THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE - BY MARY ROBERTS RINEHART - A GUNSTON CLASSIC
Spinster heiress Rachel Innes (aged about 50 or so) rents a country house for the summer to seek rest, relaxation and escape from the intrusive remodeling work being performed on her city house. She moves to the ironically named Sunnyside along with her beloved adult niece and nephew and numerous household servants. Mysterious events ensue which rapidly lead to a murder. More mysterious events and several more deaths follow. An embezzlement scheme, a hidden room and the astonishing number of secrets the cast of characters try to keep from each other are the main plot drivers.
As readable today as it was in 1908. Although Rinehart read and was clearly influenced by Anna Katherine Green (1846-1935), she brought her own fresh approach and style to the mystery genre. Rachel Innes is the first of several intelligent, wry, strong-willed, blunt spoken yet warm-hearted female narrators created by Rinehart during her fifty-year long writing career.
