hotel loosely fashioned on the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park (the same hotel that inspired Stephen King to write The Shining) so there is plenty of Colorado flavor to this story—right down to a big snowstorm that traps our trio of clue-tracking sleuths.
JJ is fascinated by ghosts—and hates Book Club. He hates reading—period. He has long wanted to visit The Barclay, “at the top of the list of the most haunted places within a twenty-mile radius of his house.” Even JJ’s favorite online show, Ghost Catchers, tried and failed to get in.
Penny is in Denver on a visit with grandfather, Detective Walker. Penny is from Florida. Unlike JJ, she would be perfectly happy to sit on the couch and read a “giant stack” of books. “She could spend hours at the library, getting lost in the stacks like there was a treasure hunt and she was the explorer.”
Emma lives at the Barclay and she’s “extra bored.” All she wants is another kid to play with. “Sure, the Barclay Hotel had plenty to do for a twelve-year-old girl: there was the pool, the movie theater, the carousel, the Cupcake Shoppe, and the bowling alley.” But mostly Emma roams the hotel and hangs out in the kitchen with her uncle, Chef Pierre.
Soon JJ, Penny, Detective Walker are all assembled at the Barclay with a cowboy, a librarian, and a retired actress. The butler gathers everyone to reveal that they have been invited to solve a mystery: who killed Mr. Barclay?
Our trio dives in—interviewing suspects and uncovering secrets among the adults (and each other). Mistaken identities, red herrings, and nods to Agatha Christie are woven into the narrative in a nifty fashion. The road out becomes unpassable. The characters are trapped. And there is a murderer among them.
With its locked-room set-up, Midnight at the Barclay Hotel is an entertaining explanation of the mystery form—our sleuths are quickly schooled in the powerful combination of means, motive, and opportunity.
JJ’s ghost-hunting business is mild as supernatural storylines go. His determination to prove the existence of ghosts is nicely contrasted with Penny’s skepticism. The story moves at a quick pace and takes full advantage of the extensive amenities inside the Barclay—a tricky elevator, the carousel, a hedge maze, and the library.
(The book includes scattered illustrations by Xavier Bonet). Bradley’s style is engaging throughout and she occasionally deploys a clever touch of turning directly to the reader:
“Now, something to know about JJ is that he was developing a radar for liars. Considering he was knee-deep in his own lying mess, it took a liar to spot a liar, one might say. And it also probably helped that Chief Pierre was a pretty terrible liar. One of the worst.”
If you’ve got a young Penny in your extended family who loves to read—this book might be a perfect gift. And if you’ve got a young JJ in your extended family, ditto.
Mark Stevens is the author of The Allison Coil Mystery Series. Book three in the series, Trapline, won the Colorado Book Award for Best Mystery. Mark also hosts the Rocky Mountain Writer podcast for Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. Mark lives in Mancos., Colo.
