The Circular Staircase

The Circular Staircase
Author Mary Roberts Rinehart
Country United States
Language English
Genre Novel
Publisher Bobbs-Merrill
Publication date
 1908
Media type Print (hardback)
Pages 362

The Circular Staircase (1908) is a mystery novel in the "Had I but known" genre by American author Mary Roberts Rinehart. She wrote the book, which became her first best-seller, at her home at 954 Beech Street in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, now part of Pittsburgh.

The "HIBK" genre is associated with several works of Rinehart,[1] specifically The Circular Staircase, in which "a middle-aged spinster is persuaded by her niece and nephew to rent a country house for the summer. The house they choose belonged to a bank defaulter who had hidden stolen securities in the walls. The gentle, peace-loving trio is plunged into a series of crimes solved with the help of the aunt. This novel is credited with being the first in the 'Had-I-But-Known' school."[2]

Plot

Rachel 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’s 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.

Film and TV versions

Advertisement for film version, 1915

A silent film version was made in 1915, and a TV version was produced for the TV series Climax! in 1956.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Rzepka, Charles J. (2005). Detective Fiction, p.20. ISBN 0-7456-2942-3
  2. ↑ Roseman, Mill et al., Detectionary (New York: Overlook Press, 1971) ISBN 0-87951-041-2
  3. ↑ IMDB entry for Rinehart

External links