Although her name may not resonate with the public today as much as it did a century ago, Mary Roberts Rinehart has most certainly left her mark on modern-day fiction. The originator of the so-called "Had I But Known" school of detective writing, Rinehart was, for many years, the most highly paid and popular female novelist in America. Her second novel (but first to be published), "The Circular Staircase," which was released in 1908, when Mary was 32, featured a relatively new kind of crime solver, a no-nonsense spinster in long skirts and with an abiding curiosity; though certainly not the first lady detective, the character, Rachel Innes, certainly helped pave the way for many others (the website Wikipedia currently has a list of almost 400 fictional female sleuths!). "The Circular Staircase" has been turned into a film on three occasions, and in 1920 was transformed into a play, written by Rinehart and Avery Hopwood, called "The Bat"; Batman creator Bob Kane has admitted that the Bat character was an inspiration for him. Want more? Roberts' 1930 novel "The Door" is thought to be the source for "the butler doing it." (Perhaps I should add here that the classic 1946 film "The Spiral Staircase" is in no way related to Rinehart's book, but was rather based on Ethel Lina White's 1933 novel "Some Must Watch.") Despite these influences and past fame, however, Rinehart was an unknown quantity to this reader, until I happened to read a very laudatory article on "The Circular Staircase" in the overview volume "Crime & Mystery: The 100 Best Books," in which author H.R.F. Keating sings its praises. Fortunately, Rinehart's classic (in addition to the author's first novel, 1906's "The Man In Lower Ten") is in print today to entertain still another generation of readers.In the book, we make the acquaintance of Ms. Innes, who rents a summer mansion in the country with her grown niece and nephew. Strange things immediately start to transpire in the house: noises in the night, eerie faces at the window, a murdered man found at the foot of the titular staircase, the nephew's disappearance, holes bored in the walls, a conflagration in the stables, a man scared to death by a possible ghost, and on and on. Throughout these increasingly bizarre happenings, Rachel manages to keep her cool, only "losing it" when her nephew is abducted, she must witness a disinterment at the local cemetery, and when she is locked in a secret room in the house with the culprit responsible for MUCH of the mishegas...though not all; Rinehart's plot is way too complex to allow for a single, simple solution like that! In retrospect, to the author's credit, this labyrinthine story line, with its large number of characters, culprits and motivations, does indeed hang together and make perfect sense, although trying to recall who knew what and when may induce a major-league migraine. As one of the professional detectives in the book, Jamieson, puts it at one point, "It's a hash, that's what it is." But Rinehart manages to keep control of her story fairly well...though not perfectly. At one point in the book, 48 hours are said to have elapsed between the staircase murder and Rachel's nephew's return to the house, whereas a careful reading reveals that only 24 hours have elapsed. Too, in one section of the book, the house's laundress, Mary Ann, packs up her bags and leaves in fright, yet is somehow listed as still working in the house five chapters later! Still, these are quibbles. "The Circular Staircase" is a wonderful story, well told by Rachel, our narrator. It is suspenseful, at times exciting, and builds to a tremendous windup in that secret room. And Rachel's acerbic relationship with her constantly flustered housekeeper, Liddy, by the way, is consistently amusing. Oh...as far as guessing the answers to the book's many riddles, my suggestion would be to not even try. This is not the type of mystery that sets out all the clues needed for a reader to solve the puzzle. Just sit back and enjoy the vintage ride, much like Rachel does in her 1908 Dragon Fly....
1908, Rinehart's first novel. Miss Rachel Innes has an eventful "summer vacation" in the country... Deservedly a classic, although the plot is extremely "dated" now. Three stars for plot and most characters, four stars for Miss Rachel and "atmosphere", which is still quite effective; recommended, three-and-one-half stars.When blue-blooded Philadelphian, late-40ish spinster (in 1908 that was the equivalent of ~60ish now) Rachel Innes and her niece Gertrude and nephew Halsey rent a perfectly enormous isolated country house for the summer they expected/hoped to be pleasantly bored. Ain't gonna happen. When the son of the owner of the house is found shot dead, lying at the foot of the titular staircase at 3AM one very dark morning and her beloved niece and nephew seem to be far too involved in the tragedy, Miss Rachel (being a forthright sort of woman) needs must sleuth for herself. She's smart, very "sharp", and has a deliciously sly and dry sense of humor. And she's not much like Miss Marple, no matter what sort of impression you have of Rinehart's heroines. She's a fighter, and not so terribly old either, actually. (Marple was ~70 when she began!). In this first novel Rinehart uses many of the bits and pieces she would hone to perfection over the years, but as a first "suspense novel" this one is awfully good. Yes, the plot is very creaky (ghosts - maybe - and intruders and burglars and kidnaping and murder and an absconding banker with lots of illicit money), and you'll probably guess what is happening almost immediately. The characters are almost all caricatures, not excluding the niece and nephew and Rachel's "difficult" maid Liddy (who's been with her forEVer), but the detective is interesting. And Miss Rachel, although now a definite stereotype, is a glorious creation - it's very enjoyable to follow her through all those "happenings" at that quite peculiar house. It's very obvious that Phoebe Atwood Taylor based one of my favorites, her first sleuth Miss Prudence Whitsby (1930) on Miss Rachel, although IMO Taylor is an even better writer; Asey Mayo was almost a secondary character in that and the second book in that series. BOTTOM LINE: Don't be turned off by the "sweet cosy thriller" reputation Rinehart's stories have, ignore the creaky plot and extremely old-fashioned goings-on, and just enjoy the fast pace, the setting, the sharply edged humor, and Miss Rachel Innes. She'd be a wonderful friend to have, and she really shines here. CIRCULAR STAIRCASE is not as sweet as you might think, although extremely old-fashioned. Recommended. The last paragraph from the book will give you a nice "taste" of Miss Rachael:"So we (Rachael and her maid/oldest friend Liddy) sit and talk, and sometimes Liddy threatens to leave and often I discharge her, but we stay together somehow. I am talking of renting a house next year, and Liddy says to be sure there is no ghost. To be perfectly frank, I never really lived until that summer. Time has passed since I began this story. My neighbors are packing up for another summer. Liddy is having the awnings put up, and the window boxes filled. But Liddy or no Liddy, I shall advertise tomorrow for a house in the country, and I don't care if it has a Circular Staircase."[NOTE: Fantastic Fiction (usually pretty accurate) has a lot of mis-information listed re. this book, don't be fooled/confused. "Miss Cornelia van Gorder" is NOT a character in this novel although I think she was the heroine in the play made from this novel, called The Bat - and a prose version was written/adapted of that play, with a good deal similar to the book, but a large amount of basic plot not at all connected to this story including the lead character. Circular was NOT a part of a series as FF writes, and that staircase was not in "an Elizabethan mansion"... the house in the story is a fairly new, a very well-appointed (for the period) country home built by extremely rich folks]
Do You like book The Circular Staircase (2004)?
Sometimes the best books are found by accident. I picked up a volume of stories by Mary Roberts Rinehart at a recent book sale to support the children's hospital where I work and discovered a talented "new" mystery writer to follow! In this, one of her earliest works, Rinehart tells the story of a spinster aunt, Rachel Innes, who takes a house away from town for the summer in order to entertain her adopted nephew and niece and to enjoy a peaceful time at the seashore. She quickly comes to regret that decision when she finds the house haunted by strange noises and mysterious visitors, including a few that end up very dead! The plot deepens when their fortune is lost in the failure of the bank operated by the house's owner. Miss Innes' nephew and niece become the target of a police investigation of the murder and bank failure and it's clear that they know some, if not all, of the reason behind the frightening circumstances. They're unwilling to disclose their knowledge, however, and it takes several weeks and a lot of ingenuity on the part of the town detectives and Miss Innes to solve the murder. The mystery is multi-faceted and complex, narrated in a wry voice with a clever sense of humor that makes the book quite enjoyable. Definitely a recommendation for any fans of Agatha Christie or Dorothy Sayers!
—Mandolin
Sometimes dubbed America’s Agatha Christie, Mary Roberts Rinehart (1876-1958) published this novel in 1908. I read it immediately after reading a mystery by Christie, and it was difficult not to compare and contrast the two.Rinehart’s story is told in the first person by a middle aged spinster with a sharp wit and droll presentation. For me, that represented the book’s primary charm. The plot itself, involving murder in a rented country estate, seemed even more contrived than many novels of the period and genre, and although clues were scattered liberally, too many important facts were withheld to enable the reader to make more than general guesses at the resolution. Much was made of now outdated gender stereotypes, and modern readers are liable to be put off by the overt and frequent racial stereotyping that often seemed gratuitous. Christie’s novels are more nuanced and subtly crafted than is this one by Rinehart (the only one of hers that I have read), and in general Christie’s characters are slightly less two dimensional, some of them showing a modicum of development (although this genre generally doesn’t stress much character development, in my experience).This might be a quick read between more substantial fare and could be viewed as “airplane literature.” I may pick up another of Rinehart’s novels somewhere down the road, but I shall not seek one out in the foreseeable future.
—Bruce
An enjoyable read that I can recommend to anyone looking for a somewhat milder mystery. The main character, Miss Innes was a fun read. Many of the men tended to sound all the same, unfortunately. It took me half way through the book to differentiate them better. The character Jamieson was well crafted, and I liked the rascally chemistry between him and Innes. The plot was interesting: even though I knew what was coming, I still got caught up because the pacing was pretty good. I had trouble picking through the red herrings and real clues because I wasn't used to this author, so that kept me engaged for quite a while. As for this being the American Agatha Christie, I don't think so. Christie worked on more levels than Rinehart did. But all the same, she made a great mystery read. I think we should just put Christie aside and say that Rinehart is a great American mystery writer. This book does strike me as a bit of a chick lit. Too many of the male characters were a little whitewashed, and the female relations were generally better developed. But not a silly, fluffy read. And it did have heart.
—Lora
