The Circular Staircase

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.

Rinehart was inspired to write the novel after a visit to Melrose, a Gothic Revival castle in Northern Virginia.

Rachel Innes is a spinster who has had custody of her orphaned niece and nephew since they were children. Halsey and Gertrude are now 20 and 24, respectively, and they talk Rachel into renting a house in the country for the summer.

The first night Rachel is there, there is a mysterious trespasser and something falls down the stairs in the middle of the night. The second night, after Halsey and Gertrude have arrived, there is a murder, and Halsey and the friend he has brought to stay disappear.

Halsey returns a few days later, without his friend and without an explanation, but by then many other developments have occurred, to the chagrin of the residents.

By : Mary Roberts Rinehart (1876 - 1958)

01 - I Take a Country House 02 - A Link Cuff-Button 03 - Mr. John Bailey Appears 04 - Where Is Halsey 05 - Gertrude's Engagement 06 - In the East Corridor 07 - A Sprained Ankle 08 - The Other Half of the Line 09 - Just Like a Girl 10 - The Traders Bank 11 - Halsey Makes a Capture 12 - One Mystery for Another 13 - Louise 14 - An Eggnog and a Telegram 15 - Liddy Gives the Alarm 16 - In the Early Morning 17 - A Hint of Scandal 18 - A Hole in the Wall 19 - Concerning Thomas 20 - Doctor Walker's Warning 21 - Fourteen Elm Street 22 - A Ladder Out of Place 23 - While the Stables Burned 24 - Flinders 25 - A Visit From Louise 26 - Halsey's Disappearance 27 - Who Is Nina Carrington? 28 - A Tramp and the Toothache 29 - A Scrap of Paper 30 - When Churchyards Yawn 31 - Between Two Fireplaces 32 - Anne Watson's Story 33 - At the Foot of the Stairs 34 - Odds and Ends