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A Novel
by Catherine Adel West
A twisty thriller about a woman who vanishes from a luxury hotel, and the detective who believes the case is tied to the unsolved disappearances of other Black women in the city.
Giovanni Mason worked hard to become the first Black head concierge at Chicago's exclusive and glamorous Ivory Hotel. It's a job that requires patience, perfection, and, above all, self-control. But when Giovanni reunites with her former best friend, makeup influencer Natalie Moore, things get heated as a mending of fences morphs into a public argument in the hotel restaurant, and Giovanni loses her cool. Hours later, Natalie is missing. Evidence piles against Giovanni—a ransacked, blood-spattered hotel room, fresh bruises on her body, and a troubling gap in her memory from the last twelve hours.
Detective Redding Stark is the only one unconvinced of Giovanni's guilt. She sees disturbing parallels to a series of disappearances targeting Black women and believes Natalie's case is part of something bigger. Together, she and Giovanni are pulled into a dangerous web of privilege, power, and betrayal inside—and far beyond—the walls of the Ivory Hotel.
Will Giovanni and Detective Stark find Natalie or join the missing?
"Introduces two strong Black protagonists who speak for the voiceless and fight for the lost." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Though West paints her villains with a broad brush and layers in perhaps one too many subplots, the core mystery is strong enough to keep readers hooked. This entertains." —Publishers Weekly
"There is a great deal of suspense within this novel that locks the reader in. It goes beyond being a mystery, drawing awareness to the very real lack of attention abducted and murdered Black and Brown women get in America." —Booklist
"Strangers Behind Closed Doors is a gripping and intricately woven tale of secrets, survival, and the unyielding pursuit of justice brought to life through West's masterful storytelling and vivid, evocative prose. A compelling exploration of systemic injustice and resilience." —Terah Shelton Harris, author of Where the Wildflowers Grow
"Clever, perceptive and much, much creepier than you think, Strangers Behind Closed Doors is a lacerating look at class and race and the bonds we need to survive the horrors of both. Catherine Adel West is a powerhouse." —John Fram, critically acclaimed author of The Bright Lands and The Midnight Knock
This information about Strangers Behind Closed Doors was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Catherine Adel West was born and raised in Chicago, where she currently resides. She graduated with both her bachelor's and master's of science in journalism from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Her work is published in Black Fox Literary Magazine, Five2One, and Better Than Starbucks, among many others. She is the author of Saving Ruby King and The Two Lives of Sara is her sophomore novel.
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