The Circular Staircase
Ratings12
Average rating3.4
Much more entertaining than I was expecting. Rinehart knew how to tell a story, and this moves quickly, with red herrings and mystifications strewn all over the place. Very enjoyable, and brief enough not to wear out its welcome.
I really enjoyed this mystery with Rachel Innes being a pleasant and easily likable narrator. Despite its age it did not feel at all dated. I look forward to reading more of Mary Roberts Rhinehart's mysteries.
There were plenty of things I like here, it read more like a Gothic story that your typical murder mystery. But despite all the moments, I didn't like the main character. She starts out with basically being okay with driver over dogs...
But I will look for adaptations of this, might be a nice watch.
I had an audiobook and I think it was a cleaned up version
An enjoyable mystery that kept me guessing throughout. The writing style, narrated by spinster Rachel Innes, was yet another drastic difference for me from Rinehart's other works I have read ([b:K. 30359287 K. Mary Roberts Rinehart https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1465190175s/30359287.jpg 2171148] and [b:When a Man Marries 4115202 When a Man Marries Mary Roberts Rinehart https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1474165761s/4115202.jpg 4162379]) was distinctly humorous in what could have been an extremely spooky horror story in parts. It has heavy Gothic overtones but Rachel laughs off one after the other and stubbornly stays until the mystery is solved. This would have been five stars for me, but I docked one for heavy and nasty racist comments in three or four spots. Evidently Miss Rachel's own race was so excellent, going around murdering and lying and having affairs and so on, eh?Content: minor swears; racism For the faint of heart: murders and small locked spaces