I didn't think I was going to like this as it all started so slowly and the chapters were never ending but I'm glad I stuck with it as it was excellent. The novel begins with the suspicious death of Ruth Miller who had only just moved into Hope House a few days earlier. The police investigated and presumed suicide because of what they were told about Ruth being nervous etc. A concerned friend who knew Ruth from the department store she worked in Knew that she would not take her own life as she was so excited for the future and she asked a private detective to look into the matter. The case took another twist when another girl in Hope House was attacked in a bathroom and left for dead. The private detective follows the leads and calls in the police again and eventually they apprehend the killer.

This is actually third in the Mark East series and I hadn’t read the first two. However, I decided to break my usual rule about reading a series out of order and gave this a try, as I liked the sound of the setting.

Published in 1947, this is set in Hope House, a New York boarding home for women. Ruth Miller, who, like the other tenants of Hope House, has a fairly lowly paid job, works in a department store. She is delighted to have been accepted at Hope House, and tells her favourite customer all about it; the boarding hotel having been recommended by two of her colleagues in the stockroom. However, once Ruth moves in, her excitement turns to fear. She spies someone from her past and she fears that she has also been recognised. ..

This mystery is, obviously, dated. For me, though, this is part of the charm and I enjoyed the setting of Hope House and the scenes at Blackman’s Department Store. There is a good deal of tension, as Ruth tries to decide what to do. When there is a party, held at Hope House, all the girls wear masks and, later, Ruth is found dead – a suspected suicide. Ruth may have been a young, poorly paid worker, but someone cares that she is gone and an investigation begins to uncover what happened.

There are lots of interesting, and some quite odd, characters. Also, there is lots of period flavour and this will have great appeal to anyone who enjoys early mysteries. If you are interested in going back and reading the series from the beginning, the first book is, “Blood Upon the Snow,” published in 1944 and, “A Time to Die,” published in 1945. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

A suicide in an all girls home. But could her tragic suicide actually be a tragic murder?

When Ruth joins the girls home she is startled by someone.. someone from her past. We get the feeling her death and this person are connected but the book teases us until about 60%!

A little slow but it kept me interested

Lillian Harris, a department store sales clerk, is excited to move into Hope House, a respectable rooming house for women of slender means, subsidized by wealthy New York patrons. However, something or someone frightens her so badly as she moves in that she is terrified to leave her room. The next evening she is found dead from a fall from an upper story. The police deem it suicide, but a customer she befriended doesn't believe it and hires Mark East, an upper-class detective, to delve deeper into the matter. He is assisted by two elderly ladies who have their own bumbling methods of looking into the incident. What they discover is that Hope House harbors secrets that some wish to keep buried. The author populates the book with many suspects and red herrings to keep the reader guessing "who did it." The book is a product of it's time where grown women are "girls." These "girls" act a bit odd, but that may well be part of the author's plan. Overall, a good classic crime where tensions mount as the book progresses.

Thanks to NetGalley for a Kindle ARC of Death of a Doll.

I have to admit I requested this book because of the old timey, fun timey noir-ish cover.

Originally published in old timey, fun timey 1940s, Death of a Doll has been re-released and features a private detective named and his two cohorts, meddling sisters.

I really wanted to like this book. Really.

But it was hard.

The mystery wasn't that bad; was the death of a young woman a suicide or foul play?

There were many, many characters; no one was really interesting or sympathetic.

The prose was long and drawn out and frankly, boring.

This just wasn't for me; also, the outdated references and slang were hard to understand and relate to and I didn't want to Google them.

Death of a Doll had me interested from the cover. Simple yet terribly effective, it draws the eye and makes me think of classic crime novels. A fantastic cover design!

The premise of the book is intriguing- a young girl, Ruth Miller, moves to Hope House, a home for girls run by Miss Brady and Miss Small. She is a saleswoman at Blackman’s in the toiletries department and has regular, loyal customers such as Mrs Sutton to chat to. However, during a party at Hope House, whilst the entire home are dressed as rag dolls, Ruth falls to her death from the seventh floor of the building. Instantly it is ruled a suicide, but Mrs Sutton doesn’t believe it. She involves Private Investigator Mark East to solve the mystery. There are multiple threads to this story – Ruth Miller’s death, the mystery behind the musical powder box, and Ruth’s past being among them. I liked how they all separated and then merged again neatly at the end. It bulked the story out more and gave for a more rounded investigation.

It is clear from the off that we as readers already know a fair bit more about Ruth than does Mark East. For instance, we know that upon entering the home, she sees something or someone that alarms her, that sets into motion her plans to leave the house unseen. We know that she has some connection to a person in the house, other than her two fellow employees at Blackman’s. It’s fun being one step ahead in the investigation, and I enjoyed this aspect of the book!

The characters are a mixed bunch. I felt that the some of them could have been introduced better, particularly Mark East, Beulah and Bessy. They just sort of appeared in the story and it took me a while to figure out what they were doing there. As for the two older ladies, Beulah and Bessy were an interesting pair. Absolute busybodies who occasionally irritated me, but ultimately they offer some comedic value to an otherwise serious novel.

The pacing bothered me a little however. For example, I enjoyed finding out about Ruth prior to her untimely death, though I have to admit to finding the beginning a bit too long. I found myself waiting for the Unfortunate Event to take place so the plot would move forward. It wasn’t until about 60% of the way in that I realised I was now enjoying the novel. After this point, you can see the separate threads of the crime coming together and the pacing improved.

Overall this is an intriguing read. The murder mystery is interesting enough to keep me reading, but it wasn’t fast enough to hold my interest throughout. The characters for me weren’t the stars of the book – none of them shined particularly bright, but the plot makes up for that. Not a book I would re-read, but I’m glad I read it. Recommendable to lovers of classic crime!

Hope House is a home for girls who don't have much money. They get a bed in a double room and two meals a day. The nominal head is Miss Brady, but Miss Small works for her and appears to have a lot of authority. Ruth Miller, a young woman who works at a department store called Blackmans, has applied to live at Hope House. She has a customer, Mrs Sutton who is very fond of Ruth. She is pleased to hear that Ruth has a nice place to stay.

When Ruth presents herself at Hope House she appears to be very happy. However, very shortly she suddenly appears afraid. Sure enough, she is found dead the next day, supposedly from having jumped out of the window. However, Mrs. Sutton doesn't believe she would have done that, and hires her detective friend, Mark, to look into it. He very soon realizes that she was murdered before she was thrown out of the window. He does a lot of investigating and gives information to Foy, the local policeman. He also finally finds out about where she came from and the person who was her enemy.

The book is very suspenseful as we near the end and Hope House is full of police closing in on the perpetrator who must be one of two people.

I have not enjoyed a murder mystery this much in a long time. If my Detection Club afficionados are not listening, I will say that I think Ms. Lawrence wrote puzzle mysteries at least as well as Madama Sayers (gasp!). Well-written suspense is everywhere, even in watching an elevator make its excrutiatingly slow way down, and the reader is compelled to turn the page just to get relief. Forget leaving it until tomorrow. I received the Crime Classics/NetGalley ebook in exchange for this review, but I’m thinking of buying the paper version so I can re-read it in the style it was meant to be read. And I will definitely be looking for more by this writer. Her characters pop with individuality and real life, her settings could not be more vivid (and spooky). The mystery had me guessing right to the end – I suspected one “doll”, then changed to one after another, trying to keep up with new clues as they blossomed. And didn’t quite have it nailed right to the end. My favorite kind. The droll humor had me chuckling out loud. Our socialite amateur sleuth has two old-biddy helpmates, Bessy who loves to drink and Beulah who watches out for her. When Mark East suggests apprehensively that maybe the drinker should be taken home, Beulah says, “Wait till her eyes are pink”. Later when they are discussing the case, Bessy says something about “m-u-r-d-e-r”, adding that you have to spell the word in case someone is listening. To which Beulah replies, “Time. Practically red.” Yet, both ladies are cleverer than they let on. As Mark East says, “They can find a needle in a haystack and thread it with a camel.” If you love Golden Age murder and suspense, with sophisticated humor, then enjoy.

Death of a Doll was first published in 1947. It's the story of Ruth who moved to the city to Hope House. This was a boarding house for women. During this time period, these types of places were much more common than they are today. During a party, Ruth jumps from the building. Suicide or murder? The story unfolds slowly with the investigation of her death. It's confusing at times because of numerous characters. I wish the story had moved a little faster. It's well written and intriguing. There is a menacing creepy vibe to it. The characters are likeable and dynamic together. I enjoyed the story overall. Perfect for readers of vintage crime fiction. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is a vintage murder mystery set in America, hard to get into as it jumps all over the place, and all over the people that populate this story. Yet it has a wonderful charm about it that you just can't put it down, a very different writing style. The book is this month's Crime Classics choice for rediscovering these vintage writers, and I will certainly search out the few other books by Hilda Lawerence.
I certainly recommend reading this book to anyone who is interested in crime classics.

Hope House, a Home for Girls, was a New York City residence run by director Monica Brady, with assistance from social worker Angeline Small. In charge of 70 girls, Miss Small made sure they "slept correctly" and were "properly nourished". "These [are] poor love-starved babies, I must do what I can". Ruth Miller, 29 years old, was a salesperson in the toilet goods department of Blackmans. Ruth shared her excitement with wealthy, regular customer Roberta Sutton. She would be moving to Hope House where she would receive both breakfast and dinner and "all the hot water you want".

Suitcase in hand, shy,quiet Ruth entered Hope House with high expectations. Within minutes, her demeanor radically changed. "...in a sea of strange faces, one face was not strange". "Confidently walking into the future Ruth had come face to face with the past". Two days later, Ruth's body was discovered in the courtyard, presumably having fallen from a seventh floor window. Her death was ruled a suicide.

Roberta Sutton was shocked upon hearing of Ruth's demise. She didn't believe Ruth killed herself and convinced Private Investigator Mark East to investigate. Roberta's two house guests, elderly spinsters Beulah Pond and Bessy Petty were amateur sleuths. Mark had his methods of discovery while Beulah and Bessy contributed a comic element. Beulah decided to gather data at Hope House. She walked into the dwelling with an affected limp thinking that an infirmity would make her appear honest. Upon leaving, she limped on the opposite leg!

One thing was for certain. Ruth saw or heard "something" upon arriving at her new digs. The following day, at the house "costume party", Ruth knew she had been recognized. She had seen the "following eyes". She knew what she had to do. Her suitcase was packed, ready to go!

"Death of a Doll" by Hilda Lawrence was written in 1947. Lawrence created a claustrophobic atmosphere with Miss Brady and Miss Small demanding adherence to rigid rules, a stifling living arrangement bound to create discomfort and suspicion. The first half of the tome set the stage to question Ruth's death. The investigation in the second half was murky and slow moving. Fans of classic crime will enjoy the mystery and suspense from the pen of Hilda Lawrence.

Thank you Agora Books and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "Death of a Doll".

Light, disguise, and blindness, in various forms, are key elements in this atmospheric and rather creepy murder mystery, set in the claustrophobic, somewhat enclosed, world of a New York hostel for young women. It was the third from Hilda Lawrence featuring private detective, Mark East, and his sidekicks, Miss Bessy and Miss Beulah, and was first published in 1947.

It is the most successful of the three. Although it would have benefitted from a little pruning, here the momentum was better maintained. As the plot is more focussed on psychology and character than on detection, this is not one for pure puzzle-lovers. The culprit was not too difficult to spot, but the tension lay in what the next move would be and how a resolution would be reached. There is interest, too, in the various relationships of the women in the residence, particularly that of Miss Brady and Miss Small who “run” the place.

Recommended as very readable and quite engrossing.

Thank you to NetGalley, Agora Books and Crime Classics Advance Readers Club for the digital review copy.

I really want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. I liked it a lot.

I felt kind of lukewarm about the book for the first chapter or two, but as it went on, I found myself not wanting to stop reading until I got to the end. Something about it really grabbed my attention. The author was able to convey a strong sense of menace and suspense, just by the tone of her writing. The violence in the book is really minimal, but there’s no doubting that there is great wickedness somewhere in the women’s residence in which the story is set.

I was unfamiliar with the author, Hilda Lawrence, and read that this is considered the best of her four mystery novels. I know that I really enjoyed it.

I found myself a bit confused at times by the huge number of characters, and I still wonder why some of them were included. For instance, were three detectives really necessary? There is a private detective and two snoopy old ladies, or at least my impression was that they were old ladies. And that leads into another thing that I noticed. It wasn’t really possible to guess the ages of many of the characters, and consequently, the ending, when it came was even more of a surprise to me than it might have been. However, I don’t think that I could have predicted the ending with any certainty, no matter how much additional information I was given. Despite this the ending was quite believable.

A classic cozy crime novel focusing on a seeming suicidal plunge from the seventh floor during a rag doll costume party at a women’s dormitory. Not the right choice for my reading. Exceedingly dull.

What a strange and mysterious opening chapter. Slowly but surely I was drawn into this most unusual story. The plot is gradually explained and is in fact very cleverly written. I did of course want to know all the answers but could not guess until the very end. Stick with this one and you will be pleasantly surprised.