Stairway to an Empty Room

by Dolores Hitchens

Monica Marshall's sister Biddy has been murdered by her husband. Biddy has a daughter, Winifred, and with the husband on death row, Monica agrees to take charge of her. Winifred is anxious to leave the house where she has been living with Biddy. The house and the woman who runs it seem so unpleasant to Monica. But nothing prepares her for Stevens. He is managing a mountain retreat where Monica takes her new charge for a getaway--she hates him immediately. Strangely enough, Winifred recognizes the couple in another cabin. Soon Monica realizes that there is something very strange going on here. Her brakes fail ... later she almost drowns in the lake. And Stevens is becoming very protective of young Winifred. What do all these people have to do with Biddy's death, and what is really going on here?...

Genres: Mystery

Paperback

First published January 1, 1951

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 4 out of 5]

(2017:)
I loved this book so much, even though I easily guessed the solution to the mystery. I am completely satisfied by a thriller with a romance and a cat (named Boozer). Also, the book itself... I think I bought it at a book sale a few years ago. When I recently came across it, I was so excited that I had a book by Dolores Hitchens, because I read and loved her Fool's Gold (in the Library of America Women Crime Writers of the 1950s). I mean, I had never heard her name when I bought this. I totally got it for the cover and the title. My hardcover copy has the same dust jacket shown here, with the cat and the shoes on the stairs. Also someone wrote on the first page, "July 1951" ( also a name maybe but that is illegible).

(2022:)
So I said I'm satisfied with a thriller with a romance and a cat.Yes, but only if it's from 25 years before I was born. (I realize it describes many books I wouldn't read). Before my lifetime is my qualification.

[Caitlin M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Direct link to full review: http://wp.me/p1CgeJ-Kr
Direct link to my blog: http://thesirenstale.com

“Stairway to an Empty Room” is a mystery and crime novel tracing the trials and tribulations of Monica, a 29-year-old spinster who just found that her sister was murdered, her brother-in-law is to blame, and her niece needs a new home and guardian.

Shortly after Monica takes her niece, Winifred, into custody, mystery and mayhem begin to encircle the two. Winifred is an odd child who makes comments about her mother’s murder and pleads her father’s innocence. Monica struggles with being a proper guardian for Winifred, all the while stumbling across several characters who are either out to help or hurt the twosome.

While this novel didn’t have me on the edge of my seat, it was one of the most heartwarming reads I’ve had in a while. Reading books written in the 1950′s (not just set in that time period) has always been soft-spot for me between their silly phrases, outdated topics, and perfectly written characters. And be ready to fall in love with an underplayed character in the novel: Boozer, Monica’s alcoholic cat.

Order a copy of this book online and cozy up with a straight-forward and fun mystery novel the next time you’re home on a gloomy day.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fast-paced with an interesting plot twist I didn't see coming.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd heard of the prolific Dolores Hitchens who also wrote a pair of fine hardboiled private eye novels, so I bought this title at my favorite used bookstore. Anthony Boucher (the Boucheron blowout is named after him) at The New York Times called Stairway (1951) "ingenious evil," so that's high praise indeed. Monica Marshall, an artist in NYC, flies out to L.A. where her kid sister Barbara got murdered. Barbara's husband Jerry (who never appears in the story) is sitting on Death Row for committing the murder. There's a hard-edged bloke named Stevens who befriends and tries to help Monica as doubts arise about Jerry's guilt. Well-written with a dash of romance added, Stairway is a snappy and surprisingly edgy read. I especially liked Boozer the old yellow cat of Monica's who likes beer and booze, thusly his name.

[Darcy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still liked the mystery, but noticed it was virtually the same story line as the other book by this author I have read: a tough sister comes back home to save her weaker sister who finds herself in a desperate situation.