The Watcher

by Dolores Hitchens

An anonymous letter triggers the police into reopening three cases of "accidental" death.

Genres: Mystery

Paperback

First published January 1, 1961

About the author

Julia Clara Catharine Dolores Birk Olsen Hitchens, better known as Dolores Hitchens, was an American mystery novelist who wrote prolifically from 1938 until her death. She also wrote under the pseudonyms D.B. Olsen, Dolan Birkley and Noel Burke.

Hitchens collaborated on five railroad mysteries with her second husband, Bert Hitchens, a railroad detective, and also branched out into other genres in her writing, including Western stories. Many of her mystery novels centered around a spinster character named Rachel Murdock.

Hitchens wrote Fool's Gold, the 1958 novel adapted by Jean-Luc Godard for his film Bande à part (Band of Outsiders, 1964).

Reviews

[Carla Remy · Rating 5 out of 5]

02/2018

Doleres Hitchens is so interesting and entertaining to me. This is from 1959. The suspense is terrific. I loved what happens to Molly and Larry, it actually scared me (which I don't feel often, though I adore suspenseful thrillers).

[QHuong(BookSpy) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5


Phần tâm lý được xây dựng khá tốt. Tác giả thành công trong việc tạo ra không khí đáng sợ, âm ỉ nỗi sợ vì sự hiện diện của tên sát nhân.
Điểm trừ là cách suy luận ra thủ phạm không tạo được sự thuyết phục. Thủ phạm xuất hiện khá khiên cưỡng và cách xử lý vụ án hụt hẫng.

[e b · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute stunner, hands down my favourite crime novel I've read in quite some time. Hitchens crafted a top-notch suspense narrative via a succession of scenes of well-drawn characters dealing with the emotional fallout of loss and the constraints of the society they live in. I can think of few more haunting lines than when the police detective Archer is interviewing a bereaved father who is trying to hold it together as the case of his daughter's death is reopened like a painful wound, and the cop reflects that his salary doesn't pay him enough to handle what he sees when he looks in the grieving man's eyes. Recently some high profile crime lit figures did their best to restore Margaret Millar to her deserved place in the pantheon. Can we do Dolores Hitchens next? I'm happy that Library of America has given some of her works the e-book treatment, but she deserves a print volume of her own. Or the "Collected Millar" treatment.

[Doug Swicegood · Rating 5 out of 5]

'The Watcher' Dolores Hitchens' tale of terror, anguish, and gripping suspense. A seaside resort town is held in terror by an unknown serial killer who targets teenagers. At first suspicion is everywhere but as the plot ensues the residents come to believe a near neighbor is to blame. A hard boiled sheriff does his best to unravel this mystery before another is killed! I thought 'The Watcher' A great read.

[River · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gripping. Really captured the suffocating feeling of a small town. Intricately woven and beautifully characterised. I was hanging on every page

[Marvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is number 3 of my Dolores binge. Good mysteries set in 1950s Newport Beach area of Southern CA.