The first novel by Mary Roberts Rinehart, America's queen of crime This is the story of how a middle-aged spinster lost her mind, deserted her domestic gods in the city, took a furnished house for the summer out of town, and found herself involved in one of those mysterious crimes that keep our newspapers and detective agencies happy and prosperous. So says Rachel Innes, the spinster in question and one of the most remarkable heroines in American...

Mary Roberts Rinehart (August 12, 1876 – September 22, 1958) was an American writer, often called the American Agatha Christie,[1] although her first mystery novel was published 14 years before Christie's first novel in 1922. Rinehart is considered the source of the phrase "The butler did it" from her novel The Door (1930), although the novel does not use the exact phrase. Rinehart is also considered to have invented the "Had-I-But-Known" school...

Looking for adventure, an erstwhile medical student joins the crew of a yacht and finds himself adrift in a sea of murder Medical school left Leslie with a diploma, a new dress suit, and an incipient case of typhoid fever. While convalescing, he hatches a plan to postpone embarking on a career as a surgeon by launching instead on an epic voyage of adventure, mystery, and romance on the high seas. When Leslie signs up as a steward aboard the private...

Ferdinand William Otto, crown prince of an unspecified European country, is next in line for the throne. But he's only a boy. Fleeing royal boredom for a life of fun and adventure, he remains unaware of the crown's deadly enemies.

Mary Roberts Rinehart rose to literary acclaim as a mystery writer and eventually became known as the "American Agatha Christie." In Sight Unseen, Rinehart strays somewhat from the formula that made her famous, incorporating supernatural elements into the mystery at the heart of the novel. If you're looking for a fast-paced read that will send shivers down your spine, put Sight Unseen on your must-read list.

In a crumbling mansion, two sisters hide from the world, afraid for their lives The Birches was one of the grand mansions of the 1920s, with a ballroom, tennis courts, and, of course, a swimming pool. But after the crash of '29, when Lois and Judith's father killed himself to escape his debts, the family turned the summer home into a fulltime retreat from the world. Decades later, Judith is the queen of New York society, a fast-living beauty whose...

In a quiet old mansion, an aging spinster contemplates questions of murder Elizabeth Bell runs a quiet household, with no family and no more than the usual number of servants. She passes her time thinking about crime and working on her biography of a relative. When a young cousin comes to stay, life in the house becomes uncharacteristically lively. First, cousin Judy burns a hole in Miss Bell's desk. Next, they spy a burglar on the staircase-a shadowy...

Illness, jealousy, and murder poison the atmosphere in an ultrawealthy community Pat comes from the village of Beverly, a charming country suburb whose inhabitants hate everything about the patch of gaudy mansions that have sprung up around it. The gaudiest of all belongs to Maud Wainwright, a bullish old widow whose famous dining room table has room for an even hundred. Orphaned and near destitute, Pat goes to work for Mrs. Wainwright, finding her...

Stories of true romance, from youth to middle age and beyond An elderly couple sits on a park bench, murmuring compliments to each other, and passing gentle judgment on the crowds that pass them by. They are alone-no children, no friends, nothing but their memories to keep them company. Are they happy? Or is true love no longer enough to sustain them? While this couple sits on the bench, remembering faded passions, young people are falling in love...

Three people are brutally axe-murdered-on a sailboat in the open ocean. The surviving passengers must tread the decks carefully-because the murderer is still aboard! Mary Roberts Rinehart's chilling 1914 novel of romance and suspense, ripped from the headlines of the day, still has the power to hold readers spellbound in its grip.