I’ll start off by saying that I’m a big fan of this author. So when I pick up one of her books, I have high expectations.
This one hit all of them, Written with her usual flowing style & grace, it’s easy to lose yourself in the story. With the characters being well thought out and beautifully executed, it really draws you in.
Although this is book number 3 in the series, it can standalone as a great book in its own right.( However, I would recommend books 1 & 2 also even if you read this first ).
A must buy for me and one I have no hesitation in recommending.
Thank you for the opportunity to read the arc.

I’m so sad because of the ending of this book. I’ll get to that in a moment. First, this engaged me right at the beginning, and I pretty much stayed there the whole book. I just love Frankie and Maria’s friendship, and I wish everyone had working relationships like that. Add in a spooky mystery, and this is a well-written, excellent way to spend a few hours. I was so sad at the end, like I said above, because of two things. One, this might be the last book, and I really, really hope not. Second, something happened that made me cry a little. Nope, not going to say; read it for yourself and find out. Highly recommend. I was provided a complimentary copy which I voluntarily reviewed.

Gostei do título do livro, daí ter requisitado este ARC. Não sabia que fazia parte de uma série e achava ser apenas um thriller, mas incluí também horror e o sobrenatural, que na minha opinião deixou a história um pouco confusa e aborrecida. A escrita é simples, mas não muito cativante e senti que o final foi apressado.

Detective Maria Miller #3

A light flickers in the silent room. Side by side in twin beds, the girls could be sleeping, except their pale skin is ice-cold, and their closed eyes will never open again....

When the bodies of two teenage girls are discovered in a run-down New York City hotel room, Detective Maria Miller is called to the crime scene. The best friends were supposed to be at a sleepover miles away in the suburbs. With no record of the girls checking in and the room on the thirteenth floor closed off to guests, what were they doing there? Sinister messages on their phones suggest the girls were lured to the hotel, using its reputation for hauntings as bait. The killer left no DNA behind, and Maria's efforts to trace their identity leads to a dead end. But Maria feels certain that the murderer works at the hotel. How else did they access the room and know it was empty? While Maria races to interview the staff before another body turns up, the hotel manager shares an old newspaper article about an identical double murder decades before.

Detectives Maria Miller and partner Frankie are called out to Parker Hotel, where two teenage girls had been found dead in their beds. This book has both suspense and paranormal activity. Maria and Frankie need help from an unlikely source. The hotel has a checkered past. There's also the sighting of the blue lady that's reportedly only seen by people prior to something bad happening. My only criticism is that iIfelt it ended rather quickly. Although this book is part of a series, it can be read as a standalone.

Published 30th May

I would like to thank #NetGalley #StormPublishing and the author #HelenPhifer for my ARC of #TheGirlsOnFloor13 in exchange for an honest review.

It gave me Cecil Hotel in LA vibes and I think that's why I was all for it. Normally not the thriller reader onless its spooky season. But this paranormal thriller was so good I couldn't put it down.
It's a series but you can read it as a standalone but let me tell you there is a risk you will want to read the first two books after that.. just like a want now.
Following Detective Maria and Frankie on this adventure was exciting.
New York City, ghost stories, two girls... but they end up dead! Solving this crime is no piece of cake, but somehow Maria and Frankie are here for the supernatural.
The way it's written makes you feel like you're not reading but watching and I loved it. Helen Phifer had no problems to be tough with some scenes that were chilling. There is some romance throughout the book which just goes to show that even in the darkest places love can be found.

I enjoyed reading it and highly recommend it. Thank you NetGally and Helen Phifer for this opportunity

Despite not having read the previous books in the series, this was a fairly enjoyable read, especially if you like a supernatural element.

I personally enjoyed the paranormal aspect and the relationships between the characters, especially Maria and Frankie (and Harrison). Summed up in a few words, this ghostly mystery has a good plot, although do feel it lagged a little here and there. I also think I need to have read the first two for it to really click.

Note before the review: I was unaware that this book was part of a series and therefore read it as a stand alone book. It made sense as a stand alone, however with reading of the whole series I would have been able to understand certain references to previous events better.

That said, I enjoyed this book. It was my first paranormal thriller I have read. A creepy hotel with all the sorts of characters you would expect to find. The first half of the book I throughly enjoyed and really loved the character Maria and her dynamic with policing farther Frankie. The building of tension was great throughout and I did not see the twist of “whodunit” coming.

The ending for me was very poor. It was wrapped up far too quickly and what should have been the most interesting part of the story to read ended up only being a couple of chapters. I kept wanting more and expecting more up until the final word. I did enjoy this book however and will keep an eye out for more work by this author.

While this is the third novel in the series, it was the first I read. If you find yourself in the same scenario, this book is easy to read on its own, but does make reference to the previous novels. A veiled homage to the Cecil Hotel, the Parker Hotel is a place where odd things happen, things that cannot be explained by most- insert Maria and Frankie, dynamic duo assigned to the unexplained/mystery police cases. The Girls on Floor 13 provides a decent story arc with many side characters playing crucial roles in its development. I will say, the main characters, Maria and Frankie, were not as well developed as one would assume with it being the third novel. I love a good romance storyline alongside the mystery, but the romance was lacking to the point that it perhaps was more of an afterthought. This paranormal mystery has you wondering the nature of what goes on at the Parker Hotel, with many twists and turns to keep you second guessing.
Thank you to #netgalley and #Stormpublishing for the ARC!

This book was so captivating! It was so twisty! I kept me on the edge of my seat! I binged this within a day! I can’t wait to receive a physical copy! A must buy for my shelf.

I have read books by this author, but it has been a while since the last one. This book is part of a series but it can easily be read as a standalone, although there were some references to previous books which confused me a little. This was a completely different book to what I expected though, but in a good way! I thought it would be just a police procedural read but it turned out to be that plus a lot of supernatural and downright scary parts in it!

We are in New York City to investigate the deaths of two girls at a notoriously haunted hotel, The Parker. Detective Maria Miller and her partner Frankie are sent to investigate and find some seriously weird goings on! The storylines switch between different characters and you are kept wondering who the killer is. I liked Maria and Frankie and their relationship was interesting and added some humour to a dark, tense plot. The storyline was gruesome and scary and held my interest throughout.

It wasn't the genre I thought it would be, but nonetheless it was a book which I really enjoyed! I will definitely be going back and reading the previous books of the series! If you're looking for a crime read with a little something different, then this is the book for you!

First I'd like to start by making it known that I wasn't aware this was the third book in a series, so I read this as a stand alone, which worked well. Reading the first two books might give more depth to the story.

The story of this book was very intriguing to me, I love thrillers, paranormal stuff and the horror genre in general, and the beginning drew me in immediately. At first it reads like a crime thriller, where you're trying to find out who the murderer of two teenage girls is, but it soon changes to a paranormal/horror situation. I did enjoy reading this book at the beginning, it definitely drew me in, however there was some inconsistencies that I couldn't get over and the ending I felt was a little rushed and I was a bit disappointed. I was finding myself getting confused and lost about who was talking and who was who at times, and I do think it would be easier to follow if it was clear whos POV each chapter was of and who was speaking. Overall though, it was an okay read and I would recommend it to people who enjoy horror/paranormal more than those who enjoy crime thrillers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
I enjoyed the spooky factor to this mixed with the murder mystery, BUT I feel like the ending was wrapped up too neatly too quickly.

Considering the assumption The Parker was built on a burial ground and the sleep demon possessing people and forcing them to commit crimes was an evil spirit from that burial ground, I feel like releasing it from The Parker would have taken more steps. Such as determining who the spirit belonged to initially, what item was holding it in place, etc. But maybe I’ve watched way too much Supernatural.

Overall, I enjoyed the story, characters, plot, and the concept but would have loved more depth in eradicating the evil spirit. I also think some closure in what happened to Rickie after he murdered the possessed murdered while also possessed by the demon would have been good. Possibly a 10 months later epilogue with that information, an update on Stanley and Cherry, and what Marie and Frankie decided to do (did they quit the strange cases task force?).

I’m not usually a paranormal reader, but this book was very surprising to me! I also didn’t realize this was part of a series, but it was easy to pick up with this book. Super quick read and kept me on my toes.

The Girls On Floor 13
By:Helen Phifer

4 Stars

Crime. Murder. Drama. Ghosts. This story has it all. When two girls are murdered in the Parker Hotel, on the the 13th floor, detectives Maria and Frankie are brought in. They seem to find themselves on a not so normal case. Again.

What could be better than hauntings and murder? This book was a surprise to me. It was a part of a series, and yet, as a stand-alone, it was so good. It DID make me want to go read the others, sooner rather than later. I never felt like I missed anything major. It just made me want more information. I loved the characters and the storyline. It was spooky and well written and I can't wait to find more from this author.

*I want to thank Netgalley and the author for this book in return for my honest review*

Stormi Ellis
Boundless Book Review

Thanks netgalley for another wonderful ghost story by a brilliant author Helen Phifer.
Had ready her other book and this one was equally as good loved it cannot wait for another one..
Two teenage girls one interested in ghosts went to New York from their hime town to visit a run down hotel which had a reputation for being haunted by a lady in a pale blue dress.
What they did find was a demon who cut off their feet and left them dead.
Detective Maria Miller and her sidekick were called in to investigate the murders as they had a reputation as ghost hunters.
What they did find was a lot worse and nearly killed Marua Miller.

I wish this was just crime fiction. It sort of took away the mystery and fun of solving a crime. Detective Maria is called to solve a gruesome murder of teenage girls. The book focuses on some sinister being that resides in the hotel rather than finding out the reason for the murder. The story also fluctuates timelines which don't actually do much for the plot. Also it didn't satisfactorily explain the foot fetish.
I give this book 2 stars because I didn't enjoy the paranormal angle.

I thank NetGalley and Storm Publishing for the E-Arc and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Another great entry to the series, this was creepy and chilling and I couldn't put it down. Brilliant!

This third installment in the series started strong with a chilling double homicide at the Parker Hotel. The initial mystery grabbed my attention, and the author cleverly weaved in a touch of the paranormal, keeping me on edge. However, as the story unfolded, cracks began to appear. The dialogue felt forced and lacked natural flow, jolting me out of the narrative. Additionally, Maria's internal monologue revealed a bombshell about her feelings for Frankie, a development completely out of the blue and unsupported by prior interactions. This kind of abrupt shift happened repeatedly, undermining the emotional core of the characters.

The biggest letdown was the ending. The story veered sharply into horror territory, leaving the initial murder investigation dangling. The explanation for the killings felt at odds with the crime genre, creating a jarring disconnect. While some readers might enjoy the heavy paranormal elements, I found it a frustrating departure from the series' initial promise. It seems the author struggled to reconcile the crime and paranormal aspects, resulting in a disjointed and ultimately disappointing experience.

Another fine crime/supernatural story featuring Detective Miller.
The story hops back and forth between historical murders in the room and the present day case Maria needs to solve and is a bit confusing in places as it is not always clear in which time a character is acting.
The supernatural bits (for me) need to be taken with a suspension of disbelief, but the points are not over-laboured, more accepted as another aspect of crime solving and the book reads well as a result of this clever weaving of the current crime and resident evil!

An old hotel with a creepy past, two dead girls, sinister messages, and strange visions. make for another creepy and fun book in the Detective Maria Miller series by Helen Phifer. I enjoyed the creepy paranormal vibe in this book. As with the previous books in the series, readers will see Detective Maire Miller and her partner, Frankie take on a paranormal case at a hotel which had an identical double murder which occurred decades earlier. I enjoy the paranormal aspect in this series and how Marie and Frankie are called in to investigate the cases which are supernatural in nature.


The thirteenth floor of a rundown New York City hotel room is no stranger to chilling events happening. Is the hotel haunted? Is the thirteenth floor haunted? What or who is responsible for the deaths of the two teenage girls? How is this case connected to the past case? That is what Marie and Franke (and myself) set out to solve in [book:The Girls on Floor 13|209070964].

Having to solve a current case which is identical to a past case is reminiscent of the first book in the series, [book:The Haunting on West 10th Street|195068811] which also had a case in the present which resembled a case in the past.

Readers also get to see more of Marie's private life, which was a nice touch as readers of the series have seen her meet and date Harrison.

I enjoyed the mystery in this book as well as the many characters. This is the third book in the series and I highly recommend reading [book:The Haunting on West 10th Street|195068811] and [book:Her Lost Soul|200516568] as well. Can this book be read as a stand-alone? Perhaps, but the first two books in this series are so well done that I highly recommend reading them as well.

While I enjoyed this book, it was not my favorite in the series, that honor goes to [book:Her Lost Soul|200516568]. But this was a solid installment in the series, and I enjoyed the chilling, haunted, and creepy vibe in this book. Plus, the atmosphere is off the charts! A creepy old hotel paired with tension and twists, made for fun reading.

If you enjoy books with a paranormal element paired with a police procedural, this book series fits the bill!

Chilling, creepy, well written and atmospheric!

3.5 stars

Thank you to Storm Publishing and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com 📖