Tragedy as 58-year-old man dies while staying at budget hotel in city centre
The grim find was made at Rollason Wood Hotel in Wood End Road, Erdington, last Wednesday (July 16).
The 58-year-old - understood to be a guest at the property - was pronounced dead at the scene after being found at 10.55am.
The death was not being treated as suspicious and the Birmingham and Solihull Coroner was notified.
West Midlands Police said: "We were called at 10.54am on Wednesday, July 16 to a report of a non-suspicious death.
"The case is now with the city's coroner."
The Rollason is a budget hotel at the junction of Rollason Road and Wood End Road.
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For one thing, he expected high moral standards from other people: this was a man who disapproved of (among other things) lecherous courtiers, his brother's interest in a pretty new maid, and women who cheated on their husbands. • Read more book reviews and interviews — and see what's top of the Sunday Times Bestsellers List Throughout the diary, he repeatedly declared himself 'ashamed' of his conduct, vowed to reform his ways, and was plagued by fears of discovery. When Elizabeth found him fondling their maidservant Deb Willett and threw the girl out of their house, it was not his wife's upset but her threats to 'publish my shame' that truly alarmed him. For a brief period, Pepys was chastened, too afraid of Elizabeth's anger even to 'look about me to see the fine faces'. But he was soon back to his old ways, seeking out new women and plotting to take Deb's virginity despite her obvious reluctance to touch him, his predatory behaviour continuing right up to the diary's final entry — and doubtless beyond. Bédoyère's focus on Pepys's unsavoury behaviour ultimately does the diarist no favours; his sexual exploits are much easier to stomach in wider-ranging editions, where they form just part of the rich tapestry of his undeniably interesting life. Nevertheless, this portrait of a deeply flawed man enhances our understanding of one of England's great diarists — even as it forces us to confront the fact that even interesting and extremely likeable people can behave very unpleasantly behind closed Confessions of Samuel Pepys: His Private Revelations by Guy de la Bédoyère (Abacus £25 pp400). To order a copy go to Free UK standard P&P on orders over £25. Special discount available for Times+ members
