Hotel Melikov -- Jonathan Payne, Hardcover

"[An] enjoyable comic fable . . ." --Wall Street Journal, on Citizen Orlov

"We wouldn't mind at all if this turned out to be the start of a series." --Apple Books Review, on Citizen Orlov

"[An] auspicious debut . . ." --Publishers Weekly, Starred Review, on Citizen Orlov

Not every fishmonger can be a double agent.

Return to an unnamed mountainous country in central Europe on the cusp of civil war. Enter once again Citizen Orlov, a former fishmonger who is now the Minister of Security for a government teetering on collapse. When tensions between the government and revolutionaries erupt, Orlov, hoping to escape the conflict and return to his normal life, is instead recruited by both sides to spy on the other.

With war raging around them, the new king and his ministers are whisked away for safety to the highest point in the kingdom, the convent at the peak of Mount Zhotrykaw. But all is not what it seems at the convent, including the nuns, and Orlov discovers a sinister plot that forces him to choose whose side he is on.

Author: Jonathan Payne
Publisher: Camcat Books
Published: 09/16/2025
Pages: 288
Binding Type: Hardcover
Size: 5.51h x 8.50w x 0.79d
ISBN: 9780744311808

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 03/10/2025
Kirkus Reviews 07/01/2025

About the Author

Jonathan Payne is a British-American writer based in New York City. He holds a Master of Arts degree in novel writing from Middlesex University, London. His debut novel, Citizen Orlov, was published by CamCat Books in May 2023. Apple Books named it one of the Books of the Month. It won the 2024 IBPA Ben Franklin Silver Medal for Mystery/Thriller and the 2024 IPPY Bronze Medal for Suspense/Thriller.