Alessandra Ranelli is an American author living in Vienna; for her debut whodunnit Murder at the Hotel Orient she was Writer in Residence of the Hotel Orient, where the book is set.
Alessandra Ranelli's debut Murder at the Hotel Orient was published on the 30th of April 2026.
Describe your latest book in one sentence.
Murder at the Hotel Orient is a contemporary “spicy whodunnit” with golden age vibes, in which a locked-room murder exposes the secrets of Vienna’s infamous Hotel Orient, a real love hotel where cameras are verboten, aliases are required, and every anonymous guest has something to hide.
What soundtrack do you suggest readers should listen to while they read your latest book?
This is the playlist
What's next?
Book two in the series! It involves a serial killer targeting opera singers.
What was the first book you remember reading?
I remember The Giving Tree being the first “long” book I was able to read aloud, about which I was rather smug because it was slightly advanced for my age. So I kept reading it aloud to show off. Fear not, the universe would humble me in due time.
Please list your top five all-time favourite books (any genre)
- The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler
- If On a Winter’s Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino
- Choke by Chuck Palahniuk
- Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut
- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Scandal in Bohemia if I should be specific)
What is the most underrated crime novel, and why does it deserve more attention?
The Long Goodbye! Everyone raves about the Big Sleep, but the Long Goodbye is by far my favorite Chandler.
The Gumshoe Dude sneaks into your latest story while you’re not looking. What is he doing there?
He’s probably in bed with Sterling. Or, perhaps with Fernando. I don’t know which way he swings.
And now for the quick questions:
Top book on your TBR (to-be-read)
We Search the Island for Grace by Bonnie Burke-Patel
Poirot or Rebus?
This is like asking me to choose between my children! Or, more like choosing between my two peculiar uncles. But, pearl-handled, snub-nosed revolver to my head, I’d say Poirot. Both the book character, and the Sir David Suchet portrayal.
Keyboard or pen?
Fountain pen, smudged all over the page because I am left-handed.
Audio or E-book?
Audio, these days, because I spend so long staring at written words it’s hard to make time for reading.
If you turn on the radio now, what station is playing?
I live in Vienna, so it would be one of the local Austrian stations.
I once subleased a room in a Brooklyn artist’s loft where they kept a radio on in the bathroom, playing NPR at all hours. We were allowed to turn it down but never off. It was some sort of weird superstition in the house. The loft was a renovated dollhouse factory in Bushwick, and didn’t have hot water on demand. So you had to turn on a switch and wait an hour for it to heat up, and y got about 4 minutes of hot water that would suddenly, without the slightest of warnings, turn to ice water. I worked as a pastry chef so I got up at 1AM every day, and spent a lot of night shivering to the tune of public radio jazz or old radio show reruns.
The Radio (capital R) in the Hotel Orient books is a character in itself, and it broadcasts from some unknown station where the announcer, Maximilian, seemingly never sleeps. The Hotel Orient radio shows are sponsored by Petri Wine, which is a nod to the classic Sherlock Holmes Adventures starring Basil Rathbone.
And finally, your writing beverage of choice?
Coffee and water. An excess of the former and lack of the latter.
Questions ©Bonnie Burke-Patel and Anneli Meeder; Responses ©Alessandra Ranelli, author photo ©Alessandra Ranelli
