It's February 1929 and a snowstorm descends on Birmingham. All the railway lines are blocked and a disparate group of guests is stranded in the city centre Regent Hotel. Among them are psychoanalysts Nora Dickinson and renowned operatic diva Berenice "The Icon" Oxbow. Is their presence wholly random, or do the two women have some connection...?

I love novels with a strong location and well depicted setting - as here (the book even comes with plans of the hotel). They allow one to sink into the routines and conventions of the location, and watch the characters run, as it were, though the mazes of the author's invention. Having the protagonists isolated from their normal lives, caught briefly out of time, as it were, adds to the pleasure which here is enhanced by the jousting between Nora and Berenice, and by Nora's startling ability at mimicry - basically if she hears something once, she can repeat it exactly forever. That ability, and the idea of mimicry and of truth, are at the centre of this thought-provoking and satisfyingly complex story - as much as the series of gruesome killings that begins to occur...

An icon is, of course, a depiction of a saint or of God, but one that is held to be more than just an image. Beronice is named for Veronica, who mopped Jesus' tears, obtaining a true icon of the deity. Nora can reproduce life to a startling degree, and, as we find out when we learn the two women's stories, both have history that is entangled with deception, imitation and untruth (the cataclysmic event of Nora's childhood encapsulating this). And it's all taking place in the glittering, mirrored splendour of a hotel, an unreal place with its own contradictions: between the guests' accommodation and the back stairs (the map shows both the guest and staff sides), between the lives of the guests and those of the staff, between the guests' everyday life and their hotel existence. There are of course many secrets to come out, but before they do, they shape events here like invisible plumbing behind ornate walls.

The sense of a charade taking place, of everything being one step away from tumbling down to reveal what is really going on, is intensified by the two womens' positions seeming so shaky. Berenice is accepted and acclaimed because of her voice, which may however fail at any time (it has before). Nora is a woman in a profession dominated by powerful, manipulative men and - as Mascarenhas makes clear - even her presence in the hotel, as a woman alone, is on sufferance (she isn't allowed in the cocktail lounge unaccompanied, for example).

It is a bewildering, intoxicating novel, just as much so, I'd guess, as one of those Hokey Pokey cocktails (recipe helpfully provided) which Nora so much enjoys. With a real taste for time and place and more than a twist of the gothic, this is a book to savour.

Very interesting.
Took me a while to get into it and it did feel dragged at times, but the whole narrative and concept made this a very interesting read.

What a bizarre but fun read!

I was thinking it was going to be a typical murder mystery thriller type of book but has a unique supernatural twist that I enjoyed!

This is one of those books that is best going into not knowing anything.

Definitely recommend for those who like a bit of weird and mystery!

As I was reading this book, I wasn't too sure where the plot was going to lead. I was intrigued by Nora spying on the supposedly cheating opera singer. But there was going to be a lot more to this story. It turns out that Nora grew up nearby and has a dark past, with a secret that she bears. There is a plot twist that I didn't see coming.

'Hokey Pokey' follows Nora, a psychoanalyst who is on a secret mission. She checks into the Regent Hotel, Birmingham, in 1929 to follow a famous opera singer and hopefully find evidence of her infidelity. However, when a snow storm floods the streets of Birmingham, cutting the hotel off from the world, and another guest goes missing, Nora's agenda begins to change. Will she be able to stay focused on the reason she is there or is her past going to catch up with her before she can complete her mission?
As you might know from my other reviews, book set in the 1920s are absolutely my bag. The parts of this novel set in the hotel, with jazzy scenery, costumes and cocktails galore, were my favourite bits by far. This was where the writing really dazzled in my opinion! The flashback sections - which actually take up a large amount of the story - were less compelling to me, but essential to understanding the development of Nora's character, so I think Mascarenhas struck a decent balance there.
The story itself took some very unexpected turns. After a while, it became obvious there was more to this mystery - something darker and more supernatural. Now, while that's no bad thing, it's not even hinted at in the blurb! If you were reading this based on the blurb, probably hoping for an eerie mystery set in a hotel in the 1920s, you could fine yourself confused, shocked and maybe even a little disappointed. Luckily, I didn’t mind the change in direction!
All in all, superb 1920s imagery and plot-twists galore!

Birmingham, 1929. Welcome to the luxurious Regent Hotel, where guests can dine on sumptuous cuisine, sip absinthe in the glamorous cocktail bar, and have their every need catered to by an army of discrete and smartly dressed attendants. While the facade of the uber-stylish Regent may seem highly respectable, this is a place of contradictions, much like its clientele. For some, rules can be bent to accommodate more lascivious tastes, and misdemeanours can be overlooked, if the guests are wealthy enough - or know how to trade in secrets.

As a winter storm closes in, psychoanalyst Dr Nora Dickinson checks in. Her secret mission is to spy on Berenice Oxbow, the famous opera singer from Zurich, on behalf of her psychiatrist husband, but Nora's motives are clouded. When the hotel gets cut off from the outside world in a mighty blizzard, the evil that stalks the corridors of the Regent comes out to play, and Nora might just be the only one that can stem the tide of murder and mayhem that threatens to disrupt her plans.

Hokey Pokey is the third glorious novel from Kate Mascarenhas, and it offers an intriguing extension of the themes she has explored in her earlier books, The Psychology of Time Travel and The Thief on the Winged Horse.

In many ways this is a classic locked room mystery, which Nora finds herself bound to solve when murder raises its ugly head, but this is not your normal golden age crime story. The setting of the Regent Hotel may be straight out of the 1920s, with deliciously described sights sounds and smells that conjure up the delights of the era for your sensuous pleasure, right down to the absinthe laden cocktails available in the bar - but here there be monsters.

Drawing on fable and folklore, Mascarenhas blurs the lines between reality and imagination, moving between events at the Regent, Nora's childhood in the woods of Alspeth, and her life in Zurich. She brings alive visions from your nightmares in true horror fashion, but she incorporates psychoanalytical aspects of the motivations and experiences of the characters too, so you can never be quite sure how much of the story is intended to be taken literally, or metaphsyically - until the truth becomes shockingly clear.

There is a veritable feast of themes running throughout this novel, and Mascarenhas weaves them through compelling scenes thrumming with taut emotion, passion, suspicion, and violence. Identity, control, power and desire are deftly explored; notions of illusion and mimicry are used to perfection; and there are recurring motifs that beautifully link all the parts of the story together. Nora's evolution across the novel, as she comes to understand herself, and what is going on around her, is spellbinding.

I am a big fan of Mascarenhas' writing, especially when it comes to her female characters. I have loved all her novels, and Hokey Pokey is my favourite one yet. I am already craving more.

Sadly this book defeated me. It started off well enough and held my interest until part 2 when it started to wane. By the time part 3 arrived, I had lost the plot completely and so, by a 4 chapters into part 3, I gave up in frustration and moved on to the next book on my very long reading list.

This book was not really as I expected. I am now into horror in any way, including the mildest forms. This came in the category for me, although I can see the imagery of feeling born out of your right family. This crops up a couple of times. This was more vampire than thriller for me, however, I’m grateful to the publisher, author and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this. All opinions are my own and in no way influenced by the fact that I received this ARC in exchange for a review.

Most of the time I had no real idea where this book was going. Initially it really felt like a murder mystery set up, with great descriptions of the hotel and the decorations. Although that murder mystery feeling continued underneath the surface, the main story soon veered off into many other strange and weird directions. I’m unsure why everyone was obsessed with the opera singer, but she was clearly the catalyst for many of the things happening in the hotel. The last couple of chapters were especially surprising. I’m not sure what to make of the end and it left me oddly on edge and unsatisfied.

Unfortunately this was a DNF book. It started off ok but then became very weird about a 3rd of the way through.

You might enjoy this if you’re into dark supernatural horror but this wasn’t for me.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for my review

Found it a strange book - a mix of historical fiction with gothic horror, paranormal and murder mystery thrown in.
Nora is a complicated character and you never knew what was real and what wasn’t.
However I did love the descriptions of the Art Deco Regent Hotel - very decadent with glitz and glamour.
Thanks @katemascarenhas @HoZ_Books & @netgalley for the eARC

As a child Nora grows up isolated with a father who appears to care little about her and a mother who tells her nightmarish tales and encourages her to mimic and spy on people. As an adult Nora is following an opera singer Berenice, under the orders of her jealous husband Leo looking for evidence of an affair. Yet Nora is still a skilled mimic and enjoys spying on Berenice and replicating her words and songs. When the hotel in Birmingham where they are staying becomes a crime scene is Nora going to become a victim or is she the murderer or something else entirely?

It's not often that I think a book is too weird for me but this might be it. I can cope with none of the characters being likeable but one minute it's a jealous lover story, then it's blackmail and murder, then it's cannibalistic monsters in the forest. At one point I wondered if the whole thing would be some terrible delusion of a psychiatric patient as that would make sense. Certainly worth a read as I like this author and the Birmingham hotel setting but not my cup of tea

Nora enters a Birmingham hotel with a clear goal but events from Nora's past start to bleed into the present when a blizzard descends.

This is a fearless novel, it does not shy away from taking characters down paths you don't expect and embracing the strange.

Really enjoyable.

Hokey Pokey might be the first book I've read set in 1920s Europe, or atleast that I can recall.
Mascarenhas does a superb job of setting the scene, everything from architecture to dinner felt thematically perfect. Described in enough detail to picture the moment and maintaining the story pace without unnecessary verbiage, I'm pleased to have encountered this author.

I absolutely hated Oxbow which was obviously the authors intent. I physically recoiled in disgust on several occasions, so well written was this arrogant, pompous character.
For the better half of Hokey Pokey I was not a fan of the main character Nora either, her cold outlook was at odds with her motives and it wasn't until her entire history had unfolded that I found a reason to root for her.

Instead I was engulfed with the mystery of the vanishing Hotel guests, possible ghost sightings and lore of the 'Hyring'. I'd not heard of such a creature before and an (admittedly not extensive) internet search leads me to believe this is a fantasy of Mascarenhas creation. If so kudos, I very much enjoyed it and recommend you read Hokey Pokey if not only for this.

It was interesting to read from a woman's perspective in 20s Europe where the cultural etiquette strictly forbade women from drinking alone or travelling without business priorities or escort companions.

I will forgive Mascarenhas the one clumsy reveal- a cheap plot tie that left me somewhat disgruntled, for the majority of Hokey Pokey was intriguing and the ending vindicated my reaction to the collection of bad seeds comprising the characters.

There is unexpectedly grim body horror to be found in this novel, scoring extra points for an altogether fun read

On the face of it, this is a glamorous Golden Age murder mystery - but that conceals a darker truth and this develops into a fantasy gothic horror. Not at all what I expected and having enjoyed The Thief on the Winged Horse immensely, this didn't quite hit the spot for me, though it is still very well written I wasn't absorbed on the same way.

Firstly, let me say that this is not my kind of read. I completely missed the 'horror' part in the description which is solely down to me.

As befitting the roaring twenties, Birmingham's Regent Hotel is rather opulent; just the kind of place to sip evening cocktails. Nora Dickinson has booked in, but under a pseudonym which is completely unlike her, but she's on a mission. secretly shadowing a famous opera singer. When a snow storm confines everyone to the hotel and isolates them from the outside world, Nora's grip on reality loosens and darkness descends.

Now, this wasn't one for me at all, and I take full responsibility for choosing it. Having said that, I didn't realise until some way through and started off full of enthusiasm. What I think was the 'horror' part of the book didn't bother me too much but I really struggled to stay with the story. I had to force myself to keep reading and it didn't really do anything for me - in fact, I reached the end with a feeling of relief. While it wasn't for me, I couldn't fault the author's succinct writing and so I'll give this one 3*.

My thanks to the publisher for my copy; this is - as always - my honest, original and unbiased review.

Enjoyable slow-burn mystery.
The first half (third?) of the book felt all together too long for me, as I almost decided to DNF. In the end, the way the story is set up works really well, but while reading it made for a very confusing experience.

I expected a, closed-room, Agatha Christie-like cosy crime book and this was more supernatural mystery.

This is a wonderfully clever story that starts out as a fairly run of the mill mystery set in a 1920s hotel but it soon develops in to something, very, very unexpected. A fun read with original ideas and great characters.

Dr Nora Dickinson, psychoanalyst, is spying on Berenice Oxbow, opera star, in a Birmingham Hotel where they are snowed in. Is this doctor-patient or something more sinister? Nora’s former lover, Leo, is married to Berenice, so perhaps this is a revenge-persecution-murder story? But Nora is there at Leo’s behest, seeking to find out if Berenice is unfaithful. Why would he do that? Partly this is just because he can coerce Nora into doing things for him, but primarily it is because Nora is a consummate, in fact quintessential, mimic and possessed of total recall. She is a human Dictaphone capable of reciting complete conversations in the voices of the participants. An ideal spy. This talent, it transpires, is due to her being a “Hyring”, a mythical being that can take on human form (an aspect of its mimicry) and eats people. Perhaps this is a love triangle story? But, putting all the pieces together, what we have is a bunch of people trapped in a location with a killer on the loose, which is a classic trope in the murder-mystery genre.
The first section of the book covers the setup described above. It is February 1929, in the English Midlands, and the writing style is quite evocative of that period. It is a bit slow, or perhaps just a bit indulgent. It cuts away from there to describe Nora’s childhood, filling in details about the “Hyrings” and her family connection to them. It has elements of a horror story but doesn’t really get its teeth into it (to coin a phrase). Returning to the Hotel, the pace picks up and a nice twist is revealed. The events are logical within the plot and the ending is satisfactory. However, although there is an element of mayhem, it never rises to the hoped for thrilling level of horror. Overall, it is an intriguing read, and quite entertaining.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

(review contains spoilers)
I went into this book pretty blind purely on the basis of having loved 'The Psychology of Time Travel. Even if I'd studied the blurb though, there's no way it could have prepared my expectations.

The author's writing style is once again a perfect balance of easy to read and lush with detail letting you paint a picture of the strange Birmingham hotel and the guests within.

I loved being tricked by the early unreliable narration of Nora and where it all led as the book suddenly changed pace and tone when the truth was revealed to the reader. Even then I was doubting what was real and what was delusion. The ending left me with a smile as Nora found her true self and wasn't afraid to ask for what she wanted anymore. The 'monster' wins in a way but so she should!