The Circular Staircase & The Bat (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. Miss Cornelia Van Gorder Mystery NovelsBy Mary Roberts Rinehart
Length15h 48m
About this audiobook
Bringing together The Circular Staircase and The Bat, this volume showcases Mary Roberts Rinehart's mastery of the early American mystery-thriller. The Circular Staircase unfolds in the rented country house Sunnyside, where Rachel Innes confronts nocturnal intrusions, family secrets, and a body at the foot of the stairs. The Bat intensifies the "old dark house" formula with theatrical suspense, hidden rooms, and a criminal mastermind. Witty, brisk, and intricately plotted, both works helped shape the Had-I-But-Known school of detective fiction. Rinehart, trained as a nurse and seasoned as a journalist before becoming a bestselling novelist, brought to popular fiction a keen observational intelligence and a practical knowledge of fear, illness, and domestic vulnerability. Writing in the Progressive Era, she transformed the supposedly safe middle-class home into a site of danger and revelation, often granting women narrators unusual authority, skepticism, and comic resilience. Readers interested in the origins of modern suspense, the country-house mystery, or women's contributions to crime fiction will find this pairing indispensable. It is both entertaining and historically important: a spirited demonstration of how terror, humor, and social perception can coexist within the classic mystery form.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- A comprehensive Introduction outlines these selected works' unifying features, themes, or stylistic evolutions.
- A Historical Context section situates the works in their broader era—social currents, cultural trends, and key events that underpin their creation.
- A concise Synopsis (Selection) offers an accessible overview of the included texts, helping readers navigate plotlines and main ideas without revealing critical twists.
- A unified Analysis examines recurring motifs and stylistic hallmarks across the collection, tying the stories together while spotlighting the different work's strengths.
- Reflection questions inspire deeper contemplation of the author's overarching message, inviting readers to draw connections among different texts and relate them to modern contexts.
- Lastly, our hand‐picked Memorable Quotes distill pivotal lines and turning points, serving as touchstones for the collection's central themes.
Audiobook details
GenreMystery and Thriller
Length15 hrs 48 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateMay 20, 2018
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Introduction
2Introduction
3Historical Context
4Synopsis (Selection)
5The Circular Staircase & The Bat (pt. 1)
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6The Circular Staircase & The Bat (pt. 2)
7The Circular Staircase & The Bat (pt. 3)
8The Circular Staircase & The Bat (pt. 4)
9The Circular Staircase & The Bat (pt. 5)
10The Circular Staircase & The Bat (pt. 6)
11The Circular Staircase & The Bat (pt. 7)
12Analysis
13Reflection
14Memorable Quotes
The Bat (Annotated)Mary Roberts Rinehart, Avery Hopwood7h 41m$2 · $0.00
Dangerous Days (Annotated)Mary Roberts Rinehart14h 33m$2 · $0.00
The Man in Lower Ten (Annotated)Mary Roberts Rinehart8h 3m$2 · $0.00
The Yellow Room (Annotated)Mary Roberts Rinehart10h 41m$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 34m$2 · $0.00
The After House (Annotated)Mary Roberts Rinehart6h 20m$2 · $0.00
Tenting To-nightMary Roberts Rinehart3h 56m$1 · $0.00
Sight UnseenMary Roberts Rinehart2h 50m$2 · $0.00
The Greatest Works of Mary Roberts RinehartMary Roberts Rinehart203h 53m$1 · $0.00
The Man in Lower TenMary Roberts Rinehart7h 12m$2 · $0.00
Haunted LadyMary Roberts Rinehart7h 36m$1 · $0.00
The WallMary Roberts Rinehart12h 49m$1 · $0.00
The Collected Works of Mary Roberts RinehartMary Roberts Rinehart202h 51m$1 · $0.00
The Window at the White CatMary Roberts Rinehart6h 16m$1 · $0.00
The Street of Seven StarsMary Roberts Rinehart8h 42m$2 · $0.00
Mystery Cases of Letitia Carberry, TishMary Roberts Rinehart22h 53m$1 · $0.00
The Bat & The Circular StaircaseMary Roberts Rinehart15h 8m$2 · $0.00
The Breaking Point (Annotated)Mary Roberts Rinehart13h 31m$2 · $0.00
Unfinished BusinessBlair Howard7h 17m$23
EmberJeffrey Wilson, Brian Andrews13h 58m$23
The New Human Revolution, vol. 1Daisaku Ikeda7h 46m$12 · $0.00
Meddlesome MoneyMildred Abbott8h 21m$20
Midnight ShadowsS.E. Smith5h 40m$17
CollateralBrian Andrews, Jeffrey Wilson13h 8m$23
The Complete Sherlock Holmes Novels & Stories (4 Novels + 56 Short Stories) (Annotated)Arthur Conan Doyle73h 13m$2 · $0.00
The ReunionJana Deleon6h 31m$26 · $0.00
Animal 3K’wan6h 33m$20
To Hold and ProtectSandra Owens7h 59m$8 · $0.00
Extinction WarNicholas Sansbury Smith12h 1m$23
Savy WisdomPeggy McColl2h 53m$15
3 a.m. Premium: Books 1–5Nick Pirog15h 27m$25
Farewell My Lovely (Annotated)Raymond Chandler10h 37m$2 · $0.00
The Labyrinth of the SpiritsCarlos Ruiz Zafon27h 55m$53 · $0.00
Tracing Killer EvidenceJodie Bailey5h 46m$12 · $0.00
AGATHA CHRISTIE Premium CollectionAgatha Christie37h 15m$2 · $0.00
Sign of the MakerBrian Shea7h 13m$17
No Sin UnpunishedLynDee Walker7h 43m$17
The Cases of Lord Peter Wimsey - Complete Series (Annotated)Dorothy L. Sayers148h 10m$2 · $0.00
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