Asylum Hotel

When a mysterious figure shows up in the photograph an architect takes of the derelict Seabrink Hotel, ghostly encounters and murder are unleashed.

Aubrey Spencer loves photographing classic old buildings and abandoned places that hold old secrets. The Hotel Seabrink, perched overlooking the sea, is one such place. Currently abandoned but scheduled for a major renovation, it has a torrid history. Back in the 1920s it hosted A-list celebrity clientele, and now the locals insist it is haunted by the ghosts of two young women who died there. When Aubrey goes to photograph the site before the renovation begins, she bumps into a man named Dimitri Petroff, a minor online celebrity who shares her fascination with old buildings, the Hotel Seabrink in particular.

When he is found dead the next day at the base of a cliff, the police are quick to close the investigation. But Aubrey feels unsettled by locals who claim he was murdered and that it’s not the first time someone interested in the hotel was killed. As she digs deeper into the property’s dark history (and its origins as an asylum) as well as Dimitri’s professional rivalries, she becomes mired in an unsolved murder case from several decades earlier, one with eerie parallels to the contemporary case. But someone is determined to keep her from discovering the truth—at any cost.

• Asylum Hotel by Juliet Blackwell
• Published by: Berkley on July 29, 2025
• Genre: Mystery, thriller, suspense, paranormal
• Pages: 384
• Dates/times read: 11.25.2025 – 12.10.2025 (6 hours 49 minutes)
• Format: Paperback
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• Purchase on Amazon
• ⭐⭐⭐½

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I’ve long been a fan of the paranormal, and have secretly longed to be a Ghost Hunter. I’ve probably watched every episode of every show ever made about ghost hunting. Old, derelict, abandoned hospitals, prisons, and asylums have been incredibly fascinating to me. It’s always been my belief that if there is such a thing as ghosts or hauntings, it stands to reason that a location soaked in pain, fear, torment, and misery would be a prime spot to find them. Which is why I was really excited to dive into this book, because it sounded right up my alley!

It fell short of expectations, unfortunately. It was entertaining-ish, and I somewhat enjoyed it. I just felt like the book didn’t live up to the hype of the blurb. Instead of really focusing on one or two main mysteries, it felt like there were a bunch just dumped into your lap, and they ultimately didn’t lead anywhere of importance. There were a ton of characters that were introduced, but very little backstory on them. It was as if the author gave you just enough of a backstory so you weren’t totally confused and lost in the story, but not enough to really feel like you connected with the story either. I hope that makes sense.

And with my last breath I cursed him: Breathe me in before taking me out.

The main detective in the story was seriously laughable, and I’m still wondering if it was the author’s intent. He reminded me of Barney Fife from the Andy Griffith show. Maybe this is what helped the book feel a bit more light-hearted than Uber intense. Perhaps “Barney Fife” was needed to help the reader get a sense of just how small, remote, and close-knit this little seaside community is, but he really got on my last nerve with how dismissive he was. Not to mention his condescending and patriarchal attitude he had towards the main character throughout the book. Thankfully, we had Aubrey, the FMC amateur sleuth, and her best friend on the case!

The book was multi-layered, and I enjoyed that. There was a lot of mystery and intrigue, some tense thriller-ish moments, and even a dash of romance in there. One of the biggest things that I appreciated about the book was how everything came together in the end. I get annoyed when the author makes the plot twist turn out to be someone close to the MC in some way, such as a best friend or lover. Someone you’ve spent the entire book learning about, growing to like, and then BAM! they turn out to be the killer! I know this is used in so many thriller/mystery plot formulas, so I was half expecting this book to go that way, but I was happy it didn’t. I get it! That formula works and adds an intense shock factor. But not EVERY mystery has to be done that way, so it was refreshing to find in this book that she changed it up on us. So overall, a decent small-town mystery. Nothing too intense, and if you are anti-paranormal, you may want to skip it because it does come into play a bit at the end.

Also of note, this was the August Once Upon a Book Club subscription box, so it came with gifties! One of the gifts in this box will go down as probably one of my favorite gifts ever, and the other 2 were kind of meh. Sorry OUABC!!! One of the gifts was a small pencil canvas bag with a quote printed on it, as well as a 60-page A5 notebook/journal that will fit into the bag. A 20-oz insulated travel mug (my favorite of the gifts) and an alarm clock. This alarm clock is absolute trash, unfortunately. It has a mirrored face to it, and the numbers light up in white on it. It can be plugged in via USB or run off batteries. I gave it a test, and I’m sorry…but the only thing this alarm clock would wake up is maybe a mouse! The alarm is so quiet, you can barely hear it going off. Definitely useful for a clock only, but I wouldn’t suggest using it as your alarm. I’m a pretty light sleeper, and I know for a fact it wouldn’t wake me up.