Room at the Inn – HOTEL DETECTIVE and FAT INNKEEPER
Maybe if I had continued writing P.I. novels I could have had an enduring series a la Archer, Millhone, Cole, and Scudder, modern private detective characters that have enriched and broadened the crime genre, but it has always been my inclination to write the books I want to write rather than continue along a safer (and probably surer) course.
When I started writing THE HOTEL DETECTIVE I had almost twenty years of hotel stories to draw from. There was no doubt in my mind that the book would be written in a lighter vein than my first two novels. To survive in the hotel business it helps to have a good sense of humor. Crazy things happen, and you have to be able to roll with the punches. Hotels are such a human environment, a place where often eccentric guests frequently meet offbeat staff.
I struggled in the early stages of writing THE HOTEL DETECTIVE, but I didn’t know why. This was an environment and a world I knew only too well. Starting in high school I was a houseman (someone who essentially runs towels, empties maids carts, and does whatever menial work demanded of him), and eventually moved up to pool attendant, bellman, desk clerk, and night auditor. I had also done stints in restaurants as a dishwasher and busboy. Not long after graduating from college I was promoted to Assistant General Manager, and then years later I became a General Manager. I had the hotel stories, and I knew the characters intimately, but the book still seemed to be in the I.C.U.
Finally I realized the problem wasn’t in the material or the plot, but in the way I had structured the book. Originally I tried writing the novel as a first person book. The very nature of hotels, and especially this hotel (what I called The Hotel California), demanded that I write the book as a third person novel. Once I made that switch everything fell into place.
In some ways I felt as if I was “cheating.” Most of my books require heavy research. I knew all about hotels; I had twenty years of anecdotes; I’d managed dysfunctional but interesting staff; I had faced up to guests from hell.
People who have read THE HOTEL DETECTIVE and THE FAT INNKEEPER always ask me what is real and what is fictional. You would be surprised how many real events were inserted in the book, with some minor changes here and there. I enjoyed writing the books. They allowed me to laugh along with the readers.
At first blush, the short-lived series was not very successful. The books were published by Mysterious Press, and my sales figures were certainly not up there with some of the heavyweights in that house. I think what hurt me most was that the month THE HOTEL DETECTIVE was first published, Mysterious was also publishing novels by Donald Westlake and Ross Thomas. In the words of George Goebbels, “Did you ever feel like the whole world is a tuxedo and you’re a pair of brown shoes?”
Sara Ann Freed was my editor, and I know she would have liked the series to have succeeded as much I did, but for whatever reason it just never seemed to take off. I think it was bad timing, for the reviews were enthusiastic, and people that read the book seemed to love it. The hotel series was designed for belly laughs, and on that front at least I know it succeeded.
While writing THE FAT INNKEEPER things were not going well on both professional fronts. Mysterious Press was being forced to cut back on its author list and it appeared I was going to be a victim of “last hired first fired.” There were also changes going on at the hotel I managed. To my thinking the ownership was trying to go the corporate cookie-cutter mold, and I didn’t want to be part of throwing the baby out with the bath water.
I didn’t have any expectations for THE FAT INNKEEPER. It was the second book in a series about to be orphaned. Somehow though, the book defied expectations then, just as the series does now.
Once again, reviews were excellent. At year’s end the novel won a Critics’ Choice Award, being selected as one of the twenty best mystery novels of the year. It was also nominated for The Lefty, an award given to the funniest mystery novel at the Left Coast Crime Convention.
I didn’t think the book had any chance to win. The Left Coast Crime Convention was being held in Boulder, Colorado, and Kinky Friedman was its guest of honor. Kinky also had a book nominated for the Lefty, so I assumed he was a shoo-in. I was shocked when THE FAT INNKEEPER won the Lefty.
I was also gratified by hearing that there was a letter campaign to the publisher of Warner Books demanding that the series be continued. The core group of readers was very loyal indeed.
Somehow THE HOTEL DETECTIVE and THE FAT INNKEEPER have continued to gain in popularity with readers even though it’s been years since they were published. People are always asking me when I am going to write a sequel. One day I will do so. Even though I no longer work in hotels, whenever I stay in one I can’t help but critique it from a G.M.’s perspective. My eyes search out cobwebs, analyze staff, and study operations. I think of all those hotel stories still locked in my mind’s vault, and look forward to return visit to the inn one day.
There is no first chapter from THE HOTEL DETECTIVE. Alas, the book is getting harder and harder to find. But in the excerpt from THE FAT INNKEEPER you get an idea of the madcap goings-on at The Hotel California.
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