Book Cover of The Circular Staircase

The Circular Staircase

by Mary Roberts Rinehart

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. The novel was Rinehart's first bestseller and established her as one of the era's most popular writers. The story was serialized in All-Story for five issues starting with the November 1907 issue, then published in book form by Bobbs-Merrill in 1908. Rinehart was inspired to write the novel after a visit to Melrose, a Gothic Revival castle in Northern Virginia. The Circular Staircase pioneered what became known as the "had I but known" school of mystery writing, which often feature female protagonists and narrators who foreshadow impending danger and plot developments by reflecting on what they might have done differently. Rinehart employed this formula in many of her later works, and it inspired dozens of subsequent stories. The novel was adapted for the screen twice: as a silent film in 1915, and for the television series Climax! in 1956. Its best known adaptation was as the play The Bat, which became a major Broadway hit and inspired a number of later works, including several adaptations of its own.

Book Details

Language

English

Original Language

English

Published In

1908

Authors

Mary Roberts Rinehart image

Mary Roberts Rinehart was an American writer, often called the American Agatha Christie, although her first mystery novel was published 12 years before Christie's first novel in 1920. Rinehart is cons...

Books by Mary Roberts Rinehart

Listen/Download Audiobook

Read by:
00:00
Playback Speed 1.0
00:00
  • Select Speed

Related books

Pique-Dame Cover image

Pique-Dame by Alexander Pushkin

The Queen of Spades is a classic Russian novella by Alexander Pushkin. It tells the story of Herman, a young army engineer who becomes obsessed with g...

Motor Boys in Mexico; Or, The Secret of the Buried City Cover image

Motor Boys in Mexico; Or, The Secret of the Buried City by Clarence Young

In 'Motor Boys in Mexico', Ned, Bob, and Jerry, a trio of adventurous lads, embark on a thrilling journey to Mexico. Their quest is fueled by a myster...

Mr. Fortune's Practice Cover image

Mr. Fortune's Practice by H. C. Bailey

Mr. Fortune is a physician who uses early forensic science techniques to solve crimes for the police. This volume contains seven more cases for him to...

Jeremy At Crale; His Friends, His Ambitions And His One Great Enemy Cover image

Jeremy At Crale; His Friends, His Ambitions And His One Great Enemy by Hugh Walpole

Step into the intriguing world of Jeremy At Crale as he navigates friendships, ambitions, and a formidable enemy in this captivating novel by Hugh Wa...

Wylder's Hand Cover image

Wylder's Hand by Sheridan Le Fanu

In Sheridan Le Fanu's 'Wylder's Hand,' the arranged marriage between Mark Wylder and Dorkas Brenden is intended to end a bitter feud between their fam...

A Lear of the Steppes Cover image

A Lear of the Steppes by Ivan Turgenev

This book contains three novellas by one of the major writers of Russian literature. The first, A LEAR OF THE STEPPES, is a brilliant re-imagining of...

Sight Unseen Cover image

Sight Unseen by Mary Roberts Rinehart

It is a thrilling mystery novel that follows the story of a young woman named Judith and her fiancé as they investigate a series of strange occurrence...

Wrack Cover image

Wrack by Friedrich Gerstäcker

In the treacherous waters off the coast of Australia in the 1840s, the crew of the Betsy Ann encounters a mysterious shipwreck. The vessel appears ab...

Wild Olive Cover image

Wild Olive by Basil King

In 'Wild Olive,' Norrie Ford, wrongly convicted of murder, escapes and finds refuge with a mysterious girl who orchestrates a new life for him in Arge...

The Dead Alive  Cover image

The Dead Alive by Wilkie Collins

The Dead Alive written by Wilkie Collins in the 1870s is on the real-life wrongful conviction of Stephen and Jesse Boorn that happened in 1819 in the...

Reviews for The Circular Staircase

No reviews posted or approved, yet...