Circular Staircase

Rating:
Summary: Circular Staircase
Review: A wonderful classic mystry, involving bloodless murders without murderer's intention. In detail nicely described complicated situations with a pinch of humor. Very well connected story dots. After reading it over 20 times, I still enjoy it. I wish they had or (will) make a movie on it.

Rating:
Summary: Circular Staircase
Review: A wonderful classic mystry, involving bloodless murders without murderer's intention. In detail nicely described complicated situations with a pinch of humor. Very well connected story dots. After reading it over 20 times, I still enjoy it. I wish they had or (will) make a movie on it.

Rating:
Summary: A classic mystery thriller.
Review: For decades Mary Roberts Rinehart was the queen of mystery thrillers -- the American Agatha Christie. The Circular Staircase was Rinehart's first published novel (The Swimming Pool was her last), but it is a well-constructed work in ever way. Rinehart's special gift was in the evocation of an overlying and unremitting atmosphere of unease and potential danger and it is under such an atmosphere of apprehension that she spins her stories. For some time it has been fashionable to dismiss the novels of Mary Roberts Rinehart as old fashioned. This may apply to superficial details -- such as gas lighting -- 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 Stasircase is one of the finest mystery novels ever written.

Rating:
Summary: Clever, but no one edited this one
Review: This is an enjoyable mystery in the classic mode with some deft turns. But it is completely unedited and riddled throughout with type-os and silly mistakes. Surely no person at the publishing house read this book before it was released; I'd go so far as to say no one bothered to use spell-check to detect ludicrous errors. In most cases, the correct spelling or usage is fairly easy to figure. In one, a "Mrs." should have been a "Mr." and that caused a bit of confusion. Readers appreciate these budget-priced editions, but couldn't someone at the publishing house give them a look after they've been scanned into the computer? Surely a summer intern in the editorial department might even have a good time reading this pleasant little mystery.

Rating:
Summary: A haunting mystery, a smooth, fast read.
Review: This is Mary Roberts Rinehart at her best. The author tells a haunting tale which is on a par with The Yellow Room. Rinehart is a master at setting the stage and draws the reader in with her unique stlye of mystery writting. She expertly developes the plot and her character descriptions are flawless. A real page turner and a great read.

Rating:
Summary: A haunting mystery, a smooth, fast read.
Review: This is Mary Roberts Rinehart at her best. The author tells a haunting tale which is on a par with The Yellow Room. Rinehart is a master at setting the stage and draws the reader in with her unique stlye of mystery writting. She expertly developes the plot and her character descriptions are flawless. A real page turner and a great read.

Rating:
Summary: Horrible
Review: This is the worst written book I have ever read. Actually I could not even finish it. There is a comma after every other word which makes it hard to follow. You eventually do not even care anymore who did it. I cannot believe it was published.

Rating:
Summary: Absorbing, detailed mystery set in a bygone era
Review: Wealthy family goes to the country for a rest and gets more than it bargained for - and it doesn't include much rest! The narrator is a tart-tongued lady, the mystery is complicated, and the view of life for the well-off in the early 1900's gives a whole other dimension to this book. Very enjoyable reading.