The Circular Staircase

The Circular Staircase is a mystery novel by American writer Mary Roberts Rinehart. The story follows dowager Rachel Innes as she thwarts a series of strange crimes at a summer house she has rented with her niece and nephew. Rachel Innes is a spinster who has had custody of her orphaned niece and nephew since they were children. Halsey and Gertrude are now 20 and 24 respectively and they talk Rachel into renting a house in the country for the summer. The first night Rachel is there there is a mysterious trespasser and something falls down the stairs in the middle of the night. The second night after Halsey and Gertrude have arrived there is a murder and Halsey and the friend he has brought to stay disappear. Halsey returns a few days later without his friend and without an explanation but by then many other developments have occurred to the chagrin of the residents.