Maria and Frankie are back on the case when 2 girls are found dead in the infamous ‘haunted’ hotel, The Parker.

Multiple situations, shall we say, happen in this murder mystery that will test the duo personally and professionally.

My feelings are I didn’t feel anything one way or another. I didn’t hate it, I didn’t love it. That is slightly a problem. This comes from the fact that the book is struggling to be defined as a horror or a murder mystery. The real joy of horror books is when you aren’t quite sure it’s true. Is it a ghost or is there a more reasonable explanation?

I did not read the first two books in this series, so I’m unsure the quality level personally but other reviewers said the first two books were a lot better than this one. The author references the previous cases often, although I didn’t feel I was missing out by reading the 3rd in the series as a stand alone.

Maria’s thoughts might give you whiplash. I’m not going to go rereading, but I swear I thought Frankie was a mentor (I pictured my own 70 year old ‘best friend’ I have at work). When Maria mentions she has a crush on Frankie it felt really out of left field. It was odd. Especially the abrupt way the author introduced this conflict. This example of the abruptness happened one too many times while reading that it became a pattern. Combined with a bit of repetitive thoughts. There was a messiness that made this tory overall off-putting.

That being said, I didn’t hate it. It was short enough, a quick read and had a good amount of creepiness where it got the job done. Great cover!

Amazon Link – The Girls on Floor 13 By: Helen Phifer

_{***Thank you to Storm Publishing, NetGalley and of course, Helen Phifer, for a  copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Publishing on May 30, 2024.}