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Miss Cornelia Van Gorder Trilogy #2
The Circular Staircase
For twenty years I had been perfectly comfortable; for twenty years I had had the window-boxes filled in the spring, the carpets lifted, the awnings put up and the furniture covered with brown linen; for as many summers I had said good-bye to my friends, and, after watching their perspiring hegira, had settled down to a delicious quiet in town, where the mail comes three times a day, and the water supply does not depend on a tank on the roof. And then -- the madness seized me. When I look back over the months I spent at Sunnyside, I wonder that I survived at all. As it is, I show the wear and tear of my harrowing experiences. I have turned very gray -- Liddy reminded me of it, only yesterday, by saying that a little bluing in the rinse-water would make my hair silvery, instead of a yellowish white. I hate to be reminded of unpleasant things and I snapped her off. "No," I said sharply, "I'm not going to use bluing at my time of life, or starch, either."
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1908
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4872 people want to read
About the author
Mary Roberts Rinehart
532 books416 followersMysteries of the well-known American writer Mary Roberts Rinehart include
The Circular Staircase
(1908) and
The Door
(1930).
People often called this prolific author the American version of Agatha Christie. She is considered the source of the phrase "The butler did it," though the exact phrase doesn't appear in her works, and she invented the "Had-I-But-Known" school of mystery writing.
Rinehart wrote hundreds of short stories, poems, travelogues, and special articles. Many of her books and plays were adapted for movies, such as The Bat (1926), The Bat Whispers (1930), and The Bat (1959). Critics most appreciated her murder mysteries.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ro...
People often called this prolific author the American version of Agatha Christie. She is considered the source of the phrase "The butler did it," though the exact phrase doesn't appear in her works, and she invented the "Had-I-But-Known" school of mystery writing.
Rinehart wrote hundreds of short stories, poems, travelogues, and special articles. Many of her books and plays were adapted for movies, such as The Bat (1926), The Bat Whispers (1930), and The Bat (1959). Critics most appreciated her murder mysteries.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ro...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 733 reviews
November 1, 2023
3.5★
I normally struggle with books written this early in the twentieth century, but at the start of this mystery novel I was really engaged. & the character of amateur sleuth Rachel Innes kept me entertained until the end. Brave, feisty & witty. The relationship with her devoted but outspoken servant Liddy was the most entertaining part of the book.
They seem more like sisters than employer & employee for a lot of this novel.
But the story of the mysterious house Rachel rented & it's baffling owners moved too slowly and had too many characters. Rachel In Peril & this has caused me to raise my rating by half a ★
I normally struggle with books written this early in the twentieth century, but at the start of this mystery novel I was really engaged. & the character of amateur sleuth Rachel Innes kept me entertained until the end. Brave, feisty & witty. The relationship with her devoted but outspoken servant Liddy was the most entertaining part of the book.
There was no laudanum and Liddy made a terrible fuss when I proposed carbolic acid, just because I had put too much on the cotton once and burned her mouth.
They seem more like sisters than employer & employee for a lot of this novel.
But the story of the mysterious house Rachel rented & it's baffling owners moved too slowly and had too many characters. Rachel In Peril & this has caused me to raise my rating by half a ★
July 27, 2017
Rating: 3.75* of five
The Publisher Says: The Circular Staircase is perhaps Mary Roberts Rinehart's most famous story. Wealthy spinster Rachel Innes is persuaded by her niece and nephew Gertrude and Halsey to take a house in the country for the summer. Rachel is unaware that the house holds a secret, and soon unexplained happenings and murder follow.
My Review: Miss Rachel Innes, spinster of circa-1908 Pittsburgh, inheritrix of two children now relatively safely launched into adulthood, and possessor of a large automobile, determines that her town residence needs significant tarting up and, to avoid the attendant chaos and disarray, moves herself, her ladies' maid, and her now-adult charges to Sunnyside, the large and vulgar country home of a local banker. As he, his wife, and his step-daughter (note old-fashioned spelling, it is relevant) are traveling to the almost foreign climes of California, Miss Innes and entourage are left in possession of Sunnyside (a more dramatic misnomer is hard to envision) for the entire summer that renovating Miss Innes's home will require. Perfect!
Not so much.
Miss Innes's maid begins the descent into spookyworld. Noises, disappearing people, mysterious presences, all cause her to think Sunnyside is haunted. Hah, says the commonsensical Miss Innes, there's a rational explanation for it all. And there is. Sadly enough.
When people start dying, as in "no longer sucking air," Miss Innes gets a wee tidge tense. When the homeowner's step-daughter shows up, in a state of complete collapse and her ward's evident amour for the girl makes it impossible to turf her out, Miss Innes begins a logical and determined effort to explain the bizarre happenings at Sunnyside. Amid this tough-enough assignment comes the local banker's reported death from far-off California, the revelation that he embezzled A MILLION DOLLARS!! (a Madoff-sized payday in 1908), and the disappearance of the embezzled bank's head cashier (also the amour of Miss Innes's female ward), and the impossibility of keeping good staff conspire to give good Miss Innes many a sleepless night. In the end, all is well, and the redoubtable Miss Rachel Innes possesses all the facts.
God bless her cotton socks, this lady is just a blast to read about! I like formidable old dowagers. (Lady Grantham aside.) They are so *certain* of their Rightness that it's fun to watch them screw up and fail. This being fiction, the formidable old dowager in question doesn't fail, and manages not to be any more overbearing, opinionated, and adamantine than is absolutely necessary.
Rinehart was a decent writer, and a decent plotter, and so the book offers pleasures in both those measures. It's not going to make the Louise Pennyites abandon the Mistress to read only Rinehart. It's over a century old, and thrills and chills come at a dramatically different pace and price in our time. But frills and furbelows aside, a good figure is a good figure, and this book has a good figure.
Visit your great-grandmother's world for a while. You might surprise yourself with how much you enjoy it.
The Publisher Says: The Circular Staircase is perhaps Mary Roberts Rinehart's most famous story. Wealthy spinster Rachel Innes is persuaded by her niece and nephew Gertrude and Halsey to take a house in the country for the summer. Rachel is unaware that the house holds a secret, and soon unexplained happenings and murder follow.
My Review: Miss Rachel Innes, spinster of circa-1908 Pittsburgh, inheritrix of two children now relatively safely launched into adulthood, and possessor of a large automobile, determines that her town residence needs significant tarting up and, to avoid the attendant chaos and disarray, moves herself, her ladies' maid, and her now-adult charges to Sunnyside, the large and vulgar country home of a local banker. As he, his wife, and his step-daughter (note old-fashioned spelling, it is relevant) are traveling to the almost foreign climes of California, Miss Innes and entourage are left in possession of Sunnyside (a more dramatic misnomer is hard to envision) for the entire summer that renovating Miss Innes's home will require. Perfect!
Not so much.
Miss Innes's maid begins the descent into spookyworld. Noises, disappearing people, mysterious presences, all cause her to think Sunnyside is haunted. Hah, says the commonsensical Miss Innes, there's a rational explanation for it all. And there is. Sadly enough.
When people start dying, as in "no longer sucking air," Miss Innes gets a wee tidge tense. When the homeowner's step-daughter shows up, in a state of complete collapse and her ward's evident amour for the girl makes it impossible to turf her out, Miss Innes begins a logical and determined effort to explain the bizarre happenings at Sunnyside. Amid this tough-enough assignment comes the local banker's reported death from far-off California, the revelation that he embezzled A MILLION DOLLARS!! (a Madoff-sized payday in 1908), and the disappearance of the embezzled bank's head cashier (also the amour of Miss Innes's female ward), and the impossibility of keeping good staff conspire to give good Miss Innes many a sleepless night. In the end, all is well, and the redoubtable Miss Rachel Innes possesses all the facts.
God bless her cotton socks, this lady is just a blast to read about! I like formidable old dowagers. (Lady Grantham aside.) They are so *certain* of their Rightness that it's fun to watch them screw up and fail. This being fiction, the formidable old dowager in question doesn't fail, and manages not to be any more overbearing, opinionated, and adamantine than is absolutely necessary.
Rinehart was a decent writer, and a decent plotter, and so the book offers pleasures in both those measures. It's not going to make the Louise Pennyites abandon the Mistress to read only Rinehart. It's over a century old, and thrills and chills come at a dramatically different pace and price in our time. But frills and furbelows aside, a good figure is a good figure, and this book has a good figure.
Visit your great-grandmother's world for a while. You might surprise yourself with how much you enjoy it.
September 11, 2023
When I was in junior high school, I worked in a used book store, one of those shady businesses, usually located in a seedy part of town, where a patron could bring in two books and get credit for the purchase of one. The vast majority of our books were brought in by middle-aged housewives and unmarried women, and they were primarily Harlequin Romances, various Harlequin spin-offs, Dame Barbara Cartland, and the interesting genre called "gothic romances." It was in the gothic romance department that the books of Mary Roberts Rinehart were shelved, and being the kind of boy that wouldn't read anything deemed for a girl, I never delved into one of Mrs. Rinehart's books, until I found a slew of them offered for free for Kindle.
I supposed they're "gothic" enough, if that term means spooky houses and mystery and murder, but the romance portion is rather skimpy. Had I known that, I would have dived into these books, at least this one, years ago. In the Circular Staircase, the best-selling novel that brought Mrs Rinehart fame and at least a little bit of fortune, the reader will definitely encounter each of those things, in a tale told with humor and forthrightness by the narrator, Aunt Rachel Innes.
I don't know about you, dear reader of this review, but I generally have some sort of stock picture in my mind of the characters in the books I read. Having recently seen the Hildegarde Withers movies, adapted from the novels by Stuart Palmer and starring Edna May Oliver, I got caught up in the idea of Ms Oliver as the perfect representation of Aunt Rachel. Although Aunt Rachel is described as elderly, Ms Oliver always looked 20 years older than she was.
Unfortunately, I also got it stuck in my head that Aunt Rachel's niece, Gertrude, aged 24, was Sharon Tate with her bouffanty 1960s hair-do.
The novel was written in 1908, so you can just imagine the cognitive dissonance going on in my mind. Edwardian aunt with mod, Austin Powers inspired niece. Yi.
Anyway, the plot of this novel deals with Aunt Rachel, Gertrude, and Gertrude's brother Halsey (how's that for a WASP-y name?) taking up residence for the summer in a house that has been let by the wife of a local banker, who has gone out west with his family for the time being. From the very first night, there are apparitions and soon murder, and Halsey disappears and Gertrude seems suspicious, all the while driving Aunt Rachel and her personal assistant, Liddy, into various paroxysms. Many of the major players are cast into suspicion at one point or another, and then there's the strange case of a lady and her child and why they are important to the mystery at hand. Hmm.
Overall, this was fun to read. The dialog is snappy, the scenes are described vividly, and the characters fairly well-rounded for a book of this sort. There is a problem, however, with the depiction of Black Americans in this book. The term "darky" is used, and the one prominent black character is given to such a parody of black speech as to be borderline insulting. I suppose that any book from this period is not going to be all that enlightened, and the few black characters are not gross exaggerations, either. Still, reading this with the Baltimore riots going on has shone a bright light on the marginalization of Black people even in popular American literature. I don't think the book is unreadable because of it, though, and would encourage prospective readers to see for themselves.
Unlike a lot of mysteries, the case is not solved through pulling clues from thin air. Ms Rinehart ties things together neatly by drawing the lines closer and closer together until it all comes together and makes sense. I think most readers will enjoy this light, yet entertaining novel.
Oh, and for the part of Liddy, Aunt Rachel's maid and sparring partner? Who did I have in mind for her? Why, Elsa Lanchester, of course! After all, she was in a movie called The Spiral Staircase, although it was a different plot entirely.
Hmm, no, not as the Bride of Frankenstein.
No, just too old when she was in Murder By Death.
Still not right with that look from Mary Poppins.
Ah! There she is, as she was in The Bishop's Wife. A little too young, perhaps, but that's her.
Just perfect.
I supposed they're "gothic" enough, if that term means spooky houses and mystery and murder, but the romance portion is rather skimpy. Had I known that, I would have dived into these books, at least this one, years ago. In the Circular Staircase, the best-selling novel that brought Mrs Rinehart fame and at least a little bit of fortune, the reader will definitely encounter each of those things, in a tale told with humor and forthrightness by the narrator, Aunt Rachel Innes.
I don't know about you, dear reader of this review, but I generally have some sort of stock picture in my mind of the characters in the books I read. Having recently seen the Hildegarde Withers movies, adapted from the novels by Stuart Palmer and starring Edna May Oliver, I got caught up in the idea of Ms Oliver as the perfect representation of Aunt Rachel. Although Aunt Rachel is described as elderly, Ms Oliver always looked 20 years older than she was.
Unfortunately, I also got it stuck in my head that Aunt Rachel's niece, Gertrude, aged 24, was Sharon Tate with her bouffanty 1960s hair-do.
The novel was written in 1908, so you can just imagine the cognitive dissonance going on in my mind. Edwardian aunt with mod, Austin Powers inspired niece. Yi.
Anyway, the plot of this novel deals with Aunt Rachel, Gertrude, and Gertrude's brother Halsey (how's that for a WASP-y name?) taking up residence for the summer in a house that has been let by the wife of a local banker, who has gone out west with his family for the time being. From the very first night, there are apparitions and soon murder, and Halsey disappears and Gertrude seems suspicious, all the while driving Aunt Rachel and her personal assistant, Liddy, into various paroxysms. Many of the major players are cast into suspicion at one point or another, and then there's the strange case of a lady and her child and why they are important to the mystery at hand. Hmm.
Overall, this was fun to read. The dialog is snappy, the scenes are described vividly, and the characters fairly well-rounded for a book of this sort. There is a problem, however, with the depiction of Black Americans in this book. The term "darky" is used, and the one prominent black character is given to such a parody of black speech as to be borderline insulting. I suppose that any book from this period is not going to be all that enlightened, and the few black characters are not gross exaggerations, either. Still, reading this with the Baltimore riots going on has shone a bright light on the marginalization of Black people even in popular American literature. I don't think the book is unreadable because of it, though, and would encourage prospective readers to see for themselves.
Unlike a lot of mysteries, the case is not solved through pulling clues from thin air. Ms Rinehart ties things together neatly by drawing the lines closer and closer together until it all comes together and makes sense. I think most readers will enjoy this light, yet entertaining novel.
Oh, and for the part of Liddy, Aunt Rachel's maid and sparring partner? Who did I have in mind for her? Why, Elsa Lanchester, of course! After all, she was in a movie called The Spiral Staircase, although it was a different plot entirely.
Hmm, no, not as the Bride of Frankenstein.
No, just too old when she was in Murder By Death.
Still not right with that look from Mary Poppins.
Ah! There she is, as she was in The Bishop's Wife. A little too young, perhaps, but that's her.
Just perfect.
September 9, 2017
Written in 1908 this is an early mystery, written by Mary Roberts Rinehart (1876- 1958), a prolific American author. The story revolves around Rachel Innes, who rents a house in the country, for her and her two adult wards – Halsey and Gertrude. It soon becomes clear that Rachel (or ‘Aunt Ray’) is one of those redoubtable women, who tend to be terrible practical and used to dealing with the hysterics of servants. This is useful, as the house she rents from the Armstrong family, named “Sunnyside,” is not well named. Rather than offering a pleasant home for the summer, the house is large and isolated; causing her continually resigning servant, Liddy, to be nervous.
Liddy, it turns out, is correct, as the house is full of bumps and noises, with strange figures appearing at the windows and, with the arrival of Halsey and Gertrude, things get no better. Before long there is a murder and a convoluted and confusing tale ensues, involving embezzlement, mysterious events, love stories, melodrama and a sense of impending disaster.
The detective in charge of the case, Mr Jamieson, rightly believes that Miss Innes is keeping things back – indeed she refrains from telling him anything which might incriminate either Halsey or Gertrude; who seem to be involved with virtually every stage of this mystery and to turn up in the most unlikely places, or be linked to, every suspect. However, Mr Jamieson seems happy enough to work alongside Miss Innes, as she attempts to unravel the mystery, resist demands that she leaves the house and free her wards from suspicion.
Obviously this is a very early mystery and so this was undoubtedly more spooky when readers came across it at the time. I must admit that I did not warm to Rachel Innes though, or really feel much interest in the plot. It seemed to career from one event to another and, although an interesting example of an early crime novel, is something I probably would not have persevered with had I not been finishing it for a book group read.
Liddy, it turns out, is correct, as the house is full of bumps and noises, with strange figures appearing at the windows and, with the arrival of Halsey and Gertrude, things get no better. Before long there is a murder and a convoluted and confusing tale ensues, involving embezzlement, mysterious events, love stories, melodrama and a sense of impending disaster.
The detective in charge of the case, Mr Jamieson, rightly believes that Miss Innes is keeping things back – indeed she refrains from telling him anything which might incriminate either Halsey or Gertrude; who seem to be involved with virtually every stage of this mystery and to turn up in the most unlikely places, or be linked to, every suspect. However, Mr Jamieson seems happy enough to work alongside Miss Innes, as she attempts to unravel the mystery, resist demands that she leaves the house and free her wards from suspicion.
Obviously this is a very early mystery and so this was undoubtedly more spooky when readers came across it at the time. I must admit that I did not warm to Rachel Innes though, or really feel much interest in the plot. It seemed to career from one event to another and, although an interesting example of an early crime novel, is something I probably would not have persevered with had I not been finishing it for a book group read.
April 25, 2023
3.5 stars, rounded up.
Mary Roberts Rinehart was writing mystery novels fourteen years before Agatha Christie came on the scene. I do not know why Christie became an icon and Rinehart was all but forgotten, because I enjoy her mysteries as much, if not more than Christie's.
This one is told from the point of view of a spinster aunt, Miss Innes, who has taken a house for the summer, along with her college-age adult niece and nephew, whom she has raised from children. The house is taken for relaxation, of course, but almost immediately, there are unexplained noises and night time movements in the house, frightening the servants and setting nerves on edge. Then an intruder is shot (by an unknown someone) and left at the foot of the circular staircase that leads to the second floor bedrooms. As Sherlock would say, the game is afoot.
There are a bevy of clues, suspicions that include the aforesaid niece and nephew, strange goings on, a scandal concerning the family who owns the house, a mysterious woman and child, and an astute detective who is sent to investigate it all. I put together small pieces as the story unfolded, but I was a far cry from solving the entire mystery. As I demand from all my mysteries, however, all the pieces were there in clear view, it was just a matter of whether the reader could make the assembly. I could not.
This was great fun, as was my first Rinehart encounter, The Man in the Lower Ten. I think she is someone who can be depended upon to entertain and elude you until she gives you the final solution. Glad to have another of her books under my belt and happily anticipating the next.
Mary Roberts Rinehart was writing mystery novels fourteen years before Agatha Christie came on the scene. I do not know why Christie became an icon and Rinehart was all but forgotten, because I enjoy her mysteries as much, if not more than Christie's.
This one is told from the point of view of a spinster aunt, Miss Innes, who has taken a house for the summer, along with her college-age adult niece and nephew, whom she has raised from children. The house is taken for relaxation, of course, but almost immediately, there are unexplained noises and night time movements in the house, frightening the servants and setting nerves on edge. Then an intruder is shot (by an unknown someone) and left at the foot of the circular staircase that leads to the second floor bedrooms. As Sherlock would say, the game is afoot.
There are a bevy of clues, suspicions that include the aforesaid niece and nephew, strange goings on, a scandal concerning the family who owns the house, a mysterious woman and child, and an astute detective who is sent to investigate it all. I put together small pieces as the story unfolded, but I was a far cry from solving the entire mystery. As I demand from all my mysteries, however, all the pieces were there in clear view, it was just a matter of whether the reader could make the assembly. I could not.
This was great fun, as was my first Rinehart encounter, The Man in the Lower Ten. I think she is someone who can be depended upon to entertain and elude you until she gives you the final solution. Glad to have another of her books under my belt and happily anticipating the next.
April 6, 2019
‘The Circular Staircase’ is a terrific mystery! Despite having the constant cliffhanger chapters of a serial as well as the never-ending crises (the story was first published in 1907 in magazine installments), the story is truly engrossing, drawing one into reading a long time at night. At least, this one did! I never guessed whodunit, or why at all.
Rachel Innes, wealthy spinster, narrates the story. She has rented a house in the town of Sunnyside for the summer unaware the family of the absent owner has been undergoing tumultuous events. The family members of the owner soon unexpectedly invade Rachel’s life, but at first, she is more concerned with her own household. She has been raising her dead brother’s children, Halsey and Gertrude, now grown up. They both finished their educations and have begun becoming interested in possible spouses, leading to interesting houseguests. Rachel is not a strict aunt or a martinet. She finds the people around her interesting and humorous, so she has a lighthearted view to the problems of servants and acquaintances even while seriously solving the problems for which she is responsible.
Rachel has a very funny relationship with a longtime companion/servant, Liddie. They toss a lot of insults at each other throughout the book, and Liddie either threatens to quit or is fired at least once a week. I laughed out loud at these quips and arguments, usually showing Rachel on top of the game.
The house is owned by Paul Armstrong, the president of a local bank, the Sunnyside Trader’s Bank. He was living in California with his second wife and daughter, and a family doctor, when the story opens. The daughter, Louise, was being courted for a time by Halsey, but as far as Rachel knows, the relationship did not go anywhere. There also is a black-sheep son, Arnold, who is rumored to having forged his father’s name to a paper.
After a single night of peace in the house, the first night after the Innes household moved in, there are continuous break-ins and unknown visitors at night. Servants leave, obviously frightened. Finally, a body is discovered at the bottom of a circular staircase! Murder has been done! Rachel is determined to get to the bottom of it.
Every of the original elements of older mysteries is included in this story - secret rooms, ghostly tappings and creaking doors, a visit to a cemetery at night, odd-looking strangers, terrifying deaths. Even though people have somewhat of an Edwardian sense of propriety, Rachel’s wit, curiosity and feistiness create an atmosphere of fun and danger! I really enjoyed this novel.
Rachel Innes, wealthy spinster, narrates the story. She has rented a house in the town of Sunnyside for the summer unaware the family of the absent owner has been undergoing tumultuous events. The family members of the owner soon unexpectedly invade Rachel’s life, but at first, she is more concerned with her own household. She has been raising her dead brother’s children, Halsey and Gertrude, now grown up. They both finished their educations and have begun becoming interested in possible spouses, leading to interesting houseguests. Rachel is not a strict aunt or a martinet. She finds the people around her interesting and humorous, so she has a lighthearted view to the problems of servants and acquaintances even while seriously solving the problems for which she is responsible.
Rachel has a very funny relationship with a longtime companion/servant, Liddie. They toss a lot of insults at each other throughout the book, and Liddie either threatens to quit or is fired at least once a week. I laughed out loud at these quips and arguments, usually showing Rachel on top of the game.
The house is owned by Paul Armstrong, the president of a local bank, the Sunnyside Trader’s Bank. He was living in California with his second wife and daughter, and a family doctor, when the story opens. The daughter, Louise, was being courted for a time by Halsey, but as far as Rachel knows, the relationship did not go anywhere. There also is a black-sheep son, Arnold, who is rumored to having forged his father’s name to a paper.
After a single night of peace in the house, the first night after the Innes household moved in, there are continuous break-ins and unknown visitors at night. Servants leave, obviously frightened. Finally, a body is discovered at the bottom of a circular staircase! Murder has been done! Rachel is determined to get to the bottom of it.
Every of the original elements of older mysteries is included in this story - secret rooms, ghostly tappings and creaking doors, a visit to a cemetery at night, odd-looking strangers, terrifying deaths. Even though people have somewhat of an Edwardian sense of propriety, Rachel’s wit, curiosity and feistiness create an atmosphere of fun and danger! I really enjoyed this novel.
September 30, 2023
“People that trust themselves a dozen miles from the city, in strange houses, with servants they don't know, needn't be surprised if they wake up some morning and find their throats cut.”
The Circular Staircase is a 1908 mystery novel featuring a wealthy feisty aged woman, Rachel Innes, who lets a house for the summer to enjoy peace and quiet, only she finds herself plagued by eerie ghost sounds and no electric power after midnight. Add an unknown corpse found inside the house to this situation and most people would flee. But she’s of strong character and sound logic; she’s not about to allow herself to be scared away until she solves this mystery.
Let me first say all the characters were well drawn. The constant bickering and banter Miss Innes shared with her aged long-time companion was a hoot – these two acted more like siblings than employer/employee. The grown niece and nephew staying at the house brought layers to the plot by way of their romantic interests and added clues. Additionally, servants employed by Miss Innes that have worked for the house owners for decades are able to supply ghostly tales that added tension. I even enjoyed the detective who was brought in to solve the murder case, although Miss Innes is convinced, he couldn’t have done so with her assistance.
The plot and subplot were complex and provided a tangled web of clues. I especially enjoyed the things-go-bump-in-the-night type atmosphere. Though not a true horror story, it has a spooky seasonal feel to it. All the clues were available for the reader; however, I didn’t come close to guessing the full extent of this conclusion. I really liked that the narrator is an amateur and there is a nice suspenseful scene near the end.
This is mostly a murder mystery with an interesting subplot that has a dash of gothic vibe and a sliver of romance. Rinehart is a new author for me, and I can’t believe I’ve never read her books before now considering I enjoyed this as much as any of the Agatha Christie’s books I’ve devoured. Recommended for fans of mystery, banter, amateur sleuths, feisty strong women characters.
*Note: It should not come as a surprise to readers familiar with books of this period that there are concerning derogatory attitudes and remarks towards characters of color in this novel.
The Circular Staircase is a 1908 mystery novel featuring a wealthy feisty aged woman, Rachel Innes, who lets a house for the summer to enjoy peace and quiet, only she finds herself plagued by eerie ghost sounds and no electric power after midnight. Add an unknown corpse found inside the house to this situation and most people would flee. But she’s of strong character and sound logic; she’s not about to allow herself to be scared away until she solves this mystery.
Let me first say all the characters were well drawn. The constant bickering and banter Miss Innes shared with her aged long-time companion was a hoot – these two acted more like siblings than employer/employee. The grown niece and nephew staying at the house brought layers to the plot by way of their romantic interests and added clues. Additionally, servants employed by Miss Innes that have worked for the house owners for decades are able to supply ghostly tales that added tension. I even enjoyed the detective who was brought in to solve the murder case, although Miss Innes is convinced, he couldn’t have done so with her assistance.
The plot and subplot were complex and provided a tangled web of clues. I especially enjoyed the things-go-bump-in-the-night type atmosphere. Though not a true horror story, it has a spooky seasonal feel to it. All the clues were available for the reader; however, I didn’t come close to guessing the full extent of this conclusion. I really liked that the narrator is an amateur and there is a nice suspenseful scene near the end.
This is mostly a murder mystery with an interesting subplot that has a dash of gothic vibe and a sliver of romance. Rinehart is a new author for me, and I can’t believe I’ve never read her books before now considering I enjoyed this as much as any of the Agatha Christie’s books I’ve devoured. Recommended for fans of mystery, banter, amateur sleuths, feisty strong women characters.
*Note: It should not come as a surprise to readers familiar with books of this period that there are concerning derogatory attitudes and remarks towards characters of color in this novel.
October 8, 2017
An enjoyable mystery that kept me guessing throughout. The writing style, narrated by spinster Rachel Innes, was yet another drastic difference for me from Rinehart's other works I have read (K. and When a Man Marries) was distinctly humorous in what could have been an extremely spooky horror story in parts. It has heavy Gothic overtones but Rachel laughs off one after the other and stubbornly stays until the mystery is solved.
This would have been five stars for me, but I docked one for heavy and nasty racist comments in three or four spots. Evidently Miss Rachel's own race was so excellent, going around murdering and lying and having affairs and so on, eh?
Content: minor swears; racism
For the faint of heart: murders and small locked spaces
This would have been five stars for me, but I docked one for heavy and nasty racist comments in three or four spots. Evidently Miss Rachel's own race was so excellent, going around murdering and lying and having affairs and so on, eh?
Content: minor swears; racism
For the faint of heart: murders and small locked spaces
January 21, 2021
Edited on 1/21 for minor spelling issues that I noticed after it showed up in my notifications because some lovely person "liked" it. Also what in the blue fuck is up with this cover!? Is that Jesus? Cause it looks like Jesus.
Review:
I began this as an audio book but (fortunately) made the decision to switch to hard copy about halfway through. As Mary Roberts Rinehart is considered one of the matriarch's of the modern mystery novel I think it would be only fair to get some new recordings done of her books. In addition to just plain old poor audio quality the narrator, who sounds a great deal like the vaguely insane person who narrated the Amelia Peabody mysteries I tried a few months ago, wasn't doing it for me. She's got the right tone and inflection for the main character, spinster aunt Rachel Innes, but she's just not savvy enough to handle the other characters and the story was just plodding on and on.
Once I switched to reading I started getting the perfectly proper witticisms and the tension Rinehart had clearly been trying to ramp up registered much more clearly.
It is 1908 and Aunt Rachel has allowed herself to be talked into renting a grand house in the country where she and her niece and nephew (who she raised following the death of her brother) will spend the summer. Virtually from the moment they arrive the house is besieged by mysterious noises in the night, unexplained intruders and hysterical servants all of whom are convinced the house is haunted. When things culminate in a violent murder, her nephew abruptly disappears and the police are no help so Rachel takes it upon herself to clear things up.
Rinehart is most well known for her novel The Bat and for making popular the "if I had but known then what I know now" and "the butler did it" style of mystery. She's often thought of as the American Agatha Christie based on the intricacy of her stories and the depth of her characters.
I didn't quite get all that from this book but it was certainly entertaining. Given the time period in which it was written and set its rife with sexism, classicism, and our old friend blatant racism. A black servant is frequently referred to as a "darkie" and there are several asides calling into question the man's intelligence and character based entirely on his race. Women faint at the drop of a hat and there's rarely a chapter where they aren't being ordered about or "protected" or chuckled at because they're just silly women who don't have the mental faculties to solve crimes. Any interaction the main characters have with people in a different tax bracket definitely have an air of benevolent tolerance for these poor, uneducated, garbage people who will do anything for a buck.
But if you can get around that this really is a pretty clever story that honestly made the hairs on the back of my neck go up on more than one occasion.
My biggest issue with the structure is, ironically, the device Ms. Rinehart is most well known for. Essentially the entire mystery hinges on information certain people already have, that other people are aware they have, that they are unable to give because of....well....reasons.
These reasons are inevitably tied to a misguided sense of honor that just doesn't translate to today. A guy has been murdered but the motivation can't be revealed because it might tarnish someone's good name. A fortune has been embezzled and hundreds of people have lost all their savings but the guy who knows who did it can't reveal what's happening because he promised not to and gentlemen always keep their promises. So the "detecting" here isn't so much traditional working out who did it as it is waiting until the people with the relevant information are sure society can handle the truth.
I had some issues with the deeply dividing line between the classes in this world as well. Rachel's a pretty cool cucumber with an appropriately dry wit and she's damn smart. Unfortunately her niece and nephew who are clearly intended to be seen as simply spiffy "modern" young people of the best character instead come off to this reader as disaffected layabouts who don't need jobs because they've inherited all their money with the attitudes of spoiled, bored, rich kids. The biggest issues they face are the possibilities of their love affairs not working out because they're being associated with scandalous police goings on.
That said this is a fun, quicky, and witty way to pass the time. Just pass it with a grain of salt.
Review:
I began this as an audio book but (fortunately) made the decision to switch to hard copy about halfway through. As Mary Roberts Rinehart is considered one of the matriarch's of the modern mystery novel I think it would be only fair to get some new recordings done of her books. In addition to just plain old poor audio quality the narrator, who sounds a great deal like the vaguely insane person who narrated the Amelia Peabody mysteries I tried a few months ago, wasn't doing it for me. She's got the right tone and inflection for the main character, spinster aunt Rachel Innes, but she's just not savvy enough to handle the other characters and the story was just plodding on and on.
Once I switched to reading I started getting the perfectly proper witticisms and the tension Rinehart had clearly been trying to ramp up registered much more clearly.
It is 1908 and Aunt Rachel has allowed herself to be talked into renting a grand house in the country where she and her niece and nephew (who she raised following the death of her brother) will spend the summer. Virtually from the moment they arrive the house is besieged by mysterious noises in the night, unexplained intruders and hysterical servants all of whom are convinced the house is haunted. When things culminate in a violent murder, her nephew abruptly disappears and the police are no help so Rachel takes it upon herself to clear things up.
Rinehart is most well known for her novel The Bat and for making popular the "if I had but known then what I know now" and "the butler did it" style of mystery. She's often thought of as the American Agatha Christie based on the intricacy of her stories and the depth of her characters.
I didn't quite get all that from this book but it was certainly entertaining. Given the time period in which it was written and set its rife with sexism, classicism, and our old friend blatant racism. A black servant is frequently referred to as a "darkie" and there are several asides calling into question the man's intelligence and character based entirely on his race. Women faint at the drop of a hat and there's rarely a chapter where they aren't being ordered about or "protected" or chuckled at because they're just silly women who don't have the mental faculties to solve crimes. Any interaction the main characters have with people in a different tax bracket definitely have an air of benevolent tolerance for these poor, uneducated, garbage people who will do anything for a buck.
But if you can get around that this really is a pretty clever story that honestly made the hairs on the back of my neck go up on more than one occasion.
My biggest issue with the structure is, ironically, the device Ms. Rinehart is most well known for. Essentially the entire mystery hinges on information certain people already have, that other people are aware they have, that they are unable to give because of....well....reasons.
These reasons are inevitably tied to a misguided sense of honor that just doesn't translate to today. A guy has been murdered but the motivation can't be revealed because it might tarnish someone's good name. A fortune has been embezzled and hundreds of people have lost all their savings but the guy who knows who did it can't reveal what's happening because he promised not to and gentlemen always keep their promises. So the "detecting" here isn't so much traditional working out who did it as it is waiting until the people with the relevant information are sure society can handle the truth.
I had some issues with the deeply dividing line between the classes in this world as well. Rachel's a pretty cool cucumber with an appropriately dry wit and she's damn smart. Unfortunately her niece and nephew who are clearly intended to be seen as simply spiffy "modern" young people of the best character instead come off to this reader as disaffected layabouts who don't need jobs because they've inherited all their money with the attitudes of spoiled, bored, rich kids. The biggest issues they face are the possibilities of their love affairs not working out because they're being associated with scandalous police goings on.
That said this is a fun, quicky, and witty way to pass the time. Just pass it with a grain of salt.
May 7, 2019
I really enjoyed this book! My edition has a cover that reminds me of the old Nancy Drew mysteries that I loved as a kid (The Circular Staircase), and I thought it read like a cross between a Nancy Drew written for adults and a ghost story. Much of the book felt more like a ghost story than a mystery (no supernatural elements, but there was a definite "the-calls-are-coming-from-inside-the-house" vibe). The back cover of this edition shows floor plans of the three floors of the house (no basement), which is something that classic mysteries often had. I love it when books include maps and floor plans; I wish more modern mysteries had them. I have a few Mary Roberts Rinehart books on my shelves that I look forward to revisiting after reading this. :)
September 4, 2021
This 1908 novel often gets credited with the birth of the "slasher" genre. I can't understand why. To me, it's a pretty standard mystery novel, and a mediocre one at best. I've read my share of proto-slashers from the early 20th Century which all had a lot more in common with the subgenre that grew wings after "Psycho" and "Halloween" than this, Mary Roberts Rinehart's first published novel.
For you "Batman" fans out there, you may recognize the plot as being the basis for the play "The Bat," also by Rinehart, which spawned many film adaptations and sparked the creation and design of DC's Dark Knight. A rich spinster leases a country mansion and shortly thereafter, the corpse of the owner's son appears in the house apparently shot to death. The heroine's niece and nephew seem to be implicated in the mystery behind the young man's demise, and so she has a personal stake in helping the local inspector solve the crime.
Fans of the mystery genre will feel right at home here, but this novel encapsulates everything that I find irritating about the classics of the genre from this era:
1) The amateur detective--a person who has no business interfering with a police investigation somehow manages to embroil themselves into the case. Our main heroine actually should have been considered a potential suspect or accomplice in the real world, but no. The chief inspector conducts his affairs as though she is his boss or partner at the very least. Why does he trust her? What qualifies her to stick her nose into things? Why is she being allowed to contaminate the crime scene? Why does she hide evidence she finds from the police? Why, when she is caught hiding said evidence, does she not face criminal charges herself? Ridiculous.
2) Word count--we have all heard about writers who got paid by the word. But sometimes books can outstay their welcome for other reasons. This includes padding an otherwise straightforward mystery with unnecessary fluff and nonsense in order to confuse the reader. Yep, we see that here. Also, long books seemed to be equated with more serious and intellectual works in the 1800s and 1900s, and this is even witnessed today. "Infinite Jest" is how long? Must be brilliant! But "The Circular Staircase" is a perfect example of how wordy books can be just as devoid of substance despite their hefty weight in pages.
3) Victorian and Edwardian sexism--you all know what I mean. Women are hysterical, fragile creatures, prone to the vapors, crying on command, fretting about love, swooning at every minor stress, preoccupied with their boudoirs and decorum while secretly dreaming of having sex with their fathers while eating ice cream cones. "The Circular Staircase" is more guilty than many of it's contemporaries of its shallow depiction of women that you'd swear this was written by some old world patriarch full of fuzzy white hair and Freudian ideas with a pince-nez and a briar pipe. This book is almost four-hundred pages of women in their nightgowns quivering and all a-fright over pathetic literary jumpscares, being sent to bed like children over the slightest stress, and ordering servants about. Oh, whatever will these poor delicate things do now that their cook has walked off the job?! Bah! But the main character is a tough, no-nonsense woman, I hear you protest. She may be bossy, and she may not need a man, but she is otherwise frivolous and her motivations make no sense. For me, she ranks among a cast of shallow people of the upper middle aristocracy doing shallow things. I wished they were all murdered in their sleep. That would have been a happy ending. Alas...
4) Victorian and Edwardian racism--again, you know what I mean. I understand that you need to appreciate books within their historical context, and believe me, I do. But some books just clearly cross the line in their ignorance and mean-spirited nature. There is not only no sense of irony or self-awareness in any of her writings or depictions of black Americans, who she repeatedly refers to as "darkies," but she is also downright nasty. Take this line, for instance: "...a negro is one part thief, one part pigment, and the rest superstition." This is not casual institutional racism that happens to have been captured in the literature of the time. This is just one part dopey, one part dippy, and the rest hateful, elitist pantomime from a woman who had thus far in her life not been very worldly or wise.
5) Victorian and Edwardian "decorum of intrigue"--now, you probably don't know what I mean by this. But those of you who have read your share of fiction of any genre from these periods are aware of the infuriating habit of characters purposefully withholding or hiding information from others for the sake of maintaining appearances, or so as to not assume upon a young lady's intentions, or because of a masochistic sense of honor, or for no damn good reason. The handsome man who refuses to tell the woman he secretly loves that it was he all along who wrote those letters from an unknown admirer! The wife who refuses to tell her husband that she is dying of consumption, as though the coughing up of a gallon of blood every hour wouldn't be a clue. The prime murder suspect who is actually innocent who stupidly answers the police about his whereabouts on the night of the crime: "I cannot say--I was sworn to secrecy." The father who tells the mustachioed suitor after reading a mysterious message threatening to kidnap the fair damsel "don't breath a word of this to her," thus assuring that the clueless girl falls victim to the fiendish plot in order to effect the daring rescue. The detective who knows the identity of the murderer but tells no one and does nothing for an entire novel, only saying smugly, "All will be revealed in time," or "I'll explain later...". How I HATE this artificial and amateur device for maintaining suspense! I just want to say, "No, you won't explain later, because I'm done with this stupid story." And that leads perfectly into my final problem with this book...
6) "Had-I-But-Known"--the smoke and mirrors which characterizes popular classic mysteries can be astoundingly obvious to cynical readers. A prime gimmick is to introduce new characters, plot devices, or gods in the machine in the last act in order to prevent the reader from deducting a conclusion they would have otherwise seen coming by the third chapter. This gives rise to the first-person perspective "had-I-but-known" literary device, of which "The Circular Staircase" is considered the progenitor. Key information is withheld from protagonists, and therefore the reader, to create an artificial prolongation of suspense. Remember those annoying examples I provided about the "decorum of intrigue"? That's all part of the "Had-I-But-Known" style. Instead of alerting the cop sleeping nearby in the study to an intruder in the house, the hero sneaks off alone to investigate. Instead of telling the authorities about the abandoned pistol found in the garden the night of the murder, the gun is hidden away and kept secret without any logical reason. This is probably the only main feature I see that the novel shares with the more contemporary "slasher" variant. Slasher fans will recognize this element when they yell at the screen while the blonde in the tube-top walks into the darkness to investigate the source of a disturbance rather than getting the hell out of danger and calling the cops. But many of you no doubt negatively associate this style with countless examples of substandard mass market entertainment fodder, and you have this book to thank for popularizing this creatively bankrupt trend.
"The Circular Staircase" is guilty of all of these common tropes anathema to truly great fiction. Overall, I found it painfully boring, overly long, scarcely believable, unnecessarily repetitive, and sickeningly melodramatic. I can concede that when this book was new that it may have dazzled readers who'd never encountered this kind of thing before. So it merits two stars as a key piece of history, and fans of old dark house mysteries will find this quite a cozy little piece of escapism. But despite this being a major bestseller that propelled Rinehart to international fame as "The American Agatha Christie," it has aged badly. It does not pass the sniff test of quality after all these years and so I'd be reticent to recommend it for most modern readers. I think it is worth keeping "The Circular Staircase" as a footnote in your historical knowledge of the development of literature, but I do not see the value of digging it up from its memorial in the public domain to actually read.
SCORE: Two vials of smelling salts.
For you "Batman" fans out there, you may recognize the plot as being the basis for the play "The Bat," also by Rinehart, which spawned many film adaptations and sparked the creation and design of DC's Dark Knight. A rich spinster leases a country mansion and shortly thereafter, the corpse of the owner's son appears in the house apparently shot to death. The heroine's niece and nephew seem to be implicated in the mystery behind the young man's demise, and so she has a personal stake in helping the local inspector solve the crime.
Fans of the mystery genre will feel right at home here, but this novel encapsulates everything that I find irritating about the classics of the genre from this era:
1) The amateur detective--a person who has no business interfering with a police investigation somehow manages to embroil themselves into the case. Our main heroine actually should have been considered a potential suspect or accomplice in the real world, but no. The chief inspector conducts his affairs as though she is his boss or partner at the very least. Why does he trust her? What qualifies her to stick her nose into things? Why is she being allowed to contaminate the crime scene? Why does she hide evidence she finds from the police? Why, when she is caught hiding said evidence, does she not face criminal charges herself? Ridiculous.
2) Word count--we have all heard about writers who got paid by the word. But sometimes books can outstay their welcome for other reasons. This includes padding an otherwise straightforward mystery with unnecessary fluff and nonsense in order to confuse the reader. Yep, we see that here. Also, long books seemed to be equated with more serious and intellectual works in the 1800s and 1900s, and this is even witnessed today. "Infinite Jest" is how long? Must be brilliant! But "The Circular Staircase" is a perfect example of how wordy books can be just as devoid of substance despite their hefty weight in pages.
3) Victorian and Edwardian sexism--you all know what I mean. Women are hysterical, fragile creatures, prone to the vapors, crying on command, fretting about love, swooning at every minor stress, preoccupied with their boudoirs and decorum while secretly dreaming of having sex with their fathers while eating ice cream cones. "The Circular Staircase" is more guilty than many of it's contemporaries of its shallow depiction of women that you'd swear this was written by some old world patriarch full of fuzzy white hair and Freudian ideas with a pince-nez and a briar pipe. This book is almost four-hundred pages of women in their nightgowns quivering and all a-fright over pathetic literary jumpscares, being sent to bed like children over the slightest stress, and ordering servants about. Oh, whatever will these poor delicate things do now that their cook has walked off the job?! Bah! But the main character is a tough, no-nonsense woman, I hear you protest. She may be bossy, and she may not need a man, but she is otherwise frivolous and her motivations make no sense. For me, she ranks among a cast of shallow people of the upper middle aristocracy doing shallow things. I wished they were all murdered in their sleep. That would have been a happy ending. Alas...
4) Victorian and Edwardian racism--again, you know what I mean. I understand that you need to appreciate books within their historical context, and believe me, I do. But some books just clearly cross the line in their ignorance and mean-spirited nature. There is not only no sense of irony or self-awareness in any of her writings or depictions of black Americans, who she repeatedly refers to as "darkies," but she is also downright nasty. Take this line, for instance: "...a negro is one part thief, one part pigment, and the rest superstition." This is not casual institutional racism that happens to have been captured in the literature of the time. This is just one part dopey, one part dippy, and the rest hateful, elitist pantomime from a woman who had thus far in her life not been very worldly or wise.
5) Victorian and Edwardian "decorum of intrigue"--now, you probably don't know what I mean by this. But those of you who have read your share of fiction of any genre from these periods are aware of the infuriating habit of characters purposefully withholding or hiding information from others for the sake of maintaining appearances, or so as to not assume upon a young lady's intentions, or because of a masochistic sense of honor, or for no damn good reason. The handsome man who refuses to tell the woman he secretly loves that it was he all along who wrote those letters from an unknown admirer! The wife who refuses to tell her husband that she is dying of consumption, as though the coughing up of a gallon of blood every hour wouldn't be a clue. The prime murder suspect who is actually innocent who stupidly answers the police about his whereabouts on the night of the crime: "I cannot say--I was sworn to secrecy." The father who tells the mustachioed suitor after reading a mysterious message threatening to kidnap the fair damsel "don't breath a word of this to her," thus assuring that the clueless girl falls victim to the fiendish plot in order to effect the daring rescue. The detective who knows the identity of the murderer but tells no one and does nothing for an entire novel, only saying smugly, "All will be revealed in time," or "I'll explain later...". How I HATE this artificial and amateur device for maintaining suspense! I just want to say, "No, you won't explain later, because I'm done with this stupid story." And that leads perfectly into my final problem with this book...
6) "Had-I-But-Known"--the smoke and mirrors which characterizes popular classic mysteries can be astoundingly obvious to cynical readers. A prime gimmick is to introduce new characters, plot devices, or gods in the machine in the last act in order to prevent the reader from deducting a conclusion they would have otherwise seen coming by the third chapter. This gives rise to the first-person perspective "had-I-but-known" literary device, of which "The Circular Staircase" is considered the progenitor. Key information is withheld from protagonists, and therefore the reader, to create an artificial prolongation of suspense. Remember those annoying examples I provided about the "decorum of intrigue"? That's all part of the "Had-I-But-Known" style. Instead of alerting the cop sleeping nearby in the study to an intruder in the house, the hero sneaks off alone to investigate. Instead of telling the authorities about the abandoned pistol found in the garden the night of the murder, the gun is hidden away and kept secret without any logical reason. This is probably the only main feature I see that the novel shares with the more contemporary "slasher" variant. Slasher fans will recognize this element when they yell at the screen while the blonde in the tube-top walks into the darkness to investigate the source of a disturbance rather than getting the hell out of danger and calling the cops. But many of you no doubt negatively associate this style with countless examples of substandard mass market entertainment fodder, and you have this book to thank for popularizing this creatively bankrupt trend.
"The Circular Staircase" is guilty of all of these common tropes anathema to truly great fiction. Overall, I found it painfully boring, overly long, scarcely believable, unnecessarily repetitive, and sickeningly melodramatic. I can concede that when this book was new that it may have dazzled readers who'd never encountered this kind of thing before. So it merits two stars as a key piece of history, and fans of old dark house mysteries will find this quite a cozy little piece of escapism. But despite this being a major bestseller that propelled Rinehart to international fame as "The American Agatha Christie," it has aged badly. It does not pass the sniff test of quality after all these years and so I'd be reticent to recommend it for most modern readers. I think it is worth keeping "The Circular Staircase" as a footnote in your historical knowledge of the development of literature, but I do not see the value of digging it up from its memorial in the public domain to actually read.
SCORE: Two vials of smelling salts.
August 26, 2012
Fun to read with lots of details and possible suspects. I enjoyed just going with the flow of the story, making a few guesses along the way (one of which turned out to be very true). A bit more sprightly than some of Dame Agatha's, it seemed to me. Not sure what age Aunt Rachel is meant to be (spinster aunt is so open-ended), but she certainly joined the fray.
May 20, 2017
1908, Rinehart's second 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]
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]
February 10, 2025
Had I But Known
A review of the Carousel Books eBook (April 10, 2022) of the original Bobbs-Merrill Co. hardcover (1908) of the serialization first published in 5 issues of All Story magazine (1907).
This was a very melodramatic suspense thriller where a woman takes a summer home with her orphaned wards, her niece and nephew. They find themselves embroiled in inexplicable disappearances, mysterious deaths, burned barns, failed banks and an apparent haunting. It did have a curiosity value of historical interest. It is credited as the first ever book written in the Had I But Known style, where the protagonist foreshadows events yet to come, over which they have regrets about their choice of action.
Rinehart is also credited as the first writer with a "the butler did it" resolution (.
Some cover images of original 1908 Bobbs-Merrill Co. hardcover. A faded original on the left (source Goodreads) and a restored enhanced image on the right (source Wikipedia).
The Circular Staircase betrays its origins as a serialization which first appeared in magazines. Almost all of the chapters end in horrid discoveries and/or cliffhangers compelling the reader to move on to the next episode. The thread is stretched out by having all of the characters hiding information from each other and from the police, in misguided efforts to avoid suspicion. Much of it will seem implausible to the modern reader. There was at least a humorous element as the maidservant Liddy perpetually says she will quit due to the hauntings and murders and Miss Rachel calls her bluff and Liddy stays on regardless.
I read The Circular Staircase as I had been very impressed with Rinehart's investigative procedural short story The Lipstick in the recent anthology Golden Age Whodunits (2024). That story was from 1942 though, and was not so implausible.
NOTE: There are no annotations in this supposed "Annotated" edition.
Trivia and Links
Confusingly, this novel is listed in various sources as book #2 in the Miss Cornelia Van Gorder Trilogy. Cornelia Van Gorder was the new name used for the Rachel Innes lead character in a theatrical adaptation of The Circular Staircase called The Bat (1920). The play script was then turned into a novelization as The Bat (1926), credited to Rinehart but apparently ghost written by Stephen Vincent Benét. Rinehart's The Man in Lower Ten (1909) listed as book #1 in the trilogy, has no Cornelia Van Gorder character in it.
A poster for the 1915 silent film adaptation. Image sourced from an anonymous photographer and designer - Advertisement in Moving Picture World, 1915 (https://archive.org/stream/movingpicturewor25newy#page/n1978/mode/1up), Public Domain, Link.
Aside from its stage adaptation, The Circular Staircase has also been adapted for film several times. There was an original 1915 silent film (now lost) and then another silent film as The Bat (1926). Then there was a early talkie as The Bat Whispers (1930). There was a later remake as The Bat (1959).
Batman creator Bob Kane acknowledged in Batman and Me (1989), that Rinehart's renamed villain in The Bat adaptations was the inspiration for his later masked vigilante.
A review of the Carousel Books eBook (April 10, 2022) of the original Bobbs-Merrill Co. hardcover (1908) of the serialization first published in 5 issues of All Story magazine (1907).
Here was I, Rachel Innes, spinster, a granddaughter of old John Innes of Revolutionary days, a D. A. R., a Colonial Dame, mixed up with a vulgar and revolting crime, and even attempting to hoodwink the law! Certainly I had left the straight and narrow way.
This was a very melodramatic suspense thriller where a woman takes a summer home with her orphaned wards, her niece and nephew. They find themselves embroiled in inexplicable disappearances, mysterious deaths, burned barns, failed banks and an apparent haunting. It did have a curiosity value of historical interest. It is credited as the first ever book written in the Had I But Known style, where the protagonist foreshadows events yet to come, over which they have regrets about their choice of action.
Rinehart is also credited as the first writer with a "the butler did it" resolution (.
Some cover images of original 1908 Bobbs-Merrill Co. hardcover. A faded original on the left (source Goodreads) and a restored enhanced image on the right (source Wikipedia).
The Circular Staircase betrays its origins as a serialization which first appeared in magazines. Almost all of the chapters end in horrid discoveries and/or cliffhangers compelling the reader to move on to the next episode. The thread is stretched out by having all of the characters hiding information from each other and from the police, in misguided efforts to avoid suspicion. Much of it will seem implausible to the modern reader. There was at least a humorous element as the maidservant Liddy perpetually says she will quit due to the hauntings and murders and Miss Rachel calls her bluff and Liddy stays on regardless.
I read The Circular Staircase as I had been very impressed with Rinehart's investigative procedural short story The Lipstick in the recent anthology Golden Age Whodunits (2024). That story was from 1942 though, and was not so implausible.
NOTE: There are no annotations in this supposed "Annotated" edition.
Trivia and Links
Confusingly, this novel is listed in various sources as book #2 in the Miss Cornelia Van Gorder Trilogy. Cornelia Van Gorder was the new name used for the Rachel Innes lead character in a theatrical adaptation of The Circular Staircase called The Bat (1920). The play script was then turned into a novelization as The Bat (1926), credited to Rinehart but apparently ghost written by Stephen Vincent Benét. Rinehart's The Man in Lower Ten (1909) listed as book #1 in the trilogy, has no Cornelia Van Gorder character in it.
A poster for the 1915 silent film adaptation. Image sourced from an anonymous photographer and designer - Advertisement in Moving Picture World, 1915 (https://archive.org/stream/movingpicturewor25newy#page/n1978/mode/1up), Public Domain, Link.
Aside from its stage adaptation, The Circular Staircase has also been adapted for film several times. There was an original 1915 silent film (now lost) and then another silent film as The Bat (1926). Then there was a early talkie as The Bat Whispers (1930). There was a later remake as The Bat (1959).
Batman creator Bob Kane acknowledged in Batman and Me (1989), that Rinehart's renamed villain in The Bat adaptations was the inspiration for his later masked vigilante.
January 23, 2025
Published in 1908, per Wikipedia: "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."
I thought this would be really interesting as the prototype spooky story set in a seemingly haunted house, but the novel didn't age well and it was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long. The main character is an unlikeable middle-aged spinster who mentioned her money all the time and was snotty to The Help. She gets way too involved in a murder investigation in which she should have been a prime suspect. There were so many other characters and plot elements it was hard to keep track of it all. Honestly, I didn't enjoy this, and I wouldn't recommend it.
I thought this would be really interesting as the prototype spooky story set in a seemingly haunted house, but the novel didn't age well and it was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long. The main character is an unlikeable middle-aged spinster who mentioned her money all the time and was snotty to The Help. She gets way too involved in a murder investigation in which she should have been a prime suspect. There were so many other characters and plot elements it was hard to keep track of it all. Honestly, I didn't enjoy this, and I wouldn't recommend it.
April 15, 2019
I found this book surprisingly enjoyable. The plot was full of unexpected twists and turns that didn't make a lot of sense until the end. The fact that it was written in 1908 both added to and detracted from its charm. The descriptions of the transportation and social conventions of the day were all the more fascinating for their natural inclusion rather than the conscious insertion of a writer who has researched the past and is trying to describe it. For the same reason, though, I found the references to darkies and the descriptions of their personalities as particularly troubling, mostly because I don't think the author even realized that she was being offensive.
Bottom line: I fully understand why this book is frequently found on Best Mysteries lists. aside from the exception I mentioned above it has aged very well and gives readers a good idea of where Agatha Christie may have gotten the idea for her own spinster detective, Miss Marple.
My thanks to the folks at the The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group for giving me the opportunity to read and discuss this and many other fine books.
Bottom line: I fully understand why this book is frequently found on Best Mysteries lists. aside from the exception I mentioned above it has aged very well and gives readers a good idea of where Agatha Christie may have gotten the idea for her own spinster detective, Miss Marple.
My thanks to the folks at the The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group for giving me the opportunity to read and discuss this and many other fine books.
November 6, 2017
This was a reread and I'm not at all sure when I read it originally. Probably way back, 1980 maybe on the outside! But I do know that I had forgotten most of the guilty, but not Gertrude or Halsey or the duo of country renters.
I give her high, high marks for the pioneering of the plot, contriving manipulators that ended up being the perps, especially this murderer nailed. BUT, but now in 2017? Well the snark hits me differently, I think. I found it far more humorous back in the day. It is still funny in the narrator irreverence but not somehow in the overall tone in which she expresses herself. I'm sorry, I can't nail it down more than that. But this isn't about the time it was composed or even now either. There just something about the situation that I find unsettling to nuance differently?
Regardless, she did a great job in the original forms and the circular plot (more than a staircase- does this one swivel toward duplicity and around again).
This is a good exercise to read something completely NOT in the tone of foul language or PC correct constraint and hubris sensibilities as even the most perverted stories are today. Either which this novel is not. But I have to admit a few sentences did make me cringe. This is highly regarded as her best. Myself, I'm sure I liked some later ones better. This one seemed really, really down to the minute to minute so much more improbable to the timing of pulling off. Long shot to say it mildly.
I give her high, high marks for the pioneering of the plot, contriving manipulators that ended up being the perps, especially this murderer nailed. BUT, but now in 2017? Well the snark hits me differently, I think. I found it far more humorous back in the day. It is still funny in the narrator irreverence but not somehow in the overall tone in which she expresses herself. I'm sorry, I can't nail it down more than that. But this isn't about the time it was composed or even now either. There just something about the situation that I find unsettling to nuance differently?
Regardless, she did a great job in the original forms and the circular plot (more than a staircase- does this one swivel toward duplicity and around again).
This is a good exercise to read something completely NOT in the tone of foul language or PC correct constraint and hubris sensibilities as even the most perverted stories are today. Either which this novel is not. But I have to admit a few sentences did make me cringe. This is highly regarded as her best. Myself, I'm sure I liked some later ones better. This one seemed really, really down to the minute to minute so much more improbable to the timing of pulling off. Long shot to say it mildly.
June 9, 2019
Rachel is a spinster who has had custody of her orphaned Halsey and Gertrude, since they were children. They talk Rachel into renting a house in the country for the summer, where a murder occurs.
This was a nice cozy mystery with plenty of twists and misunderstandings. The relationship between Rachel and her companion, the nervous widow Liddy brings a great deal of comic relief, but I wish the two racist comments would've been taken out of this edition. All in all, I may read more from Rinehart.
This was a nice cozy mystery with plenty of twists and misunderstandings. The relationship between Rachel and her companion, the nervous widow Liddy brings a great deal of comic relief, but I wish the two racist comments would've been taken out of this edition. All in all, I may read more from Rinehart.
September 15, 2023
5 stars. Man, what a mystery! Having read
The Man in Lower Ten
and
The Window at the White Cat,
I was keen to read this mystery, and it turned out as good as I hoped. Miss Rachel was so much fun—sharp and loving and sarcastic and old-fashioned. She reminded me a lot of Amelia Butterworth from
That Affair Next Door
& Lost Man’s Lane.. Mr. Jamieson, though, wasn’t very much like Mr. Gryce, but he was… well, he was a better man, although he didn’t come across as good a detective somehow. Halsey was such a nice fellow, and I liked Gertrude too, and their relationship with Miss Rachel was sweet. Liddy and the other servants were hilarious. And I really liked poor Thomas, and Louise.
This mystery starts off with a bang, as well as plenty of humour. From the very beginning I was left bewildered. In the end I did solve part of the mystery, but not until the last few chapters. It was very well done, with plenty of action and thrills and suspects, and it was so much fun to try to figure everything out. The romances were sweet, too! And the writing style was one I particularly like—a little foreshadowing; a sharp narrative voice; plenty of the MC’s thoughts; and lots of subtle hints.
Overall, another great mystery from Mary Roberts Rinehart. And by the way, the 1959 film “The Bat” is a great retelling, albeit a little creepy and probably not recommended just before bed. ;) It’s also available for free on Internet Archive here: https://archive.org/details/The_Bat.mpeg.
Content list: some racism; some language; off-screen murder; mild violence.
A Favourite Quote: What Halsey said to Mrs. Armstrong I never knew, but that he was considerate and chivalrous I feel confident. It was Halsey's way always with women.
A Favourite Humorous Quote: "Let me stay in your dressing-room, Miss Rachel," she begged. "If you don't, I'll sit in the hall outside the door. I'm not going to be murdered with my eyes shut."
"If you're going to be murdered," I retorted, "it won't make any difference whether they are shut or open. But you may stay in the dressing-room, if you will lie on the couch: when you sleep in a chair you snore."
This mystery starts off with a bang, as well as plenty of humour. From the very beginning I was left bewildered. In the end I did solve part of the mystery, but not until the last few chapters. It was very well done, with plenty of action and thrills and suspects, and it was so much fun to try to figure everything out. The romances were sweet, too! And the writing style was one I particularly like—a little foreshadowing; a sharp narrative voice; plenty of the MC’s thoughts; and lots of subtle hints.
Overall, another great mystery from Mary Roberts Rinehart. And by the way, the 1959 film “The Bat” is a great retelling, albeit a little creepy and probably not recommended just before bed. ;) It’s also available for free on Internet Archive here: https://archive.org/details/The_Bat.mpeg.
Content list: some racism; some language; off-screen murder; mild violence.
A Favourite Quote: What Halsey said to Mrs. Armstrong I never knew, but that he was considerate and chivalrous I feel confident. It was Halsey's way always with women.
A Favourite Humorous Quote: "Let me stay in your dressing-room, Miss Rachel," she begged. "If you don't, I'll sit in the hall outside the door. I'm not going to be murdered with my eyes shut."
"If you're going to be murdered," I retorted, "it won't make any difference whether they are shut or open. But you may stay in the dressing-room, if you will lie on the couch: when you sleep in a chair you snore."
June 7, 2012
Published in 1908, The Circular Staircase won't be what you expect: a hyperventilated Edwardian piece, loaded with implausible plot and purple prose. Our heroine, the middle-aged Rachel Innes, proves caustic, intelligent and quite humorous from the very start. Her well-meaning quarrels with her foolish maid Liddy provide great comic relief, and you won't find Miss Innes making the sort of stupid exercises in derring-do that get modern-day heroines nearly killed in today's mystery novels. Nor will you find Miss Innes melting into Victorian hysterics or melodrama. She's not afraid to hide evidence and thwart the police in her quest for the truth about the murder at her rented summer home. Despite being more than a century old, the novel doesn't feel dated at all, except for the attitudes to other races.
Is the novel perfect? No. As others have pointed out, there are some plot slip-ups. And Miss Innes' attitude toward Thomas the butler, an African-American, while better than average for the day, will strike modern readers as appalling. That said, you'll thoroughly enjoy The Circular Staircase.
Is the novel perfect? No. As others have pointed out, there are some plot slip-ups. And Miss Innes' attitude toward Thomas the butler, an African-American, while better than average for the day, will strike modern readers as appalling. That said, you'll thoroughly enjoy The Circular Staircase.
January 7, 2018
Voci nel buio
L'aspetto più interessante è la sensibilità dell'autrice nel narrare le sottigliezze dei rapporti interpersonali che vengono a costruirsi in un piccolo microcosmo famigliare.
L'impianto narrativo, invece, accusa un pochettino il passare del tempo: troppe confessioni parziali ed esposte piuttosto alla carlona; momenti improbabili in cui l'autoconservazione della protagonista si riduce ai minimi termini; riproposizioni pedisseque delle dinamiche da stampo "home invasion".
Buono lo scioglimento finale.
L'aspetto più interessante è la sensibilità dell'autrice nel narrare le sottigliezze dei rapporti interpersonali che vengono a costruirsi in un piccolo microcosmo famigliare.
L'impianto narrativo, invece, accusa un pochettino il passare del tempo: troppe confessioni parziali ed esposte piuttosto alla carlona; momenti improbabili in cui l'autoconservazione della protagonista si riduce ai minimi termini; riproposizioni pedisseque delle dinamiche da stampo "home invasion".
Buono lo scioglimento finale.
April 15, 2018
This was such fun! I was immediately taken with the conversational, and somewhat breezy, style. I did not expect that for a book originally published in 1908. I think this is Rinehart's most well known novel, but I will happily look for another and see if it comes close to the same quality/enjoyment.
There are a couple of things which make its age noticeable: the electric company quits sending electricity at midnight, the doctor has a buggy, and the cab is a horse-drawn trap. Despite the age of the novel, it generally holds up well. I have admitted I'm no good at guessing things in a mystery. Though some of the things I found suspicious were, indeed, suspicious, it wasn't until the last 20 pages that I pretty much had things sorted out.
My top rating for the genre is 4-stars. This doesn't quite make that, but is a very strong 3-stars.
There are a couple of things which make its age noticeable: the electric company quits sending electricity at midnight, the doctor has a buggy, and the cab is a horse-drawn trap. Despite the age of the novel, it generally holds up well. I have admitted I'm no good at guessing things in a mystery. Though some of the things I found suspicious were, indeed, suspicious, it wasn't until the last 20 pages that I pretty much had things sorted out.
My top rating for the genre is 4-stars. This doesn't quite make that, but is a very strong 3-stars.
May 10, 2014
Written in 1908, this mystery/thriller wasn't as dated as I had feared (about the same as the Golden Age mysteries of the 30s & 40s). The first person narration worked well & Miss Innes (the narrator) was an engaging, no-nonsense older woman who has no pretensions of being a detective but isn't going to stand for any funny business going on in her house. I did figure out part of the solution but there were enough twists and action that it didn't detract from my enjoyment. Perhaps I was able to solve what I did because Rinehart created a stereotype or two in this novel!
I had been under the impression that I had seen a film of this book, but it turns out that the film I had seen (The Spiral Staircase) is a completely different story.
I had been under the impression that I had seen a film of this book, but it turns out that the film I had seen (The Spiral Staircase) is a completely different story.
December 23, 2014
More twists and turns than a circular staircase in a hall of mirrors. Three and a half stars rounded up because I really liked the heroine--a lady of a certain age who is as feisty as they come. I kept picturing a slightly younger Maggie Smith in the role. The plot got a bit too convoluted and I didn't care about any of the supporting cast, but it was a fun read and surprisingly contemporary for a hundred-year-old novel.
March 6, 2014
This 1966 edition is not available on GR
We have a word in swedish that I can use here:
Swedish entry word
lagom [²l'a:gåm] adv.
inte för mycket och inte för lite, passande, lämpligt
English translation
enough, sufficient, adequate
A lovely read that was just right for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 16, 2022
This was a blast! Rinehart, who is credited with the catchphrase "The butler did it," has been called the American Agatha Christie. But I get so much more personality from her writing than I do from Christie. And certainly much more wit and vivacity. Maybe if Agatha Christie and Jane Austen had a baby... It's not often that a book hooks me from the very first sentence, but when it started "This is the story of how a middle-aged spinster lost her mind...," I knew I was in for a treat. And our heroine, Rachel Innes, is the treatiest of treats. If you're in one of my book groups, be forewarned that I will be inflicting this on you at some point. ;-)
The narrator was perfect — really brought out the humor.
The narrator was perfect — really brought out the humor.
February 12, 2020
In my youth I must have read this book and this author because my mother did. . . .
However this one was not one I remember. . .but liking to skip down the gardenpaths of vintage reads like this, I launched. The narrator is old and full of herself, and it is a story told so she can correct herself, and she spares herself no error in her mea culpa moments. I wanted to like it more than I did, but it was exactly what I wanted - a vintage read. There are a few moments where a person feels the changes in time and what is tolerated and what is not, and a reader can fall out for a minute.
3 stars for the gardenpaths of yesteryear. . . .
However this one was not one I remember. . .but liking to skip down the gardenpaths of vintage reads like this, I launched. The narrator is old and full of herself, and it is a story told so she can correct herself, and she spares herself no error in her mea culpa moments. I wanted to like it more than I did, but it was exactly what I wanted - a vintage read. There are a few moments where a person feels the changes in time and what is tolerated and what is not, and a reader can fall out for a minute.
3 stars for the gardenpaths of yesteryear. . . .
February 21, 2016
The novel that made Mary Roberts Rinehart famous, and a tremendous gothic romp -- a sort of updated North American version of Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, in which anything in the night that doesn't go bump isn't earning its keep.
Wealthy spinstress Rachel Innes, her city house under reconstruction, takes a six-month lease on the country mansion Sunnyside from its owners, banker Paul Armstrong and his wife. Soon "Aunt Ray" is joined by her adult nephew Halsey and her niece Gertrude -- plus, briefly, Gertrude's fiance John Bailey. Other members of the household come and go -- usually go, because of them nighttime bumps -- but always at Aunt Ray's side is her "personal maid" Liddy, who's been with her for decades.
After a night or two of bumps, there's the sound of a shot and the corpse is discovered in the billardroom of Paul Armstrong's son Arnold. It seems he's been shot from above -- from, in fact, the circular staircase that runs up that wing of the house. The cops in the form of Inspector Jamieson and his colleagues arrive like unto wasps and a jampot. Meanwhile, out West, it's reported that Paul Armstrong has died of some lurgy or another; closer to home, it emerges that his bank has been looted. His daughter Louise arrives feverish and throws herself on the mercies of the Innes family. We discover that John Bailey was the cashier at Paul Armstrong's bank. There are further nocturnal bumpings and knockings, and it's clear someone is trying to break into the house for nefarious purposes . . .
There's lots, lots more. The illegal exhumation -- which of course Aunt Ray attends -- is but one of several highlights.
The tale is narrated by Aunt Ray, who's the kind of sharp-witted, entrancing maiden aunt you've always wished you had. (Until last year I had one a little like this, albeit far less caustic, and I'm still getting over losing her.) Ray's observations about life in general and those around her in particular are often extremely funny; that deprecating wit, however, falls flat when -- and I'm sure Rinehart thought she was being breezy and charming here -- its spotlight turns on one of the coloured characters. Here's a sample:
Oh, Vomit City. I'm usually the first to maintain that we shouldn't judge authors by the era in which they lived (The Circular Staircase was published in 1908), but here I decline to accept that the excuse stands: Rinehart shows herself in enough other areas to be an intelligent, progressive thinker that I don't think she can be let off the hook here. I think she was lazily according with the popular numbnuts sentiment of her day just to get a quick sneer. To be fair, another black character enters the story later and, despite being introduced as a "smart darky" who "with his mouth shut and his shirt-front covered, you couldn't see him a yard off in the dark", proves to be as resourceful and intelligent as anyone else in the cast.
If it weren't for those few racist paragraphs, I'd have this book at four stars and maybe even groping for five. That aside, it's enormously readable (don't be put off by the 1908 date; this reads very freshly) and has a charming narrator, with several of the supporting cast being likewise delightfully portrayed. I have more of Rinehart's work on mjy tablet, and I can't imagine, after this introduction, that it'll be long before I try another.
Wealthy spinstress Rachel Innes, her city house under reconstruction, takes a six-month lease on the country mansion Sunnyside from its owners, banker Paul Armstrong and his wife. Soon "Aunt Ray" is joined by her adult nephew Halsey and her niece Gertrude -- plus, briefly, Gertrude's fiance John Bailey. Other members of the household come and go -- usually go, because of them nighttime bumps -- but always at Aunt Ray's side is her "personal maid" Liddy, who's been with her for decades.
After a night or two of bumps, there's the sound of a shot and the corpse is discovered in the billardroom of Paul Armstrong's son Arnold. It seems he's been shot from above -- from, in fact, the circular staircase that runs up that wing of the house. The cops in the form of Inspector Jamieson and his colleagues arrive like unto wasps and a jampot. Meanwhile, out West, it's reported that Paul Armstrong has died of some lurgy or another; closer to home, it emerges that his bank has been looted. His daughter Louise arrives feverish and throws herself on the mercies of the Innes family. We discover that John Bailey was the cashier at Paul Armstrong's bank. There are further nocturnal bumpings and knockings, and it's clear someone is trying to break into the house for nefarious purposes . . .
There's lots, lots more. The illegal exhumation -- which of course Aunt Ray attends -- is but one of several highlights.
The tale is narrated by Aunt Ray, who's the kind of sharp-witted, entrancing maiden aunt you've always wished you had. (Until last year I had one a little like this, albeit far less caustic, and I'm still getting over losing her.) Ray's observations about life in general and those around her in particular are often extremely funny; that deprecating wit, however, falls flat when -- and I'm sure Rinehart thought she was being breezy and charming here -- its spotlight turns on one of the coloured characters. Here's a sample:
As for Thomas and his forebodings, it was always my belief that a negro is one part thief, one part pigment, and the rest superstition.
Oh, Vomit City. I'm usually the first to maintain that we shouldn't judge authors by the era in which they lived (The Circular Staircase was published in 1908), but here I decline to accept that the excuse stands: Rinehart shows herself in enough other areas to be an intelligent, progressive thinker that I don't think she can be let off the hook here. I think she was lazily according with the popular numbnuts sentiment of her day just to get a quick sneer. To be fair, another black character enters the story later and, despite being introduced as a "smart darky" who "with his mouth shut and his shirt-front covered, you couldn't see him a yard off in the dark", proves to be as resourceful and intelligent as anyone else in the cast.
If it weren't for those few racist paragraphs, I'd have this book at four stars and maybe even groping for five. That aside, it's enormously readable (don't be put off by the 1908 date; this reads very freshly) and has a charming narrator, with several of the supporting cast being likewise delightfully portrayed. I have more of Rinehart's work on mjy tablet, and I can't imagine, after this introduction, that it'll be long before I try another.
April 4, 2019
The Circular Staircase was published by Mary Roberts Rinehart in 1908. It's a busy, entertaining mystery story. The story is told from the 1st person perspective of maiden aunt, Rachel Innes. The story is set in Sunnyside, an estate in the country that she has rented for six months while her apartments in New York are being renovated. The home was rented from the Armstrong family, who are away on vacation. Along for the ride are her personal maid, Liddy, and her niece and nephew, Gertrude and Halsey, who she became responsible on the deaths of their parents.
Action starts pretty well instantly when Rachel moves into the estate. It appears to have a reputation for being haunted, something which sets off Liddy pretty well from the start. Staff is difficult to find as nobody wants to stay in the home. But gradually things sort themselves out. Then there is a death in the card room, at the base of the titled Circular Staircase. The victim has been shot and it turns out he is the son of the Armstrong family. Why has he returned to the home? One of many mysteries that will turn up in this story.
And there are many, many mysteries to keep track of. The theft of shares in a local bank that causes its doors to close; bringing suspicion on Gertrude's fiance, Jack Bailey, and the patriarch of the Armstrong's, Paul Armstrong, who was one of the main owners of the bank, and lies sick out west. Why does Louise Armstrong, Halsey's supposed fiance, and daughter of the Armstrong family, suddenly turn up, ill and turning away Halsey? Why did Halsey and Jack Bailey disappear the night Anthony Armstrong was shot to death? Who is the mysterious woman in the veil? I could go on and on. It's enough to make your head spin at times.
But, even with these mysteries cropping up and various people showing up and adding to the mysteries, the story is fascinating. Rachel Innes is a wonderful character, spunky, intelligent, full of life and willing to get to the bottom of the intrigue. The cast around her are all suspects, but things do get sorted as we get to the end. I also liked the police detective, Jamieson, logical and steady. There is lots of action, lots of tension. It may seem like too much is going on, but ultimately, everything will be resolved and quite satisfactorily. This would have made for a great movie, I think, throw in a Barrymore and it would have been perfect. It might still be a great entertaining movie and not at all dated. I'll have to check out more of Rinehart's writing. (4 stars)
Action starts pretty well instantly when Rachel moves into the estate. It appears to have a reputation for being haunted, something which sets off Liddy pretty well from the start. Staff is difficult to find as nobody wants to stay in the home. But gradually things sort themselves out. Then there is a death in the card room, at the base of the titled Circular Staircase. The victim has been shot and it turns out he is the son of the Armstrong family. Why has he returned to the home? One of many mysteries that will turn up in this story.
And there are many, many mysteries to keep track of. The theft of shares in a local bank that causes its doors to close; bringing suspicion on Gertrude's fiance, Jack Bailey, and the patriarch of the Armstrong's, Paul Armstrong, who was one of the main owners of the bank, and lies sick out west. Why does Louise Armstrong, Halsey's supposed fiance, and daughter of the Armstrong family, suddenly turn up, ill and turning away Halsey? Why did Halsey and Jack Bailey disappear the night Anthony Armstrong was shot to death? Who is the mysterious woman in the veil? I could go on and on. It's enough to make your head spin at times.
But, even with these mysteries cropping up and various people showing up and adding to the mysteries, the story is fascinating. Rachel Innes is a wonderful character, spunky, intelligent, full of life and willing to get to the bottom of the intrigue. The cast around her are all suspects, but things do get sorted as we get to the end. I also liked the police detective, Jamieson, logical and steady. There is lots of action, lots of tension. It may seem like too much is going on, but ultimately, everything will be resolved and quite satisfactorily. This would have made for a great movie, I think, throw in a Barrymore and it would have been perfect. It might still be a great entertaining movie and not at all dated. I'll have to check out more of Rinehart's writing. (4 stars)
September 23, 2012
How had I never heard of the awesomeness that is Mary Roberts Rinehart?? The Circular Staircase was one of the first books I downloaded for free onto my Kindle, and I only grabbed it because the author was compared to Anna Katherine Green whom wrote The Leavenworth Case (a book that I enjoyed when I read it last year). After reading The Circular Staircase I've downloaded every single book by this author that I can get my hands on. I want more!
The Circular Staircase begins with Rachel Innes deciding to spend the summer in the country with her nephew and niece. Little does she know that renting Sunnyside for the summer will mean murder, mystery, and intrigue. For mysterious happenings are going on at Sunnyside and Rachel instantly finds herself a part of them. Rachel is a great main character to be narrating the story because of her dry sense of humor. I found myself laughing out loud at various points in the story thanks to her opinions and musings on everything that was happening. In fact, being able to laugh at the story while still being intrigued by the mystery was one of my favorite parts of the book! I find more and more that I love classic mysteries like this because the authors know how to spin a good tale without lots of blood and gore. Instead Rinehart created a mystery filled with atmosphere and tension as the reader wondered what could possibly be going on at the house. It made for a great read that left me wanting more! My only issue with this book is something that goes more along with the time period that the book was written. The book does have some racial undertones in it but if you take in consideration when it was written then it makes more sense as to why the author included these viewpoint into the story. I didn't care for it but obviously I wasn't born in this time period either. Anyways....
Overall a really, really good read and a book that I enjoyed WAY more than I expected to. Just writing up my thoughts on this book makes me want to try more by her or grab up something by Agatha Christie. If you are ever looking for a gothic mystery novel then I think you should give this one a try. Just don't expect to be surprised by the ending. That part I could see coming from a mile away but luckily it didn't matter because I was enjoying the book too much. Highly recommended especially to mystery fans!
Bottom Line: One of those books that instantly makes you add the author to your must read list!
Disclosure: This was a book I downloaded for free onto my Kindle thru Amazon.
The Circular Staircase begins with Rachel Innes deciding to spend the summer in the country with her nephew and niece. Little does she know that renting Sunnyside for the summer will mean murder, mystery, and intrigue. For mysterious happenings are going on at Sunnyside and Rachel instantly finds herself a part of them. Rachel is a great main character to be narrating the story because of her dry sense of humor. I found myself laughing out loud at various points in the story thanks to her opinions and musings on everything that was happening. In fact, being able to laugh at the story while still being intrigued by the mystery was one of my favorite parts of the book! I find more and more that I love classic mysteries like this because the authors know how to spin a good tale without lots of blood and gore. Instead Rinehart created a mystery filled with atmosphere and tension as the reader wondered what could possibly be going on at the house. It made for a great read that left me wanting more! My only issue with this book is something that goes more along with the time period that the book was written. The book does have some racial undertones in it but if you take in consideration when it was written then it makes more sense as to why the author included these viewpoint into the story. I didn't care for it but obviously I wasn't born in this time period either. Anyways....
Overall a really, really good read and a book that I enjoyed WAY more than I expected to. Just writing up my thoughts on this book makes me want to try more by her or grab up something by Agatha Christie. If you are ever looking for a gothic mystery novel then I think you should give this one a try. Just don't expect to be surprised by the ending. That part I could see coming from a mile away but luckily it didn't matter because I was enjoying the book too much. Highly recommended especially to mystery fans!
Bottom Line: One of those books that instantly makes you add the author to your must read list!
Disclosure: This was a book I downloaded for free onto my Kindle thru Amazon.
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