The Lady in Residence. Allison Pittman. 2021. 239 pages. [Source: Review copy]
First sentence: The tour ended where it began--in the courtyard of the Alamo, the fortress bathed in white light, flags snapping in the nigh sky.
Premise/plot: Dini Blackstone is a tour guide--among other things (like a magician)--obsessed with one particular (local) ghost story. Hedda Krause, the "lady in residence," wrote a memoir before her death chronicling her haunting experiences at the Menger Hotel in San Antonio, Texas. She was haunted by the ghost of Sallie White--and subsequently robbed of all her valuables. Her robbery case was investigated by Irvin Carmichael. Dini has read the memoir hundreds of times. When Quin Carmichael--a descendent of Irvin Carmichael--comes to town with some of his family's things--a notebook, a box, a photograph, etc. The two set off to reinvestigate this cold case. Was Hedda Krause truly haunted by Sallie White (a maid murdered by her husband at the threshold of the hotel)? Or was she the victim of a dark prank? Was the end-game to rob her all along?
Will Dini and Quin find they have more in common than a ghost story?
My thoughts: Is The Lady in Residence a dual time line novel? Maybe. I can see it being argued both ways. Technically, the past story line is just the reader reading a memoir that the two main characters are reading (or rereading as the case may be). Readers aren't really privy to anything not recorded in her published memoir. This is more a book inside a book. I'll add if my memory is accurate. There might be a couple of pages towards the end of the story where readers do get a more proper flashback of sorts. But I can't recall if this is still part of the memoir OR if it's not. This is part of the whole big reveal section of the book.
Is it a romance? Yes. Somewhat. Dini definitely has her romance. Hedda had hers. But not every romance ends in a happily ever after. Romance isn't the primary focus of the novel. The focus is on this ghost story, on this unsolved mysterious robbery case in the past. The driving of the novel is trying to determine how truthful Hedda Krause was.
The Lady in Residence doesn't quite fit in with your traditional Christian romance. Nor does it fit in with your typical secular adult romance. It is published by a Christian publishing company. The intimacy of couples are a bit too detailed, too described, definitely hinting at MORE than your typical Christian read. Yet by secular standards it wouldn't be considered smutty or steamy. It's just a bit awkward not fitting in fully with either camp.
The character of Hedda Krause was intriguing. So much was left UNSAID. And I did question what was said. She's a mysterious character and I can see why Dini found her memoir so compelling. Reading between the lines, I think Hedda's past definitely had some darker #metoo vibes. I think her life was HARD.
If there was one thing I didn't quite like about this one was the resolution.
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I can see why for plot reasons Quin had to be descended from the original detective (so we could get the good loot to explore), but I didn't see why Dini had to discover her own ancestral roots to the case. It seemed a bit too much. This novel relied 99% on coincidence. And that just felt unnecessary. You can solve a mystery without having to be related to one of the suspects.
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