The Circular Staircase - Couverture souple

Rinehart, Mary Roberts

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0486297136 ISBN 13 : 9780486297132

Editeur : Dover Publications Inc., 2003

Synopsis

Rachel Innes, a middle-aged spinster, has barely settled in at the country house she has rented for the summer when a series of bizarre and violent events threaten to perturb her normally unflappable nature. A strange figure appears briefly in the twilight outside a window. At night, a rattling, metallic sound reverberates through dark halls, and -- most disconcerting of all -- the body of a strange man is found lying in a pool of blood at the bottom of a circular staircase.
Before this spine-tingling tales ends, five connected deaths shatter the normally placid atmosphere of the vacation retreat. Rachel's devoted niece and nephew are among the prime suspects in one of the murders; stolen securities and a bank default threatens the young pair's financial security; and Aunt "Ray" ultimately fights for her life in an airless secret room.
Author of more than 60 chilling mysteries, Mary Roberts Rinehart (1876-1958) is credited with inventing the "Had-I-But-Known" school of detective fiction, which typically involved an attractive heroine caught up in a seemingly endless succession of dangerous predicaments. The Circular Staircase -- originally published in 1908 -- is considered the first of the genre. A clever blend of intrigue, villainy, and heart-pounding suspense, leavened with traces of wry humor, this immensely popular novel will delight today's crime fiction buffs as much as it galvanized readers almost 90 years ago.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

Mary Roberts Rinehart - known as "The American Agatha Christie" - was born in 1876 in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania. She started writing as a way to earn income after a heavy stock market loss in 1903. She wrote The Circular Staircase, her first novel, in 1908. The book sold over a million copies and propelled Rinehart to national fame.

A regular contributor to the Saturday Evening Post, Rinehart served as the first woman war correspondent to the Belgian front during WWI. In 1929, she helped her sons found the publishing house Farrar & Rinehart, serving as its director. In hundreds of short stories, Rinehart developed enduring series characters like Letitia (Tish) Carberry and Nurse-Detective Hilda Adams (Miss Pinkerton). She is credited with inventing the phrase "The Butler Did It" from her novel The Door (1930), and many of her books and plays were adapted into movies, including I Take This Woman starring Gary Cooper and Carole Lombard (1931).

Recognizing her long contribution to the mystery field, The Mystery Writers of America awarded Mary Roberts Rinehart a Special Edgar Award in 1954. She died on September 22, 1958, and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Biographie de l'auteur

Mary Roberts Rinehart (August 12, 1876-September 22, 1958) was an American writer, often called the American Agatha Christie, although her first mystery novel was published 14 years before Christie's. She is considered the source of the phrase "The butler did it", although she did not actually use the phrase. She is considered to have invented the "Had-I-But-Known" school of mystery writing. She also created a costumed supercriminal called "the Bat", who was cited by Bob Kane as one of the inspirations for his "Batman."

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Dover Publications Inc.
• Date d'édition: 2003
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0486297136
• ISBN 13: 9780486297132
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 192
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: Soc. Agr. La Raia Ss; http://www.la-raia.it; ; Strada Monterotondo, 79; Novi Ligure; 15067; Italie