Stairway to an Empty Room

Dolores Hitchens

Dolores Hitchens writes that genre of novels which can't be called gothics in any real sense due to the lack of supernatural activity, but have all the other elements intact. We open with a dead body (the main character's sister), an unnaturally observant child (of the dead woman) who's convinced the convicted killer didn't kill the dead woman, some sinister shadowy figures, a remote location in the woods, etc. All of which adds up to your typical mystery-with-a-dash-of-romance novel. While Hitchens addresses some rather (not only for the time, but present-day) unpopular subjects with aplomb, the book never really rises above the typical mystery novel; a decent read, for what it's worth, but there's a reason Dashiell Hammett is still in print and Dolores Hitchens isn't. There's a good deal of bone here, but not that much meat. Still, if you're a mystery fan and stumble over a cache of Hitchens novels at your local library sale for ten cents a pop, they'll adequately do the job until your favorite writer cranks out his or her newest book.