The House on the Roof

The House on the Roof is a murder mystery novel written by Mignon G. Eberhart. It was published in the United States by Doubleday, Doran & Co. in 1935. As with many of Eberhart's novels, it was most recently in print through the University of Nebraska Press.[1]

First edition

Plot Summary

Mary Monroe, an opera singer, is shot dead one evening in her penthouse apartment. Another tenant of the building, Deborah Cavert, was present at the time of the murder, and must now prove her own innocence.[2]

Reception

Kirkus Review lauded The House on the Roof as an "A-1 mystery" with "a successfully sustained atmosphere of horror" throughout.[3] Isaac Anderson of the New York Times described is as "a Class A mystery, which is what we have learned to expect from Mrs. Eberhart."[4]

In his essay on LGBT coding in Eberhart's work, Rick Cypert argues that the character of Francis Maly is the most overtly sinister example of the effeminate characters favored by the author.[5]

References
  1. Mignon G. Eberhart (official site) Accessed 24 December 2018.
  2. "New Mystery Stories". New York Times. 5 May 1935, p BR16. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times with Index. Accessed 3 April 2018.
  3. The House on the Roof. Reviewed in Kirkus Reviews. Accessed 3 April 2018.
  4. "New Mystery Stories". New York Times. 5 May 1935, p BR16. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times with Index. Accessed 3 April 2018.
  5. Cypert, Rick. "Foppish, Effeminate, or "a little too handsome": Coded Character Descriptions and Masculinity in the Mystery Novels of Mignon G. Eberhart." Murder in the Closet: Essays on Queer Clues in Crime Fiction Before Stonewall edited by Curtis Evans. McFarland & Company, 2017, p. 194.
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