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Mary Roberts Rinehart

Mary Roberts Rinehart

  • Where There’s a Will is Mary Roberts Rinehart’s hilarious comedy involving a health spa, an heir, a would-be princess, and an impostor. The story is told by Minnie, who has essentially run the spa for years and inherited the care of its famous spring from her father. When the old doctor dies and leaves the Hope Springs Spa to his near-do-well grandson with the stipulation that he live on premises for two months in order to inherit, the grandson is nowhere to be found. So Minnie tries to save the spa by enlisting the help of family and friends to trick the lawyer and keep the spa running.

  • “This is the story of how a middle-aged spinster lost her mind, deserted her domestic gods in the city, took a furnished house for the summer out of town, and found herself involved in one of those mysterious crimes that keep our newspapers and detective agencies happy and prosperous.” So begins The Circular Staircase, a book that has been hailed as the best novel by the most important American woman mystery writer of our time.

    Rachel Innes was relieved when Gertrude and Halsey arrived to keep their dear old aunt company and allow her the courtesy of a decent night’s sleep. Unfortunately, the explosive sound of a gunshot the next night shattered Rachel’s hopes. And the body at the foot of the circular staircase ensured many sleepless nights to follow. 

  • The blood-stained rope and towel, the stray slipper, the broken knife—and the disappearance of the lovely Jennie Brice—were enough to convince Mrs. Pitman that murder had been commited in her boardinghouse. The police, however, were another matter. Without a tangible body, there could be no official murder charge.

    Mrs. Pitman ran a respectable establishment and was not about to harbor a killer on the premises. If the police couldn't see what was in front of their noses, then she would just have to take matters into her own hands. As the landlady, after all, she had the perfect excuse to do a little judicious snooping.

  • Out of funds and longing for a sea voyage, young doctor Ralph Leslie jumps at the chance to sign aboard a luxurious millionaire’s yacht as steward of the After House. His job is easy sailing until one summer night, when the dream voyage suddenly becomes a nightmare of blood and terror. One of the ship’s officers is thrown overboard; another one is killed with an axe. As panic sets in on the boat, only the young doctor remains calm enough to try to solve the murders. But can he stay alive long enough to do it?

    Here is another classic from the Mary Roberts Rinehart, a master of mystery and suspense novels known for their humor and ingenuity.

  • Corrupt politician Allan Fleming has disappeared, and his daughter Margery asks attorney Jack Knox to find him. When Fleming turns up murdered at a sleazy social club called the White Cat, Margery commissions Knox to clear her fiancé, the less-than-scrupulous Harry Wardrop, of all suspicion.

    Trouble follows Margery when she moves in with her aunts, kind and docile Jane and irascible Lavinia. Aunt Jane disappears, leaving only a bloody handprint on the banister. Is she a victim of the murderer at the White Cat? What is the meaning of the scraps of paper reading “1122” that keep appearing? And why is Margery intent on overlooking her fiancé’s character flaws when the adoring Knox would be a more suitable partner for her? Rinehart again weaves a complex and fascinating tale of intrigue.