The Circular Staircase/The Man in Lower Ten: The Essential Rinehart Collection #1 [Paperback]

Mary Roberts Rinehart (Author)

Book Description

Series: Essential Rinehart Collection | Publication Date: January 19, 2001

Mary Roberts Rinehart's first two novels "The Circular Staircase" and "The Man in Lower Ten" inaugurate The Essential Rinehart Collection, a new book series destined to entertain readers for many years.

"The Circular Staircase" tells the story of how Miss Cornelia Van Gorder 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 newspapers and detectives happy and prosperous. "The Man in Lower Ten" is a legal thriller featuring a detective who builds up a network of clues that absolutely incriminate three entirely different people, only one of whom can be guilty.

These novels, which combine mystery and adventure, demonstrate Rinehart's tremendously vivid powers as a storyteller. Well-written and fast-paced, these mysteries will leave you eager to read the other volumes in this series.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mary Roberts Rinehart is a well-known mystery and romance writer. Her memorable tales often combine adventure, love, ingenuity, and humor in a style that is distinctly her own. She creates fast-paced, entertaining, and above all, surprising novels. Most of her fiction eventually erupts into the most startling plot twists imaginable. To this Mary adds a strong dose of realism in the depiction of modern life, with many different classes, corruption high and low, and a great diversity of characters. Mary's stories have appeared in the Saturday Evening Post, and she is also a published playwright. The Essential Rinehart Collection brings together for the first time the best works of Mary Roberts Rinehart. This multi-volume series features her most interesting novels of mystery, romance, and adventure.

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Xlibris, Corp.; 1 edition (January 19, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738848395
• ISBN-13: 978-0738848396
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,655,836 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Two classics from the American queen of the mystery genre., October 13, 2002

By 

D. R. Schryer (Poquoson, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Circular Staircase/The Man in Lower Ten: The Essential Rinehart Collection #1 (Paperback)

For decades Mary Roberts Rinehart was the queen of mystery thrillers -- the American Agatha Christie. These are the first two mystery novels she wrote and they are genuine classics. Although The Man in Lower Ten was written first, The Circular Staircase was Rinehart's first published novel (The Man in Lower Ten was published second and The Swimming Pool was her last mystery novel). Rinehart's special gift was in the evocation of an unremitting atmosphere of unease and potential danger and it is under such an atmosphere of apprehension that she spun her classic stories. The Man in Lower Ten -- in which a man is murdered in his berth in a railroad Pullman car -- was so scary and so popular that for some time after its publication travellers refused to sleep in any Pullman berth numbered lower 10. Unfortunately, for many years the classic mystery novels of Mary Roberts Rinehart were dismissed by many as old fashioned. This may apply to superficial details -- such as gas lighting and railroad Pullman cars -- 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 Circular Staircase is one of the finest mystery novels ever written and The Man in Lower Ten is fitting companion in this first book of the new Essential Rinehart Collection. If you love good mystery/suspense novels please do yourself a favor and get to know the classics by this master of the genre.