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Robert Macdonald #22
The Sixteenth Stair
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1942
87 people want to read
About the author
E.C.R. Lorac
74 books178 followersEdith Caroline Rivett (who wrote under the pseudonyms E.C.R. Lorac, Carol Carnac, Carol Rivett, and Mary le Bourne) was a British crime writer. She was born in Hendon, Middlesex (now London). She attended the South Hampstead High School, and the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London.
She was a member of the Detection Club. She was a very prolific writer, having written forty-eight mysteries under her first pen name, and twenty-three under her second. She was an important author of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.
She was a member of the Detection Club. She was a very prolific writer, having written forty-eight mysteries under her first pen name, and twenty-three under her second. She was an important author of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 5, 2022
Probably more of a 3.5 - Now I’ve read quite a few of Lorac’s classic crimes I can definitely say I prefer her Devon and Lancashire based books than those based in London.
Still though, this is a good read. An abandoned house overlooking Regent’s Park, a body at the bottom of the stairs and a lot of family shenanigans going on. Not MacDonalds finest case, but an enjoyable story.
Still though, this is a good read. An abandoned house overlooking Regent’s Park, a body at the bottom of the stairs and a lot of family shenanigans going on. Not MacDonalds finest case, but an enjoyable story.
May 26, 2019
A house in London - near Regent’s Park for choice - filled with character and a long history. A family which at first seems perfectly respectable and turns out to have all kinds of hidden scandals and hatreds, to say nothing of black sheep and overseas relatives. A denouement in which we see the criminal in action without knowing which of the suspects it could be until they are safely in the hands of the law. This has all the features of classic ECR Lorac, but I would class it as good average rather than one of her best. There is something almost Dickensian about the Hazeley family but it’s hard to feel sympathy for any of them and therefore to care as much as we should which if any of them might turn out to have murder in their heart.
November 28, 2023
Vintage rare Lorac from 1941 set around a neglected mansion near Regent's Park, and an extended family being picked off one by one. I've enjoyed each Lorac I've read. The ending of this one seemed abrupt.
February 3, 2026
Well up to her usual high standard. I’ve yet to read a book of hers that I didn’t enjoy immensely. The mystery centres around the Hazely family and their empty Regent’s Park property: The Villa Eugéne. An American family member arrives in London, fascinated to see the house and stumbles across the body of one of his relatives (obvious family resemblance) at the foot of the tower staircase. MacDonald is alerted and investigates the family whose personalities are reflected by their own manner of living.
The Villa Eugéne with its tower room… panelled in the graceful manner of the second empire and with a ceiling painted with an Italianate design of a Moroni, frolicking among roses whose colour had faded to pallor.
The dull silver paper of the living room of Brian Fenton’s flat made his face look sallower than before.
William Hazely’s house seemed airless and subconsciously MacDonald disliked the house intensely leaving him with a desire to shout or sing — anything to break the decorous, stifling silence.
Mary Oxton’s property denoted substantial and ordered posterity with its cream-panelled walls, water colours, rosewood furniture and Aubusson carpet combining in a scheme of stylised but comely effect.
Jeremy Hazely lived in a gloomy Gower Street house that resembled nothing less than a Dickensian nightmare. It was impossible to say that anything had any colour. Plush curtains, carpets, upholstery, all seemed grey, a melancholy tone of dirt and fading London dust.
Dr Hugh Oxton’s waiting room was furnished with no single object marring the period effect; it contained examples of the work of Sheraton, Chippendale and Hepplewhite — altogether a mannered and admirable example of a late eighteenth century room. His Kensington home was just as pleasant; the living room’s honey-coloured walls and well designed modern furniture was carpeted, upholstered and curtained in an unusual shade of brown, the material shot with a golden warp which picked up the sunny tone of the walls.
It’s obvious that a couple have been using the Villa for assignations and that coming clean about their relationship is likely to cause ructions. This novel was published in 1942 but there’s no mention of world events. Again Lorac uses the horse racing betting phrase “also ran” in a humorous way to make a point that I’ve only seen in her work (‘Murder in the Mill Race’ for one) so this must have been wartime vernacular.
“By heck! What a[n extremely decrepit] house,” he said to himself. “Methuselah and the Ark also ran…”
The Villa Eugéne with its tower room… panelled in the graceful manner of the second empire and with a ceiling painted with an Italianate design of a Moroni, frolicking among roses whose colour had faded to pallor.
The dull silver paper of the living room of Brian Fenton’s flat made his face look sallower than before.
William Hazely’s house seemed airless and subconsciously MacDonald disliked the house intensely leaving him with a desire to shout or sing — anything to break the decorous, stifling silence.
Mary Oxton’s property denoted substantial and ordered posterity with its cream-panelled walls, water colours, rosewood furniture and Aubusson carpet combining in a scheme of stylised but comely effect.
Jeremy Hazely lived in a gloomy Gower Street house that resembled nothing less than a Dickensian nightmare. It was impossible to say that anything had any colour. Plush curtains, carpets, upholstery, all seemed grey, a melancholy tone of dirt and fading London dust.
Dr Hugh Oxton’s waiting room was furnished with no single object marring the period effect; it contained examples of the work of Sheraton, Chippendale and Hepplewhite — altogether a mannered and admirable example of a late eighteenth century room. His Kensington home was just as pleasant; the living room’s honey-coloured walls and well designed modern furniture was carpeted, upholstered and curtained in an unusual shade of brown, the material shot with a golden warp which picked up the sunny tone of the walls.
It’s obvious that a couple have been using the Villa for assignations and that coming clean about their relationship is likely to cause ructions. This novel was published in 1942 but there’s no mention of world events. Again Lorac uses the horse racing betting phrase “also ran” in a humorous way to make a point that I’ve only seen in her work (‘Murder in the Mill Race’ for one) so this must have been wartime vernacular.
“By heck! What a[n extremely decrepit] house,” he said to himself. “Methuselah and the Ark also ran…”
August 22, 2024
I’ll never rate a Macdonald story lower than a four - he is too attractive a detective- but this is at the lower end of the fours. Lorac’s knack for description is there, but there is much more dialogue than in her out of London books, which shine as the best in this terrific series. Lorac is a wonderful writer of detective fiction and as a tale of family secrets, avarice and disguise this is still very readable.
January 1, 2014
Here is a link to my review on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSqHkl...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSqHkl...
June 3, 2017
Perfectly good classic mystery, missing that certain spark to make it a classic. Full review at classicmystery.wordpress.com
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews