Showing results by author "Mary Roberts Rinehart" in All Categories

As far as Carol Spencer is concerned, the war has spoiled everything. She and Don had been engaged for years and were on the verge of marriage when he was shot down in the South Pacific, leaving Carol on the verge of spinsterhood at 24. She wants to take some kind of job in the war effort, but her invalid mother demands that Carol accompany her to the family's summer home in Maine. But when they arrive at the faded mansion, they find it completely locked up. The servants are gone, the lights are dark - and there is a body in the closet.

Dive into the thrilling world of Mary Roberts Rinehart, an esteemed American author renowned for her captivating mysteries. Originally published in 1908, The Circular Staircase serves as a perfect example of a classic whodunit, brimming with mysterious occurrences, spine-chilling apparitions, eerie nocturnal noises, and of course, an unsolved murder. Join narrator J. M. Smallheer as he brings this riveting narrative to life.

When a flood sweeps through, it brings more than just muddy waters into Mrs. Pitmans boarding house. It unveils a series of peculiar clues that suggest a sinister crime has occurred within her walls. The vivacious Jennie Brice, known to her friends as Jennifer Ladley, has vanished without a trace. Spurred by the enigmatic Mr. Holcombe, a man with an insatiable appetite for mysteries, Mrs. Pitman finds herself drawn into a thrilling search for the truth. What has happened to Jennie Brice? Join us as we delve into this intriguing enigma. (summary by Wina Hathaway)

Step into the world of mystery crafted by Mary Roberts Rinehart, the creator of the Had I but known genre. Follow Agnes Blakistons eerie journey as she navigates life in the old parsonage she rented per Miss Emilys suggestion. Haunting occurrences and a deeply buried secret of Miss Emilys make her question her decisions. Will she uncover the truth or fall victim to the mysterious happenings? Unravel the mystery by listening to this revealing narrative. (Summary by Annise)

Rachel Innes, a middle-aged spinster, has barely settled in at the country house she has rented for the summer when a series of bizarre and violent events threaten to perturb her normally unflappable nature. A strange figure appears briefly in the twilight outside a window. At night, a rattling, metallic sound reverberates through dark halls, and - most disconcerting of all - the body of a strange man is found lying in a pool of blood at the bottom of a circular staircase.

In an elaborate house known as the Cloisters, Maud Wainwright rules supreme. The queen of society in the small town of Beverly, she has a table long enough to seat 100, and she keeps an iron grip on the guest list. Her right-hand woman is Pat Abbott, a local girl who is beautiful, innocent, and kind. Pat has no idea how cutthroat high society can be, but she's about to get a deadly first lesson.

Elizabeth Bell runs a quiet household, with no family and no more than the usual number of servants. She passes her time thinking about crime and working on her biography of a relative. When a young cousin comes to stay, life in the house becomes uncharacteristically lively. First, cousin Judy burns a hole in Miss Bell's desk. Next, they spy a burglar on the staircase - a shadowy figure who vanishes without a trace. And finally, Sarah, the nurse, takes the dogs for a walk and never returns.

The house called Sunset has been Marcia's summer home for her entire life. Both of her parents died there, and she and her brother spent their youth exploring its rambling hallways and seaside grounds. They love the old house, but Marcia's sister-in-law has never taken to it. Juliette loathes the sea, and soon comes to loathe her husband as well. After they divorce, Juliette pays a final visit to Sunset, demanding alimony. She is there for a few tense days before she disappears. It takes them a week to find her body.

“This is the story of how a middle-aged spinster lost her mind, deserted her domestic gods in the city, took a furnished house for the summer out of town, and found herself involved in one of those mysterious crimes that keep our newspapers and detective agencies happy and prosperous.” So begins The Circular Staircase, a book which has been hailed as the best novel by the most important American woman mystery writer of our time.

When Agnes Blakiston and her maid Maggie take possession of a rental house for the summer, their idea of a tranquil stay is almost immediately upended. First, there is the telephone. It rings late at night, just one ring, but there is never anyone on the line. They begin to notice things have moved during the night. A candle has burned low, and a shawl has disappeared. And then Maggie, spooked and suspicious, discovers a note. It's a confession to a murder. But who has written it and, equally confounding, who has been killed?

The After House is a gripping mystery set aboard a schooner where a series of brutal murders take place. As tensions rise among the passengers and crew, a young doctor-turned-deckhand must uncover the killer before more lives are lost.

Cave on Thunder Cloud is a humorous adventure in which Tish Carberry and her two best friends embark on a camping trip—only to stumble upon a group of outlaws hiding out after a train robbery. A delightful mix of comedy, mishaps, and unexpected thrills.

Precocious seventeen-year-old Bab, with a sizeable sense of the romantic and an over-developed sense of the dramatic, shares how these traits get her into continuous scrapes via school themes, journals, and articles meant for publication. How can a made-up paramour appear at a ball? Will Bab find inspiration or romance from the neighboring vacation cottage? How can she save the career of her latest (and dearest) love? Managing an allowance is easy—isn’t buying a car to save on shoe repair fiscally responsible? Is the family’s butler a spy for Germany?

Letitia Carberry, Tish to her friends, is off again on three entirely different adventures. Tish, Aggie and Lizzie, three middle-aged spinsters, are on track to create havoc wherever they go, but Tish is definitely the ringleader and leads where the other two ladies would rather not go.

Letitia Carberry is not your ordinary spinster aunt. Letitia, Tish to her friends, entangles her friends Aggie and Lizzie into all sorts of adventures and scrapes from solving a murder, car races and camping, and horse trekking. Letitia Carberry is a force to be reckoned with.

The Circular Staircase is a mystery novel by American writer Mary Roberts Rinehart. The story follows dowager Rachel Innes as she thwarts a series of strange crimes at a summer house she has rented with her niece and nephew.

Rachel Innes is a rich lady who has been taking care of her niece and nephew since their father died. The three of them decide to rent a house in the country and although everything seems to be alright in the beginning, strange events soon begin to occur. Her niece disappears then reappears a few days later. There is a murder they are involved in. They hear strange noises. Things fall down the stairs in the middle of the night. Will Rachel solve the mysteries and how will their summer end? Find out in "The Circular Staircase". B. J.

An older woman of the elite class has lots of money and abundant courage and determination. Miss Cornelia Van Gorder wants some adventure in her life, so she rents a large mansion to see what she can stir up. She moves in with her niece and an unpredictable Irish maid and is confronted by an embezzlement problem at the owner’s bank. But that’s just the beginning of troubles, because a murderous masked criminal known as The Bat is using the mansion as a hideout.

This is the story of Sara Lee Kennedy’s memory - and of something more. You’ll hear all about it.

Aunt Rachel heard something last night. Gertrude heard it as well. Tonight, shots ring out, and a dead body appears at the foot of the circular staircase. Now it is up to Rachel to piece together what happened, as she weaves her way through the circular statements of paranoid staff, secret passages, and even suspicions of ghosts.