The Circular Staircase

Rachel Innes, a comfortable middle-aged spinster, rents a country house called Sunnyside for a quiet summer with her niece and nephew. Quiet is the last thing she gets. Strange noises echo through the halls at night, a stranger turns up shot dead at the foot of the circular staircase, and the tangle of missing bank funds, hidden identities, and family secrets only deepens as the household grows fearful. Rinehart tells the whole affair in Rachel’s dry, self-deprecating voice, a device that helped launch the Had I But Known style of American mystery. First published in 1908, it made Rinehart a bestselling name almost overnight. Free PDF and EPUB edition available.