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The Circular Staircase  By  cover art

The Circular Staircase

By: Mary Roberts Rinehart
Narrated by: Rebecca Burns
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Editorial reviews

It is to the credit of author Mary Roberts Rinehart that calling her "the American Agatha Christie" sells her short. Rinehart's mysteries spawned generations of imitators and listeners of The Circular Staircase will see the beginnings of tropes - the scary rented house, the had-I-but-known style of suspense writing - that will crop up in mystery stories for years. Not to mention Rachel Innes, the brusque, unassuming spinster whose sleuthing presages such iconic middle-aged gumshoes as Columbo and Jessica Fletcher. Narrator Rebecca Burns doesn't chew the scenery, but lets the suspense in this classic tale of murder and intrigue build with slow and inexorable surety.

Publisher's summary

This 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.

The Circular Staircase combines bone-chilling suspense and romance to produce an entertaining mystery.

(P)2006 Tantor Media Inc.

Critic reviews

"[Rinehart] established herself as a leading author of mystery stories [with] The Circular Staircase." (The Concise Oxford Companion to American Literature)

What listeners say about The Circular Staircase

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Fun!

Loved this historically groundbreaking story of the spinster detective getting there before the detectives. A fun listen

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

really bad narrator

This book may have actually been quite enjoyable if read by someone who put any excitement at all in their reading. It was really very hard to get through this one.

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2 people found this helpful