Customer Reviews

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

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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!

These wonderful novels were written between 1908 and 1914. It's not quite the Golden Age of mystery. Neither is it the Victorian era, although Victorian-style wit, values and turns of phrase linger in these pages. Trains, automobiles and horse-drawn vehicles are all in use for transportation. In short, it's a delightful time for sudden romance, ominous atmosphere and life-and-death puzzles.

THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE (1908)

This novel launched Rinehart's career and was hailed as the first advance in crime fiction since Edgar Allan Poe. Although there's an official investigator in the plot, the real detective is Aunt Rachael. The murder takes place at a country house rented by Miss Rachael to please her niece and nephew. But things quickly turn unpleasant, with ghostly manifestations and a dead body at the foot of the circular stairs...

THE MAN IN LOWER TEN (1909)

The first detective novel by an American to become a bestseller. It all starts with a business trip by a young lawyer carrying important papers. Lawrence Blakeley's night of broken sleep in a Pullman berth ends horribly - and he finds himself a suspect in a murder case! He also finds himself in love for the first time. So much for his reputation as "the Great Unkissed!" A novel rich in misleading clues and witty dialog...

THE WINDOW AT THE WHITE CAT (1910)

The murder takes place in a rather seedy political club. The people in power want to cover it up, but once again, a young lawyer in love won't cease or desist his amateur inquiries. Jack Knox is perhaps the clumsiest, unluckiest investigator you could hope to meet, constantly getting bruised and battered groping around in dark buildings after intruders...

THE BUCKLED BAG (1914)

The editor thinks this novella may be Rinehart's most perfect mystery. Miss Adams appears for the first time. She's a skilled nurse, and the police send her into homes to investigate crime undercover. Her first case involves a beautiful young woman who's gone missing. Did Clare run away or was she abducted?

For an introduction to Rinehart, you can't do better than this collection. The editor, in an excellent introduction, identifies these early novels as Rinehart's finest achievements.

Considering these novels were written one hundred years ago or so, they are an excellent read and show how some people lived in those days. They are much slower than today's product and take their time. But their fascination lies in just that. Mrs Rinehart produces characterization as well as mystery, atmosphere as well as tension, all wrapped up in a style of the times.

Well worth exploring-- but savour; don't try to read all the contents straight away-- enjoy, pause, then return.

Some say that Mary Roberts Rinehart is the American Agatha Christie. If I were an avid reader, I might concur, but alas, I am not even close to an avid reader of mystery or any other category of book. HOWEVER, this woman wrote a mystery that drew me in like a vacuum and then kept me interested enough until I had read the entire work. "The Wall" is the work of which I speak. When it was first in my hands, I was a young lad in my teens. I aged, gathered wisdom until they gave me a title, saw the world, worked, partied, married, had sons who then made sons, and then I rested. Through all of that, I made sure to accomplish something that I have bragged about many times. I never read a book, completely. Even when it was required that I do so, I made sure to stop short of reading book totally by stopping at the next to the last page, the next to the last paragraph, or at times skip and entire chapter if I thought it might be fluff and add nothing to the experience. In order to sustain my wretched reading reputation, I did not read the last page of "The Wall". It was simply the conclusion statement by the story's narrator in the form of opinion about events that lead to the mystery's demise.

I still can say that any book ever in my hands has never been read, stem to stern, word after word. "The Wall" by Marry Roberts Rinehart is the on and only book that holds the title of being the one volume that just about made a fool of me. Now, give all of this serious consideration when you think about this author and the one story of hers that has a great secret power. Oh and by the way, I married a librarian but if you think that has made a reader of me, think again. NOT!