Whistle for the Crows

Whistle for the Crows by Dorothy Eden
published by Ace Books
Copyright 1962

The job had seemed a godsend to Cath-
leen Lamb, alone, friendless, and in need of
a home. It has been fascinating at first,
tracing the O'Riordan family tree. But the
past, she soon discovered, was intricately
and diabolically woven into the present, and
its strong, slender threads were even now
involving her with

• The tyrannical spinster who controlled lives and purse-strings
• The younger heir who might - but did he? - kill to get what he wanted
• The girl who married the wrong man
• The baby who was born to the wrong woman
• The brother who weren't bothers
• The two drownings - and the accidents that weren't accidents

In the gloomy castle on the edge of a moor,
a spirited girl pokes among the moldering
bones of a family skeleton and stirs up the
dust of malice and murder.

You know that is exactly the kind of Craigslist job ad that inevitably turns out to be too good to be true. It will assuredly end with something like "Please send topless photo and measurements to help selection process." Damn! Burned again.

Okay, so this is driving me crazy. We have a signature but I just can't make it out. I would also swear on the Necronomicon that I have another book with a cover illustrated by this same artist but I can not locate it. I have scanned the books I have already posted and I even sorted through the books waiting in the wings but no luck. If you know who it is, put me out of my misery, please let me know.

The Pretty Ones

The Pretty Ones by Dorothy Eden
published by Ace Books
Copyright 1957

The
Pretty Ones

SHADOWS BEHIND SHADOWS; WHEELS
WITHIN WHEELS. THIS WAS
COURTLANDS, EMMA'S NEW HOME... (what
on earth are they talking about?)

It seemed that nothing would ever
upset the joys of marriage for Emma and
her husband Barnaby, even though she
knew little about the man she had met
and married in a matter of weeks. (so what
exactly are you basing this eternal optimism on?)

Then the unpleasant rumors started
-that Barnaby's first wife disappeared
under sinister circumstances; that no one
really knew what happened to the two
pretty young governesses who simply
ran off without cause or explanation.

Emma trusted Barnaby; there were
no questions she could or would ask him.
But when a pathetic, lonely grave turned
up in the field, her loyalty to her brood-
ing, secretive husband gave way to cold,
hard fear ...

Okay, I knew my husband (Aaron Bias - See Silver Age Gold) pretty well when we got married. In fact, I could, with all confidence say I trusted him completely. (Oh to be 21 and naive again) but I would have to say, I would not have had any hesitation is suspecting that he was responsible for a mass grave in my backyard even without all the suspicious circumstances surrounding this guy.

I mean really. Mysterious disappearances, brooding, secretiveness? Emma, that ugly shirt isn't going to save you from having your neck broken.

Cat's Prey

Cat's Prey by Dorothy Eden
published by Coronet Books
Copyright 1952

'No-one can suggest an eerie
atmosphere and the sinister trifle
better than Miss Dorothy Eden'
THE GUARDIAN

When Antonia arrived in Auckland, the voice that
warned her of danger over the telephone sounded
heavy and menacing. It decoyed her away from the
hotel - and while she was away someone searched her
room.

When she eventually reached her cousin Simon's
house, were the noises she heard in the night those of
an imprisoned and terrified woman, or just echoes in a
mind stretched to exhaustion? Surely she wasn't
imagining the light in the deserted wing ... ?

That is two book in a row with someone being menaced via telephone. Do you think Dorothy Eden had some issues to work through?

Our cover artist appeared to have signed their work "GD" but I have had no luck tracking down any information on them. You've got to love the matching eye shadows and dress though and anytime you can have a font color match someone's hair it is truly marketing genius! But, quite frankly, I am disappointment that there isn't actually a cat.

An Afternoon Walk

An Afternoon Walk by Dorothy Eden
published by Fawcett Crest Books
Copyright 1971

THE SHRILL RINGING
OF THE PHONE ...

shattered the peaceful sun-drenched afternoon.

The voice was the voice of a stranger. "Am I
speaking to Mrs. Simpson?"

"Yes," said Ella tensely, "I am Mrs. Simpson."

"The very lady I want. Just a word of advice,
love. Drive carefully."

The caller hung up abruptly.

Not that Ella would have wanted to talk to him.
She hated the sound of his voice. Very vulgar. But
why was he calling her all the time? Warning her?
About lots of things. Even about her small
daughter, Kitty.

"Do you know where Kitty is?" the voice
threatened.

Her husband didn't believe a word of it. Told her
she was imagining things. That she was loony.

He also didn't believe about the old, empty house
she and Kitty had stumbled upon a few afternoons
ago.

But she had seen the house. And so had Kitty. And
now that she thought about it she realized that all
her troubles had begun with the visit to that house.

There was something dark and evil about the
place. Something terrible. But what? And who
would believe her even if she did find out?

Now I don't want to take sides here, but really, I'm sure her husband has some reason to not believe her. A person just doesn't up and decide to call their spouse a loon without some precedent. The poor man has probably been through all this before. He has probably struggle with it only to finally break down and accept that fact that his poor wife was crazy and very likely had passed the "crazy gene" town to their child.

How horrible for him. How utterly hopeless a place to find yourself, with no one to talk to but the loon herself.

Poor, poor Mr. Simpson.

Darkwater

Darkwater by Dorothy Eden
published by Fawcett Crest Books
Copyright 1963

My Dear Family -

If ever you have doubts
as to what is happening, if
every you are uneasy, will
you tell me, or send a
message to me or my aunt?
If this injunction seems
like nonsense to you now,
it may not always be nonsense...

Adam

Fanny knew then that Adam felt as she did
about the strange events at Darkwater. Even
before the sudden death of the old Chinese
amah, she had sensed a chill of menace in the
atmosphere. Now there was real peril in the
mists and fogs that beshrouded the ancient
English estate. There was danger ... especially
for Fanny - ravishing, lovely young Fanny -
who was too curious and headstrong for her
own good ...

"A gem of its species." - Boston Globe

"Dorothy Eden ... knows how to build
Gothic romance as solidly as a Gothic
tower." - Chicago Tribune

Nature plays a delicate balancing act. The spiders is to a mosquito what wolves are to deer. Everything needs to be kept in check. In this case Fanny is not just lovely, she is ravishing, so it is only fair to the rest of us that she also be "too curious and headstrong for her own good".

In my case, to make up for my own breathtaking cuteness, I am a poor proofreader and grocery stores make me cry.

I had a lot of fun with Dark Shadows October but to be completely honest, I am thrilled to be back to my cover theme. Though I am on a hunt for some weird Thanksgiving or Christmas themed "woman running" cover. We'll see.

The Deadly Travellers

The Deadly Travellers by Dorothy Eden

published by Ace Books
Copyright 1959

The Deadly Travellers

Pretty, vivacious, and alone in the
world, Kate Tempest always enjoyed an
unexpected adventure. When she was
hired to escort a small Italian girl from
Rome to London, she was delighted. But
little Francesca, speaking not a word
of English, mysteriously vanished into
thin air (what exactly were here child escorting credentials?)
on the Paris Express, and
no one would admit to seeing her board
the train...

Treated as a victim of hallucination,
Kate tried to find the child on her own.
Her probing led her to two attractive
men, both of whom offer their help
and their love.

By the time Kate discovered that one
of them meant to kill her, she was
caught in a terrifying web of deception
and betrayal, unable to tell which was
the friend (i'd say the one who didn't want to kill her)
and which was the enemy (the one that wanted to
kill her would be a good start)...

"No one can suggest an eerie atmosphere and the
sinister trifle better than
Dorothy Eden." - MANCHESTER GUARDIAN

I really think this a great cover. Once again, I can't help but wonder why there is so rarely information on cover artists. This book also has one inside illustration. Something I have not run into very often but which I wish there were more of.

Death Is a Red Rose

Death is a Red Rose by Dorothy Eden
cover art by Walter Popp

published by Ace Books
copyright 1956

MISTAKEN IDENTITY
AND EVIL DESIRES

When Cressida Barclay rented the vacant flat in the de-
credpid mansion, she unwittingly become more than just a
tenant of the ecentric Arabia Bolton. The strange old
widow believed her new roomer to be her long-dead
daughter, also named Cressida.

Too soon, it became apparent that someone else was con-
fusing the new girl with her dead namesake. The first
Cressida had died under mysterious circumstances-was
the killer in the house now, anxious to kill again in fear
that the phoenix had risen from her own ashes?

Weakened by terror and by her growing feelings for
Jeremy Winter-a boarder who could be foe as easily as
friend-Cressida lets herself get trapped in a corner cre-
ated by another girl; a corner from which there is no
escape except death...

I was pretty excited when I realized that the cover art on this book actually held a signature. I was ever more excited when I realized the artist was Walter Popp. Born in 1920, Popp spent the 1940 doing comic book art and moved on to book cover and pulp magazines in the 1950's and 60's. Often racy in nature, his art can be seen on covers of Amazing Tales, Fantastic Adventures and True Detective just to name a few.