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

The Circular Staircase was first serialized in 1907 and was then published in book form in 1908. It was wildly popular and established Rinehart as an important and influential American mystery author. Indeed, she became known as the American Agatha Christie.

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.

Was that dear little lady Emily Benton guilty of murder, or was the written confession discovered by her tenant actually trumped up? This one will keep you guessing!

New York socialite Kit McNair decides to host an impromptu dinner party at the home of her friend, Jimmy Wilson, to cheer him up following his divorce. What could possibly go wrong?

Winter 1914. Sara Lee Kennedy reads the newspaper account of the war in Europe and is appalled. Others in her sheltered Pennsylvania home are interested only in her coming marriage to solid, self-centered, Harvey. Struggling with compassion, Sara Lee feels compelled to help the suffering Belgian Army whose country is overrun by Germans. She defies her parents and travels alone to the front lines to help anyway she can. It is there she meets Henri, a Belgian officer.

Rinehart's The Man in Lower Ten, the first American detective novel to make the best seller list, follows the investigation of the murder of a man in a sleeping car on a train. In this fast-paced thriller, the investigating detective builds up a network of clues that absolutely incriminate three entirely different people---only one of whom can be guilty.

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.

From "The American Agatha Christie" comes a rollicking insightful tale with fun and suspense along the way: a mystery and romance revolving around a health resort with different points of view about what is most appropriate as a mission and will keep it solvent and profitable.

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.

Dive into the gripping account of an American authors journey to the heart of war-torn Europe in January 1915. Serving as a war correspondent in Belgium for The Saturday Evening Post, she shares her raw, unfiltered perspective of war. It is not just about colossal armies clashing in frenzied battles. It is the bewildered young soldier on a stretcher, the mother carrying her shell-wounded child, the majestic horses awaiting death in burning buildings, the best of a generation hungry, battered, knee-deep in icy waters. It is the old woman, lighting a candle before the Mater Dolorosa, offering up...

An essay on writing by Mary Roberts Rinehart. Rinehart, a contemporary of Agatha Christie, was a prolific writer in her time. This essay gives fascinating insight into her process and a glimpse into her thoughts on writing, which is, in fact, work.

The state has accused beautiful young Elinor Norton of murder, and she refuses to mount a defense. Guilt is written all over her elegant features, but her childhood best friend cannot believe it when Elinor confesses to the crime. Forced into a dull marriage against her will, Elinor is just beginning to adjust to life with Lloyd when she meets the man who will tear her world apart. Blair Leighton is her husband's best friend and was his companion in the war, and he has a charm that makes Elinor quiver from the inside out.

When English professor William A. Porter unexpectedly inherits a grand seaside mansion from his late Uncle Horace, his curiosity is piqued by the unexplained circumstances surrounding his uncles death. Along with his wife and niece, he decides to spend the summer in the propertys lodge, renting out the main house. As darkness falls, the quiet seaside neighborhood takes a sinister turn, with strange occurrences and eerie events becoming the norm. At the heart of these mysteries is an ominous red lamp, a subject of local folklore and believed to cast a malevolent spell. Can Professor Porter ...

At a bustling neighborhood social club, a medium is invited as the evenings highlight. The medium recounts a gruesome tale about a violent death that leaves the attendees on edge. Later, the uncanny prediction unfolds as two members are summoned to a nearby house where a mysterious murder has taken place. Intrigued and unnerved, the club members set out on a quest to uncover the truth. Mary Roberts Rinehart artfully combines mystery and social comedy in this gripping novella. (Summary by Zach Hoyt)

The task seemed simple enough deliver bank notes to Pittsburgh and obtain a confirmation statement from John Gilmore. However, when McKnight backs out to visit Alison West in Richmond, his law partner, Lawrence Blakeley, is thrust into the mission. Everything seems to be going smoothly until a shocking revelation on the train ride home. Blakeley awakens to find his clothes and the bank notes have vanished from his sleeping carriage. The night takes a darker turn when a murder occurs in a nearby berth and the weapon is found under Blakeleys pillow, making him a prime suspect.

Dive into the intriguing tale of K, a mysterious tenant with no first name, who takes refuge in Sidneys home to flee his enigmatic past. Meanwhile, Sidney, a determined woman, declines Joes advances, choosing instead to pursue her aspiration of becoming a nurse. Despite her unwavering focus on her career, the allure of the dashing surgeon in charge of her ward proves hard to resist. Will she succumb to the charms of romance and the intrigue of Ks secret past? Join us in this captivating story narrated by Beth Thomas.

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.