The past and present overlap in The Guest in
Room 120, another captivating, richly woven novel of historical fiction
by Sara Ackerman.
Stories of strong women and the unsolved mysteries
that surround them have become hallmarks of Ackerman’s work.
In The
Uncharted Flight of Olivia West, she explored the story of an ambitious,
young female pilot from the 1920s who faced many obstacles in trying to compete
in the male-dominated world of aviation. In The Guest in
Room 120, Ackerman
sets her sights on Jane Stanford,
the co-founder of esteemed Stanford University who, in 1905, fled life-threatening
dangers in California and took residence in the ritzy Moana Hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii,
only to be murdered there by strychnine poisoning. The circumstances
of her death were covered up and contested.
In 2005, the door to Stanford’s real-life story from the Gilded Age is
reopened when blocked bestselling author, Zoe Finch, in search of literary inspiration,
attends a writing conference at the historic Moana Hotel. While
there, chilling supernatural dreams urge her to more closely examine details of
Stanford’s death. Zoe’s research ultimately ties to an enigmatic woman who
worked at the hotel--and kept a journal--during Stanford’s ill-fated stay.
Along the way, Zoe partners with Dylan Winters,
a fellow mystery writer at the conference. The two are put in peril as they dig
deep and uncover startling, long-buried truths.
Tightly wound dual timelines, burgeoning romance,
and smart plotting--past and present--infuse Ackerman’s ambitious, engrossing
novel riddled with nail-biting suspense.
The Guest
in Room 120 by Sara Ackerman
Mira Books (Harlequin/HarperCollins), $18.99 paperback,
9780778387220, 326 pages
Publishing date: September 23, 2025
To order this book on Indiebound/Bookshop.org, link
HERE
Learn
more about author Sara Ackerman HERE
