The Circular Staircase (1908) by Mary Roberts Rinehart

♦️ Rachel Innes, a spinster, related a nerve-wrecking series of incidents she must endured when she rented a Gothic-styled countryside house in summer, with her niece Gertrude and nephew Hayles. It belonged to a successful banker Paul Armstrong. Upon her arrival with her old maid, she had been warned about a ghost that haunted the house. And there it was, night after night, mysterious sounds and misplaced stuffs - even stranger's invasion - happened in the house. All seemed to happen around a circular staircase.

♦️ Gertrude and Halsey arrived later with a friend, John Bailey, who was, apparently, Gertrude's fiance. The next day, though, the two men disappeared. Inexplicable things seemed to happen almost every day, that even baffled the Inspector who's investigating the case. Everything seemed to revolve around the Armstrongs, with the house Rachel was rented became the center. What was it that they tried to find in the house? And why did the Armstrongs strongly persuade Rachel to end her lease - which she insisted not to, at least after she solved the mystery?

♦️ This was a highly entertaining mystery. A gothic house with its creaking wood and dark corners, with so many doors and windows to lock every night, is a perfect setting for a Gothic mystery/ thriller. Add that with unknown objects, and persons who seem to be in and out of the house through secret doors, not mentioning a mysterious hole on the wall or golf stick under the stairs. Financial scandal of a bank, a woman's name that created panic, an orphaned boy, and two romances, only complicated the already intricate story. A satisfying read it has been, and I know I'm going to read more of Rinehart!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2