![]() ![]() ![]() The Circular Staircase - originally published in 1908 - is considered the first of the genre. ![]() Rachel's devoted niece and nephew are among the prime suspects in one of the murders stolen securities and a bank default threatens the young pair's financial security and Aunt "Ray" ultimately fights for her life in an airless secret room.Īuthor of more than 60 chilling mysteries, Mary Roberts Rinehart (1876–1958) is credited with inventing the "Had-I-But-Known" school of detective fiction, which typically involved an attractive heroine caught up in a seemingly endless succession of dangerous predicaments. At night, a rattling, metallic sound reverberates through dark halls, and - most disconcerting of all - the body of a strange man is found lying in a pool of blood at the bottom of a circular staircase.īefore this spine-tingling tales ends, five connected deaths shatter the normally placid atmosphere of the vacation retreat. A strange figure appears briefly in the twilight outside a window. ![]() Rachel Innes, a middle-aged spinster, has barely settled in at the country house she has rented for the summer when a series of bizarre and violent events threaten to perturb her normally unflappable nature. ![]()
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