78 pages • 2 hours read
Betty Ren WrightThe Dollhouse Murders
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1983A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 16-19Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 16 Summary: “It Could Have Been Just Anyone”
A storm moves in, making the situation at Aunt Clare’s house more frightening. Amy and Louann want to go home, but their parents are still away. Aunt Clare apologizes for getting angry and invites Amy to make cookies; while they do so, Aunt Clare confesses she believes her former fiancé murdered Grandma and Grandpa Treloar.
Amy’s mother calls to say she’s still caring for her sick friend. Amy realizes “her mother hadn’t made up the emergency after all” (126), and she feels bad for her earlier thoughts. Amy wants to go home, but she can’t leave Aunt Clare so emotionally vulnerable. Amy has to “uncover the secret of the dollhouse” (127).
Chapter 17 Summary: “Someone’s Walking on the Dollhouse Stairs”
That night, there’s a terrible thunderstorm. Amy and Louann go to the attic to look at the dollhouse. The murder of Grandma and Grandpa starts to play out, complete with an unseen doll (the unidentified murderer) walking through the dollhouse. Amy and Louann run downstairs to Aunt Clare’s bedroom “as if the killer himself were right behind them” (132).
Chapter 18 Summary: “More Ghosts, Amy?”
Aunt Clare brings Amy and Louann downstairs for cocoa and to discuss why they ran into her bedroom. The power goes out from the storm, and Amy’s terror returns.
