Murder story - treacherous hotel keepers. Paris on New Year's Day, 1875, is covered in treacherous ice and many revellers have difficulty in reaching their homes. Two bachelors seek refuge in a nearby hotel and one of them - richly dressed - is given the ground floor bedroom. He disappears while his friend sleeps but an investigation reveals a trap door beneath the double bed. Grisly murders are revealed. Competently written. (PB)