The Bat & The Circular Staircase
Two Classic American Mysteries of Gothic Houses, Masked Criminals, Secret Rooms, and Domestic SuspenseBy Mary Roberts Rinehart
Length15h 16m
About this audiobook
The Bat and The Circular Staircase gathers two foundational works of twentieth-century American mystery fiction. In The Circular Staircase (1908), a seemingly tranquil country house becomes the setting for murder, concealed identities, family secrets, and mounting psychological unease; its first-person narration and carefully controlled revelations exemplify the "had-I-but-known" school of suspense. The Bat (1920), written in collaboration with Avery Hopwood and adapted from Rinehart's earlier novel The Circular Staircase, shifts toward the ingenious masked-criminal thriller, combining mistaken identities, nocturnal pursuit, and theatrical plotting. Together, the novels illuminate the transition from Victorian sensation fiction to the modern detective story, while retaining an atmosphere of Gothic confinement and social intrigue. Mary Roberts Rinehart (1876–1958) was a prolific American novelist, playwright, and journalist whose work helped popularize domestic suspense and establish conventions later associated with the hard-boiled and comic-mystery traditions. Her experiences as a nurse, mother, traveler, and war correspondent sharpened her interest in danger concealed within ordinary social environments. Rinehart's particular achievement lies in making respectable households sites of instability, where class, gender, and wealth shape both crime and detection. This volume is especially recommended for readers interested in the history of crime fiction, women's contributions to popular literature, and the evolution of suspense narrative. It offers not merely two entertaining mysteries, but a revealing study in narrative influence, genre formation, and the enduring literary power of the haunted house.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 3.9 (244)
Includes Goodreads, Amazon, LibraryThing, StoryGraph
GenreMystery and Thriller
Length15 hrs 16 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateDec 20, 2023
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1The Thing from the Lake (Annotated)
2The Circular Staircase
3I Take a Country House
4A Link Cuff-Button
5Mr. John Bailey Appears
Show all chaptersShow less
6Where is Halsey?
7Gertrude's Engagement
8In the East Corridor
9A Sprained Ankle
10The Other Half of the Line
11Just Like a Girl
12The Traders' Bank
13Halsey Makes a Capture
14One Mystery for Another
15Louise
16An Egg-Nog and a Telegram
17Liddy Gives the Alarm
18In the Early Morning
19A Hint of Scandal
20A Hole in the Wall
21Concerning Thomas
22Doctor Walker's Warning
23Fourteen Elm Street
24A Ladder Out of Place
25While the Stables Burned
26Flinders
27A Visit from Louise
28Halsey's Disappearance
29Who is Nina Carrington?
30A Tramp and the Toothache
31A Scrap of Paper
32When Churchyards Yawn
33Between Two Fireplaces
34Anne Watson's Story
35At the Foot of the Stairs
36The Odds and Ends
37Chapter One. The Shadow of the Bat
38Chapter Two. The Indomitable Miss Van Gorder
39Chapter Three. Pistol Practice
40Chapter Four. The Storm Gathers
41Chapter Five. Alopecia and Rubeola
42Chapter Six. Detective Anderson Takes Charge
43Chapter Seven. Cross-Questions and Crooked Answers
44Chapter Eight. The Gleaming Eye
45Chapter Nine. A Shot in the Dark
46Chapter Ten. The Phone Call from Nowhere
47Chapter Eleven. Billy Practices Jiu-Jitsu
48Chapter Twelve. "I Didn't Kill Him."
49Chapter Thirteen. The Blackened Bag
50Chapter Fourteen. Handcuffs
The Bat (Annotated)Mary Roberts Rinehart, Avery Hopwood7h 41m4.1 (12)$2 · $0.00
Dangerous Days (Annotated)Mary Roberts Rinehart14h 33m3.9 (379)$2 · $0.00
The Man in Lower Ten (Annotated)Mary Roberts Rinehart8h 3m3.7 (3.2K)$2 · $0.00
The Yellow Room (Annotated)Mary Roberts Rinehart10h 41m3.9 (1.7K)$2 · $0.00
The Frightened Wife and Other Murder Stories (Annotated)Mary Roberts Rinehart9h 18m$2 · $0.00
The Greatest Murder Mysteries of Mary Roberts Rinehart - 25 Titles in One Edition (Annotated)Mary Roberts Rinehart125h 58m$2 · $0.00
Long Live the King! (Annotated)Mary Roberts Rinehart13h 34m3.6 (101)$2 · $0.00
The After House (Annotated)Mary Roberts Rinehart6h 20m3.4 (910)$2 · $0.00
Tenting To-nightMary Roberts Rinehart3h 56m4.0 (75)$1 · $0.00
Sight UnseenMary Roberts Rinehart2h 50m3.6 (264)$2 · $0.00
The Greatest Works of Mary Roberts RinehartMary Roberts Rinehart203h 53m4.4 (12)$1 · $0.00
The Man in Lower TenMary Roberts Rinehart7h 12m3.7 (3K)$2 · $0.00
Haunted LadyMary Roberts Rinehart7h 36m3.9 (1.2K)$1 · $0.00
The WallMary Roberts Rinehart12h 49m4.0 (1.2K)$1 · $0.00
The Collected Works of Mary Roberts RinehartMary Roberts Rinehart202h 51m3.7 (28)$1 · $0.00
The Window at the White CatMary Roberts Rinehart6h 16m3.6 (1.1K)$1 · $0.00
The Street of Seven StarsMary Roberts Rinehart8h 42m3.7 (514)$2 · $0.00
Mystery Cases of Letitia Carberry, TishMary Roberts Rinehart22h 53m$1 · $0.00
The Breaking Point (Annotated)Mary Roberts Rinehart13h 31m$2 · $0.00
Unfinished BusinessBlair Howard7h 17m4.8 (373)$23
The New Human Revolution, vol. 1Daisaku Ikeda7h 46m4.7 (669)$12 · $0.00
Meddlesome MoneyMildred Abbott8h 21m4.7 (1.3K)$20
Dark RisingJeffrey Wilson, Brian Andrews13h 47m4.7 (1.3K)$27
Midnight ShadowsS.E. Smith5h 40m4.7 (2.5K)$17
CollateralBrian Andrews, Jeffrey Wilson13h 8m4.6 (7K)$23
The ReunionJana Deleon6h 31m4.6 (1.6K)$26 · $0.00
Animal 3K’wan6h 33m4.6 (2.8K)$20
To Hold and ProtectSandra Owens7h 59m4.6 (1.1K)$8 · $0.00
Extinction WarNicholas Sansbury Smith12h 1m4.6 (6K)$23
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Savy WisdomPeggy McColl2h 53m4.7 (448)$15
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Farewell My Lovely (Annotated)Raymond Chandler10h 37m4.6 (1.2K)$2 · $0.00
The Labyrinth of the SpiritsCarlos Ruiz Zafon27h 55m4.5 (77.2K)$53 · $0.00
Tracing Killer EvidenceJodie Bailey5h 46m4.7 (242)$12 · $0.00
Sign of the MakerBrian Shea7h 13m4.6 (2.5K)$17
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