Cliffside Castle

by Dorothy Daniels

Sudden, mysterous deaths had left Nancy Furnivall orphaned and alone. And now she had to find a hidden killer. before he struck again!

Genres: Gothic

190 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1965

About the author

According to a mini-biography, accompanied by a photograph, on the rear cover of one of her many gothic novels, Dorothy Daniels was born in Connecticut but by the time she was a full-time writer, in the middle 1960's, was living in California. She was initially an English teacher at a state college but later wrote articles that appeared in national magazines, which led to her career as a writer of mostly gothic paperbacks. Lancer books, which published more than twenty of her novels, proclaimed her "America's Most Popular Gothic Novelist" while Pocket Books claimed her gothic novels had sold over eleven million copies by the middle 1970's. Her approximately 146 novels were published by a dozen paperback publishers, some had as many as four printings while others were printed only once. Lancer and Warner Books together published more than sixty of her novels. The vast majority of her novels were written in the first person and this was a trademark of sorts with Dorothy Daniels, as she rarely strayed from this pattern. Several of her novels take place in the Old South. Her novels were also considerably more involving plot-wise and contained more character development than other gothic novels. She published her last gothic novel, "House of Silence", in late 1980. Afterward she wrote a handfull of historical romances and her last published novel appears to be "Crisis at Valcour" in 1985.
The aforementioned photograph on the rear cover of her 1965 book "Cliffside Castle" contradicts some claims that Dorothy Daniels was male, and at least one internet website's author insists that Dorothy Daniels was actually a man named Paul Hugo Little who lived in Chicago and wrote over 700 books under at least a dozen pseudonyms. We may never know for certain who Dorothy Daniels was. Several of her gothic paperbacks, credited to Dorothy Daniels or Suzanne Somers, were copyrighted by Norman Daniels. She published one novel, "House of False Faces", under the pseudonym Helen Gray Weston, but this book was later reissued as "Dorothy Daniels writing as Helen Gray Weston". She wrote three nurse romance books in addition to her many gothic novels.

Also wrote under the names:
Angela Gray
Cynthia Kavanaugh
Helaine Ross
Suzanne Somers
Geraldine Thayer
Helen Gray Weston

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[M.P. Conn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to admit I skipped parts, it got a little boring for me. Not a great book, just lite reading. And I hate women that faint!

[Nattie · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a struggle, and I skimmed some pages rather than reading them, but did manage to get finished. Cliffside Castle is OK, but it sort of coasted along. Things could have been better if I'd liked Nancy, but I didn't care for her one way or the other. If she had fallen off a cliff I would have yawned and turned to the next page.

Nancy grew up in China where her parents were missionaries, they apparently worked with yellow heathens. There's a lot of talk about how Nancy doesn't know much about American life because she was raised with the Chinese. The parents were killed and Nancy returns to America to live with her rich Cousin Clara. Rich Cousin Clara is convinced someone is trying to knock her off. Nancy becomes the victim of some murder attempts, which she claimed to care about, but continued to make herself an easy target for the would-be killer. She was so invested in proving that she was strong that she put more effort into puffing out her chest than protecting herself.

You can't read a gothic without running across a vile case of insta-love, and this was one of the worst cases because the male involved had fallen in love with Nancy while she was still living in China. He had seen her a few times before her family moved to China, back when she had been an adolescent, but mostly knew Nancy from rich Cousin Clara's stories. This was the first time I'd heard of someone falling in love with somebody they didn't really know, and it was a bit yucky since the older man was watching Nancy when she was a little kid.

The ending...who cares? It was a big flop.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nancy Furnivall, having experienced sudden and mysterious deaths that have left her without family, is faced with the daunting task of uncovering a hidden killer before they claim more lives. Determined and alone, Nancy must navigate a treacherous path to unveil the identity of the murderer and put an end to their deadly spree. The stakes are high as she races against time to prevent further tragedy and bring justice to those who have been lost.

I absolutely love gothic romances with all of the mystery and the strong female characters. Dorothy Daniels is an amazing author who incorporates an unforgettable story with amazing characters.