Hilda Lawrence. Death of a Doll (1947)

     Hilda Lawrence. Death of a Doll (1947) A reprint from 1982, and you may wonder why. It’s a book that draws you in if you give it time; it took me a while to get through the first third of the tale, but then I wanted to read on. The plot circles around the suspicious death of a shopgirl, who has just moved into Hope House, a kind of YWCA. But one of her regular customers does not believe it was suicide. She engages a family friend who happens to be a ‘tec, and he, along with two elderly ladies, gather enough facts to first show that it was murder, and then unmask the culprit. That person is a classic psychopath. The atmosphere, the descriptions of New York in wintertime, the characterisation are all first rate. Only the pacing of the story falters, especially in the beginning. But a satisfying read all the same. *** (2006)