Anthologies#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| 20 Great Tales of Murder |
1952 |
Buy |
Jim Sader Mystery Reading Order#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Sleep with Strangers |
1955 |
Buy |
| Sleep With Slander |
1960 |
Buy |
Lt. Stephen Mayhew Mystery Reading Order#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| The Clue in the Clay |
1938 |
Buy |
| Death Cuts a Silhouette |
1939 |
Buy |
Prof. A. Pennyfeather Mystery Reading Order#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Bring the Bride a Shroud |
1945 |
Buy |
| Gallows for the Groom |
1947 |
Buy |
| Devious Design |
1948 |
Buy |
| Something About Midnight |
1950 |
Buy |
| Love Me in Death |
1951 |
Buy |
| Dead Babes in the Wood |
1952 |
Buy |
Rachel Murdock Mystery Reading Order#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| A gata viu a morte |
1939 |
N/A |
| The Cat Saw Murder |
1939 |
Buy |
| The Alarm of the Black Cat |
1942 |
Buy |
| Cat’s Claw |
1943 |
Buy |
| Catspaw for Murder |
1943 |
N/A |
| The Cat Wears A Noose |
1944 |
Buy |
| Cats Don’t Smile |
1945 |
Buy |
| Cats Don’t Need Coffins |
1946 |
Buy |
| Cats Have Tall Shadows |
1948 |
Buy |
| The Cat Wears a Mask |
1949 |
Buy |
| Death Wears Cat’s Eyes |
1950 |
Buy |
| The Cat and Capricorn |
1951 |
Buy |
| The Cat Walk |
1953 |
Buy |
| Death Walks On Cat Feet |
1956 |
Buy |
Standalone Novels#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| The Shivering Bough |
1942 |
Buy |
| Blue Geranium |
1944 |
Buy |
| Stairway to an Empty Room |
1951 |
Buy |
| Nets to Catch the Wind |
1952 |
Buy |
| Beat Back the Tide |
1954 |
Buy |
| End of the Line |
1955 |
Buy |
| F.O.B. Murder |
1955 |
Buy |
| One-Way Ticket |
1956 |
Buy |
| Fools’ Gold |
1958 |
Buy |
| The Watcher |
1959 |
Buy |
| The Man Who Followed Women |
1959 |
Buy |
| The Abductor |
1962 |
Buy |
| The Grudge |
1963 |
Buy |
| The Unloved |
1965 |
Buy |
| The Man Who Cried All the Way Home |
1966 |
Buy |
| Postcript to Nightmare |
1967 |
Buy |
| A Collection of Strangers |
1969 |
Buy |
| The Baxter Letters |
1971 |
Buy |
| In a House Unknown |
1973 |
Buy |
Dolores Hitchens (1907-1973) wrote prolifically in the mystery genre across a career spanning more than three decades. She is best remembered for her Rachel Murdock series, featuring an elderly amateur sleuth and her cats, which she wrote under the pen name D.B. Olsen. The fourteen books in that series ran from 1939 to 1956 and helped define the cozy mystery subgenre before the term was widely used.
Beyond the Murdock mysteries, Hitchens created the Prof. A. Pennyfeather series and the Jim Sader private eye novels, along with nearly twenty standalone novels. Her 1962 novel “Fools’ Gold” was adapted into the classic French New Wave film “Band of Outsiders” by Jean-Luc Godard. Her writing combined tight plotting with keen observation of character, and she moved comfortably between cozy mysteries and harder-edged crime fiction throughout her career.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many books has Dolores Hitchens written?
Dolores Hitchens has written 44 books across six series.
What was Dolores Hitchens's first book?
Dolores Hitchens’s first book is The Clue in the Clay, published in 1938.
What pen names did Dolores Hitchens write under?
Dolores Hitchens published under several pen names during her career, including D.B. Olsen for her Rachel Murdock and Prof. A. Pennyfeather mysteries, and Dolan Birkley for some of her early work.