Other editions of book The Circular Staircase

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.

The Circular Staircase is perhaps Mary Roberts Rinehart's most famous story. The tale mixes bone-chilling suspense and romance with good humor to produce an absorbing and entertaining mystery. Wealthy, middle-aged spinster Rachel Innes is persuaded by her niece Gertrude and nephew Halsey to take a house in the country for the summer. Rachel is unaware that the house hides a sinister secret, and soon unexplained happenings and murder follow.

Rinehart, Mary Roberts. The Circular Staircase [with typed copyright agreement, signed by Mary Roberts Rinehart, tipped into the front of the book onto the front free endpaper]. With Illustrations by Lester Ralph. First Edition. Indianapolis, The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1908. Octavo. Colour-Frontispiece, 362 pages. Hardcover / Original, illustrated publisher's cloth with the beautiful coverart in very good condition. In protective collector's Mylar. Very good condition overall with only minor signs of external wear. The signed copyright agreement is for Rinehart's work Dangerous Days and was agreed between her and Loew's Incorporated on Broadway. Bookplate of Sylvia Hallberg Johnson to pastedown. Mary Roberts Rinehart (August 12, 1876 – September 22, 1958) was an American writer, often called the American Agatha Christie, although her first mystery novel was published 14 years before Christie's first novel in 1920. Rinehart is considered the source of the phrase The butler did it from her novel The Door (1930), although the novel does not use the exact phrase. Rinehart is also considered to have invented the Had-I-But-Known school of mystery writing, with the publication of The Circular Staircase (1908). Rinehart wrote hundreds of short stories, poems, travelogues and articles. Many of her books and plays were adapted for movies, such as The Bat (1926), The Bat Whispers (1930), Miss Pinkerton (1932), and The Bat (1959 remake). The novel The Circular Staircase was first adapted to the screen as a silent film in 1915, and later as an episode in the TV show Climax! in 1956. In 1933 RCA Victor released The Bat as one of the earliest talking book recordings. She co-wrote the 1920 play The Bat which was later adapted into the 1930 film The Bat Whispers. The latter influenced Bob Kane in the creation of Batman's iconography. Based on Rinehart's novel Lost Ecstasy (1927), I Take This Woman (1931), starring Carole Lomb..

The Circular Staircase is perhaps Mary Roberts Rinehart's most famous story. The tale mixes bone-chilling suspense and romance with good humor to produce an absorbing and entertaining mystery. Wealthy, middle-aged spinster Rachel Innes is persuaded by her niece Gertrude and nephew Halsey to take a house in the country for the summer. Rachel is unaware that the house hides a sinister secret, and soon unexplained happenings and murder follow.

The Circular Staircase is perhaps Mary Roberts Rinehart's most famous story. The tale mixes bone-chilling suspense and romance with good humor to produce an absorbing and entertaining mystery. Wealthy, middle-aged spinster Rachel Innes is persuaded by her niece Gertrude and nephew Halsey to take a house in the country for the summer. Rachel is unaware that the house hides a sinister secret, and soon unexplained happenings and murder follow.

The Circular Staircase is a mystery novel by American writer Mary Roberts Rinehart. The story follows dowager Rachel Innes as she thwarts a series of strange crimes at a summer house she has rented with her niece and nephew. The novel was Rinehart's first bestseller and established her as one of the era's most popular writers. The story was serialized in All-Story for five issues starting with the November 1907 issue, then published in book form by Bobbs-Merrill in 1908.