Rinehart, Mary Roberts Books

Best Mysteries of Mary Roberts Rinehart: Four Complete Novels by America's First Lady of Mystery

Mary Roberts Rinehart

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

If anything, read these for the joy of Rinehart storytelling 4 out of 5 stars.
30 of 31 people found this review helpful.

I had never heard of Mary Roberts Rinehart until I picked up her novel Miss Pinkerton just by chance one day. This novel is not in this book, but it features one of her characters Nurse Hilda Adams who is a nurse hired by the police to observe people in houses under where there are mysterious occurences, and who is in the last book of this volume (The Buckled Bag- which is Hilda's first case). Miss Pinkerton is the nickname given to her by the Inspector Patton who is her sort of "boss" who assigns cases to her. I was surpised to find a delightful novel with interesting, witty, humorous dialogue, suspenseful and exciting moments, lovable characters, and good old-fashioned romance. So after that I looked for all the Rinehart novels I could find. I've read The Circular Staircase, The Man in Lower Ten, and four Miss Pinkerton cases, and I've loved them all. She does a pretty good job of confusing you and making you wonder who the murderer is or what's going on and the storytelling itself is super! Most of her stories are written in first person and the narrators are usually funny, witty, and sarcastic which makes reading Rinehart's books so fun. I recommend these novels to anyone who is a simple mystery lover who likes stuff like that. I admit that the solving of the mystery is not as twisted and shocking as an Agatha Christie revalation, but the way the story is told makes up for the lack of intrigue and twists that are expected in some mystery novels. So read these novels! One other point - some people say that Rinhart is considered a gothic mystery horror writer, whatever that means, but don't let that fool you. They're not like that at all. Yeah, there's murder and all that in most of her stories, and strange things that go on, and suspense, but I wouldn't say her novels are scary thrilling horror novels. Her novels were written in the early 1900s so they're not all bloody and gory like novels today. They've got dignity and proper stuff in them, so if you like books like that, you'll like these. No need for me to tell you what the mysteries are about since there are plenty of other reviews that explain that if you look around amazon. Basically all you need to know is that here characters and settings are usually about the rich or middle class in the United States in the early 1900s. I guess you could put in the same class as the type of story Agatha Christie would write. It's just the way the story is told that is not even comparable. But like I said if you're a simple mystery lover like me, you'll like them! So go for it!

Editorial Review:

In one 608-page volume are four complete works of spine-tingling villainy, odious murder and sophisticated detection from America's first woman of mystery. Mystery aficionados will bask in brilliant twists and work alongside genteel detectives in The Circular Staircase, The Man in Lower Ten, The Window at the White Cat, and The Buckled Bag.

THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE

MARY ROBERTS RINEHART

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Very Much "Old Style" But Quite A Bit Of Fun Nonetheless 4 out of 5 stars.
9 of 9 people found this review helpful.

Mary Roberts Rinehart (1876-1957) was never a critic's darling and both her short stories and novels were repeatedly dismissed as "low brow junk"--but the reading public of the early 1900s adored her, and she had a very long and commercially profitable career. And although most of her work could be best described as "romance," it is for her occasional mystery that she is best recalled today.

Written in 1907 and published in 1908, THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE was among Rinehart's most popular works. Wealthy spinster Miss Innes is persuaded by her two wards--niece and nephew Gertrude and Halsey--to take a house in the country for the summer. But no sooner is Miss Innes and her fearful maid Liddy installed at Sunnyside then things begin to go bump in night, and murder is not far behind.

THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE is very much of its era: like many novels of the time it has a Victorian hang-over that shows in both its highly improbable plot and its determination to spell out every possible detail. Not a great stylist, Rinehart was never really able to shed these issues in any of her works--but if you are prepared to suspend disbelief and enter into the spirit of the thing THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE is actually quite a bit of fun. There are sounds in the night, mysterious faces at the window, screaming maids, unexpected visitors, and all the rest. And the book would become extremely influential in an unexpected way.

In 1917 Rinehart joined forces with playwright Avery Hopwood to adapt THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE to the stage, and when it opened on Broadway in 1920 as THE BAT it proved one of the decade's most durable shows, a mixture of mystery and comic cliche. The result was a wave of similar novels, plays, and films that not only cast a long shadow but which are still very much with us today. So wait until a dark and stormy night, pour yourself a cup of warm milk, and read THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE by flickering candlelight... and if you hear a noise in the furthermost part of the house, just tell yourself it's only Miss Innes making one of her ill-advised nocturnal investigations!

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Editorial Review:

A middle-aged spinster rents a country house for the summer and soon finds herself plunged into a nasty scenario of bank defaults, stolen securities and murder. An entertaining blend of intrigue, villainy and heart-pounding suspense for crime fiction buffs and lovers of great mystery classics.

The Yellow Room

Mary Roberts Rinehart

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Very classic and old fashioned. 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

All ingredients of a first class Mary R. Rinehart are displayed in the first pages of the Yellow Room. A huge house in the country, belonging to a wealthy family : the first daughter is a "jet-set" woman, far from ordinary human feelings ; the second daughter Carol, the heroine, is more engaging, unaffected, a lovely girl. It seems the boy she was engaged to was killed in the Pacific, but it's not so sure. Her brother is a WWII hero, but it appears there's something not so clear in his past. The corpse of an unknown young woman is found in the house, and we discover she's connected with the family. Incidents and accidents, attempts of murder and murder occur more and more often at night, and the police net closes on Carol. Well, of course, here comes a man, an ex soldier but not a super-hero, who'll help Carol and solve the mystery. The girl falls obviously for him, and all's well that end's well, but there's no preciousness in the story. The conclusion, as always, is unexpected and great. Old fashioned, yes, but to be read with great pleasure.

Editorial Review:

Discovering a murdered body in her family's summer home in Maine, Carol Spencer becomes the main suspect in the crime and begins to fear for her own life as her servants disappear, the telephones stop working, and nighttime descends. Reissue.

Sight Unseen

Mary Roberts Rinehart

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Editorial Review:

Mary Roberts Rineharts, an American, wrote many detective and adventure novels. Her works are part of the American school of scientific detection. There is an attempt at realism in the depiction of modern life, with many different classes, corruption high and low, and a great diversity of characters. The rather extraordinary story revealed by the experiments of the Neighborhood Club have been until now a matter only of private record. But it seems to me, as an active participant in the investigations, that they should be given to the public; not so much for what they will add to the existing data on psychical research, for from that angle they were not unusual, but as yet another exploration into that still uncharted territory, the human mind.

Mary Roberts Rinehart: Three Complete Novels by America's Mistress of Mystery : The Bat/the Haunted Lady/the Yellow Room

Mary Roberts Rinehart

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Editorial Review:

This unique omnibus includes The Bat--probably Rinehart's most famous work--a classic tale of people trapped in an isolated country house while a storm rages and a serial killer is on the loose, The Haunted Lady, one of a series featuring Nurse Pinkerton, and The Yellow Room, a puzzler about murder and family secrets in a small town.

Miss Pinkerton

Mary Roberts Rinehart

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Miss Pinkerton 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Solid Mystery from Marey Roberts Rinehart. Miss Pinkerton is a nurse who is called in to look after old Mrs Mitchell after her desolute nephew commits suicide. Or is it suicide? The Inspector has his doubts, that's why he has called in Miss Pinkerton- to be his eyes and ears on the inside of the Mitchell mansion.
Miss Pinkerton is an interesting literary creation . She is the 'tip of the spear' as it were of the investigation. She is more than just the sidekick narrator to stand between the reader and the detective. She provides input of her own and solves the crime together with Inspector Patton- but she is also the heroine in potential danger, while the police are offstage.
A very enjoyable story from one of the earliest female mystery writers

Editorial Review:

When Herbert Wynne is found dead, with a bullet in the forehead, the obvious explanation is murder. But how could it be when the only possible suspect is Herbert's frail Aunt Juliet? Posing as Juliet's private duty nurse, the Homicide Bureau's Hilda Adams develops grave suspicions. Why is the maid terrified of every dark corner? And if a mad killer is on the loose, who will be targeted as the next victim? Reissue. .

The Wall

Mary Roberts Rinehart

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A terrfic mystery by one of the greatest mystery writers. 5 out of 5 stars.
9 of 11 people found this review helpful.

For decades Mary Roberts Rinehart was the queen of mystery thrillers -- the American Agatha Christie. The Circular Staircase was her first published novel and The Swimming Pool was her last, and all of her mystery novels between these two -- including The Wall -- were outstanding. Rinehart's special gift was in the evocation of an underlying and unremitting atmosphere of unease, suspence, and potential danger and it is under such an atmosphere of apprehension that she spins her stories. For some time it has been fashionable to dismiss the novels of Mary Roberts Rinehart as old fashioned. This may apply to superficial details of her early novels -- such as gas light instead of electricity -- but it definitely is not true of the novels themselves which are timeless in their ability to hold the reader in a grip of mystery and suspense. The Wall is an excellent mystery novel. Like all of Rinehart's mysteries it is full of suspense and danger. As in any good mystery, clues are sprinkled throughout -- but they are never obvious -- and the ending is both logical and surprising. If you like mysteries, but haven't yet read any by this master of the genre, this is a good one to start with. If you read it, you'll probably get more of Rinehart's outstanding mystery novels.

Editorial Review:

Dazzling and devious Juliette was anything but popular with the upper class set she'd married in to. Her husband, Arthur, bought her off with a ruinously expensive divorce. But a few years later, Juliette turned up again--and days later she was dead. Almost everyone in the exclusive town had a motive for wanting Juliette dead. Now, it's up to skeptical Sheriff Russell Shand to pierce the wall of aristocratic silence, and find the ruthless killer.