LoveReading Says
Got a thing for golden age crime? Like the sound of a novel that shapeshifts from an Agatha Christie-esque mystery into gruesome Brothers Grimm territory? You’ll love Kate Mascarenhas’ Hokey Pokey. Set in 1929, this ingeniously unexpected novel throngs with thrilling psychological depth and folkloric horror. Icily incisive, this astonishing story has all the potent punch of an absinthe infused Hokey Pokey cocktail.
One February evening, psychoanalyst Nora Dickinson checks into The Regent Hotel under a pseudonym. She’s travelled from Zurich to investigate a celebrated opera singer. Just as Nora’s making some headway, an elderly guest goes missing and she sees a strange dog in her room. At the same time, a heavy snow storm renders everyone isolated, and it’s not long before murder and madness emerge from the dankness.
Sandwiched between the mystery of the 1929 present are sections that lay bare Nora’s shockingly dysfunctional upbringing, and why she’s really shadowing the opera singer. The monstrous overtones of the revelations are nothing but wildly inventive, while the novel’s undertones explore the darkest echelons of identity and obsession. Rarely has a novel defied expectation, and its blurb, to such an intoxicating extent.
Joanne Owen
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Hokey Pokey Synopsis
February, 1929. The Regent Hotel in Birmingham is a place of deception and glamour.
Behind its six-storeyed façade, guests sip absinthe cocktails on velvet banquettes, while the staff navigate the hotel's labyrinthine 'below stairs' to ensure the finest service is always at hand.
In the early evening, psychoanalyst Nora Dickinson checks in under a false name. It's unlike Nora to deceive – her aversion to lying borders on the pathological – but she's travelling with an agenda. Having shadowed the famous opera singer, Berenice Oxbow, from Zurich, she's determined not to lose sight of her now.
But when a terrible snow storm isolates the hotel – and its guests – from the outside world, reality appears to shift. Nora's grip loosens, and the nightmares she's worked hard to control begin to bare their teeth.
Kate Mascarenhas's latest novel offers her readers a horrifying ride through murder, madness and the darkest recesses of the mind
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781789543858 |
| Publication date: |
8th June 2023 |
| Author: |
Kate Mascarenhas |
| Publisher: |
Apollo an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing PLC |
| Format: |
Hardback |
| Pagination: |
325 pages |
| Primary Genre |
General Fiction
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| Other Genres: |
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| Recommendations: |
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Kate Mascarenhas Press Reviews
'In Hokey Pokey, Kate Mascarenhas has produced a delicious piece of art deco Gothic which explores the psychological complexities of both the age and the genre. I adore Kate's pitch perfect prose and fearless way with dishing out the thrills.' -- Natalie Marlow, author of Needless Alley
'Hokey Pokey is an atmospheric, claustrophobic novel, expertly bringing the glamour of the 1920s to life. Nora's journey of self-discovery is both poignant and chilling, gripping the reader from the first line to the last. A dark and mesmerising read.' -- Elizabeth Lee, author of Cunning Women
'Dark and complex and beautifully plotted. I did not want to put it down.' -- Rebecca Netley, author of The Whistling
'An immersive and unique treat of obsession, murder and madness, skilfully wrapped in a glittering twist of golden age crime, with a dark supernatural core. Very clever writing.' -- Essie Fox, author of The Fascination
PRAISE FOR KATE MASCARENHAS:
'Witty, inventive and unflashily wise about human hearts; Mascarenhas's future promises to be an exciting one' Guardian.
'Breathtakingly tender and wryly understated, The Psychology of Time Travel feels like an antidote to a great deal of reported (and even fictionalized) history, its excised women now finding their way back into the spotlight' New York Times.
'Bringing magical realism to a contemporary Oxford setting in an atmospheric examination of gender inequality' Guardian, on The Thief on the Winged Horse.
'Captivating, inventive and tender... A dazzling mix of crime, romance, magic and myth' Adele Parks, on The Thief on the Winged Horse.
'This is a novel packed with ideas... It'll leave you turning over the concepts in your mind long after the story is finished' - SFX, on The Psychology of Time Travel
About Kate Mascarenhas
Kate Mascarenhas is a part-Irish, part-Seychellois midlander. Since 2017, Kate has been a chartered psychologist. Before that she worked as a copywriter, a dolls' house maker, and a bookbinder. She lives in the Midlands with her husband in a small terraced house which she is slowly filling with Sindy dolls. She is the author of two other novels, The Psychology of Time Travel and The Thief on the Winged Horse.
Author Photo credit: Matt Murtagh
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