Juniper Hill

by Dorothy Daniels

A munificent inheritance from an unknown benefactor...a fabulous Victorian mansion in San Francisco, the only one on Juniper Hill to escape destruction in the great earthquake...a ghostly pianist who plays a locked grand piano in the depths of the night...an eerie séance in the flickering candlelight...a beautiful young woman- very much in love- threatened by a desperate killer as she unravels the mystery of the musical ghost.

Genres: Gothic, Fiction

206 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1976

About the author

According to a mini-biography, accompanied by a photograph, on the rear cover of one of her many gothic novels, Dorothy Daniels was born in Connecticut but by the time she was a full-time writer, in the middle 1960's, was living in California. She was initially an English teacher at a state college but later wrote articles that appeared in national magazines, which led to her career as a writer of mostly gothic paperbacks. Lancer books, which published more than twenty of her novels, proclaimed her "America's Most Popular Gothic Novelist" while Pocket Books claimed her gothic novels had sold over eleven million copies by the middle 1970's. Her approximately 146 novels were published by a dozen paperback publishers, some had as many as four printings while others were printed only once. Lancer and Warner Books together published more than sixty of her novels. The vast majority of her novels were written in the first person and this was a trademark of sorts with Dorothy Daniels, as she rarely strayed from this pattern. Several of her novels take place in the Old South. Her novels were also considerably more involving plot-wise and contained more character development than other gothic novels. She published her last gothic novel, "House of Silence", in late 1980. Afterward she wrote a handfull of historical romances and her last published novel appears to be "Crisis at Valcour" in 1985.
The aforementioned photograph on the rear cover of her 1965 book "Cliffside Castle" contradicts some claims that Dorothy Daniels was male, and at least one internet website's author insists that Dorothy Daniels was actually a man named Paul Hugo Little who lived in Chicago and wrote over 700 books under at least a dozen pseudonyms. We may never know for certain who Dorothy Daniels was. Several of her gothic paperbacks, credited to Dorothy Daniels or Suzanne Somers, were copyrighted by Norman Daniels. She published one novel, "House of False Faces", under the pseudonym Helen Gray Weston, but this book was later reissued as "Dorothy Daniels writing as Helen Gray Weston". She wrote three nurse romance books in addition to her many gothic novels.

Also wrote under the names:
Angela Gray
Cynthia Kavanaugh
Helaine Ross
Suzanne Somers
Geraldine Thayer
Helen Gray Weston

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Rob Imes · Rating 4 out of 5]

JUNIPER HILL by Dorothy Daniels was published by Pocket Books in December 1976. Not only is it a Gothic romance that involves a murder mystery (as usual for Daniels) but it's a ghost story as well, including supernatural aspects that are not explained away as a human trick. One funny thing about my experience reading this book is that when I picked it up and read the first 12 pages, I found that I didn't like the writing style. I had just read a Dorothy Daniels novel from 1965 prior to this, and the writing in this 1976 novel seemed too plain in comparison. In fact, I suspected that perhaps it was ghostwritten by her husband (Norman A. Daniels), since the one book of his that I'd read also had a plain writing style. So, I set the book aside and read a 1977 Dorothy Daniels book instead, and that one I liked very much; then I read a 1978 Dorothy Daniels book and enjoyed it as well. So finally I picked Juniper Hill back up, started reading it again from the first page, and eventually found that I enjoyed it more than any Daniels book that I had read so far!

The story takes place in 1922 about a 19 year old woman named Kathy Cromwell living in San Francisco whose parents died in the 1906 earthquake. Kathy was raised by her Aunt Liza who lay dying in the hospital as the story opens. Shortly before Liza died, she refers to a "Doris," but Kathy believes this was due to delirium. She later discovers that someone had been paying Liza $300 a month for most of Kathy's life, which Liza had been putting in a bank account for Kathy. Kathy works at a hotel as a pianist, and for years she has been playing an incomplete tune that she always assumed to be her own invention. But one day an older couple visiting the hotel recognize the tune and inform her that their Juniper Hill mansion (one of the few to survive the earthquake) is haunted and that almost every night the piano plays that same tune on its own. This musical manifestation is the only evidence of ghostly activity, but the couple ask Kathy to stay with them at their home for a few days in the hope that she can help solve the mystery and make the ghost go away. One night during her stay however, for the first time, the ghost bangs on the keys in a harsh manner and then causes items to go crashing around the room. Later some visitors arrive at the home, including the former owners (who never had a ghost problem when they lived there) and a medium who attempts to make contact with the ghost. At the same time, one visitor to the house is murdered in a non-paranormal manner and attempts are made on Kathy's life by the same killer. So, the novel combines a ghost story with a murder mystery.

I wondered at first whether there would be a romance in this Gothic romance, and thankfully it has that as well. Bill Jeffers, first appears on page 79 (of a 208-page book, counting ads), but he very quickly becomes Kathy's romantic interest. In fact, this novel might have the quickest example of instalove that I've yet encountered, since they profess their love for each other and talk about getting married on page 88 -- only 9 pages after they met! Bill proves helpful in Kathy's attempt to try and solve the mystery as well as trying to protect her from getting killed. At one point it looked like Bill had betrayed her by telling a lie, but thankfully he's not the person trying to kill her. (If this had been a non-romance novel, there would have been no guarantee of this, and I think that would have made for a disappointing and infuriating read.) Bill and Kathy get their HEA, and even the ghost is happy I think. I've always liked stories that involve ghosts and musical instruments (especially pianos) because there is a certain old-fashioned elegance evoked by the idea, a literal "haunting melody." I'm also glad that the ghost was real and not part of some elaborate plan cooked up by the killer in Scooby Doo fashion. Overall a highly satisfying and memorable story. I rate the book 4.5 (out of 5) stars.

[Downward dog · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful!

[Wenqi · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up

Short, satisfying, cozy story

[Christopher Cornelius · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was really good with a setup I loved and plenty of the genuinely supernatural.

UPDATE: Changed to 5 stars. I read this one to my wife and she enjoyed it, too. I enjoyed my second reading of it more than my first and now think it is probably the best I've read.