Mary Roberts Rinehart

According to Wikipedia: "Mary Roberts Rinehart (August 12, 1876-September 22, 1958) was a prolific author often called the American Agatha Christie.[1] She is considered the source of the phrase "The butler did it", although she did not actually use the phrase herself, and also considered to have invented the "Had-I-But-Known" school of mystery writing.... Rinehart wrote hundreds of short stories, poems, travelogues and special articles. Many of her books and plays, such as The Bat (1920) were adapted for movies, such as The Bat (1926), The Bat Whispers (1930), and The Bat (1959). While many of her books were best-sellers, critics were most appreciative of her murder mysteries. Rinehart, in The Circular Staircase (1908), is credited with inventing the "Had-I-But-Known" school of mystery writing. The Circular Staircase is a novel in which "a middle-aged spinster is persuaded by her niece and nephew to rent a country house for the summer. The house they choose belonged to a bank defaulter who had hidden stolen securities in the walls. The gentle, peace-loving trio is plunged into a series of crimes solved with the help of the aunt. This novel is credited with being the first in the "Had-I-But-Known" school."[3] The Had-I-But-Known mystery novel is one where the principal character (frequently female) does less than sensible things in connection with a crime which have the effect of prolonging the action of the novel. Ogden Nash parodied the school in his poem Don't Guess Let Me Tell You: "Sometimes the Had I But Known then what I know now I could have saved at least three lives by revealing to the Inspector the conversation I heard through that fortuitous hole in the floor." The phrase "The butler did it", which has become a cliché, came from Rinehart's novel The Door, in which the butler actually did do it, although that exact phrase does not actually appear in the work."

Though not exactly a mystery in the traditional sense, Mary Roberts Rinehart's Where There's a Will certainly has its fair share of intrigue, chicanery and deception. At stake is the ownership of Hope Springs, a family-owned health resort whose future appears uncertain in the aftermath of the longtime manager's demise. When a well-meaning group of employees band together to try to take matters into their own hands, all hell breaks loose.

Harmony Wells, studying in Vienna to be a great violinist, suddenly realizes that her money is almost gone. She meets a young ambitious doctor who offers her chivalry and sympathy, and together with world-worn Dr. Anna and Jimmie, the waif, they share their love and slender means.

The Man in Lower Ten (serialized in magazines in 1906) was published as a novel in 1910, and immediately rose to number four on the best-seller list. Combining murder, mystery, and romance, Rinehart's celebrated novel is sure to keep readers in delightful suspense. In order to pick up legal papers in another city, a young lawyer, Lawrence Blakely, must travel from Pittsburgh to Baltimore on what he expects to be an uneventful train ride. However the trip quickly becomes anything but boring; Blakely's papers are stolen, and his car bunk "lower ten" is occupied by a dead body. But that's not all Blakely finds himself in the middle of. He also grapples with a deadly train wreck, a ghostly haunting, and a sexy yet possibly dangerous love interest.

Mary Robert Rinehart unravels a story of a summerhouse rental gone dreadfully wrong in the popular 1908 thriller The Circular Staircase. With page-turning suspense, the tart-tongued Rachel Innes narrates the ghostly noises, suspicious deaths, troubling disappearances, mysterious origins, midnight prowlers, and stolen fortunes in this best-selling mystery. When The Circular Staircase appeared, Rinehart's humorous, modern take on the gothic was praised as a new style of mystery writing. Today, it is prominently included in lists of milestones in detective fiction. Together with Avery Hopwood, Rinehart recast part of the novel's plot for their smash-hit 1920 Broadway play The Bat, which was immortalized on the silver screen and influenced the genesis of comic-strip hero Batman.

Mary Roberts Rinehart was a prolific writer that is often referred to as the American Agatha Christie. Rinehart's mystery novels are still treasured by millions of readers today and she is the source of the famous phrase "The butler did it." Rinehart's most famous books include The Circular Staircase, The Bat, The Case of Jennie Brice, and The Door. Bab: A Sub-Deb is a humorous novel that is set during World War I. Bab, the title character, is a spoiled yet neglected second daughter from a rich family. The book is presented in the form of letters and diary entries.

Lily Cardew, returning home from doing Red Cross work during the war, finds herself feeling restless and unable to fit back into the familiar but rather empty social life of her wealthy family. Looking to occupy herself and to assert her independence from her harsh grandfather, she decides to visit an estranged family member, and ends up falling unwittingly into dangerous company among the leaders of an anarchist group. Meanwhile, her war companion, William Wallace Cameron, is drawn into the burgeoning political upheaval from the other end, and becomes a key figure in the movement working to stem the planned revolt.

Unlike her twin brother, Jackson, Jessa struggled with her weight and very few friends. Jackson was an athlete and the epitome of popularity, while Jessa felt invisible. Noah was the quintessential "It" guy at school-charismatic, well-liked, and undeniably handsome. To make matters worse, he was Jackson's best friend and Jessa's biggest bully. During their senior year, Jessa decides it was time for her to gain some self-confidence, find her true beauty and not be the invisible twin. As Jessa transformed, she begins to catch the eye of everyone around her, especially Noah. Noah, initially blinded by his perception of Jessa as merely Jackson's sister, started to see her in a new light. How did she become the captivating woman invading his thoughts? When did she become the object of his fantasies? Join Jessa on her journey from being the class joke to a confident, desirable young woman, surprising even Noah as she reveals the incredible person she has always been inside.

Coleen Maine hated Hayden Michaels with her entire heart. After high school graduation, she thought she had escaped the hell that being a classmate to Hayden was. Being his academic rival was enough to put her, Coleen, at the top of his shit list. To make matters worse, he's the hot, popular jock with a full-ride scholarship he doesn't need, because he has all the money that she doesn't. When Coleen finds herself in close contact with Hayden again out of no free will of her own, she expects things to be the same. But somehow, somewhere between summer and starting their first year at college, something changed. Now, Coleen isn't sure Hayden hates her anymore. Between her new job, college, and her friendships, she finds herself wondering what lies behind Hayden's deep gaze towards her.

The ninety-ninth time Jax Little broke my heart was the last time. We were the golden couple of Northgate High, our future perfectly mapped out for UCLA. But in our senior year, he fell for a new girl, Catalina, and our love story became a sick, exhausting dance of his betrayals and my empty threats to leave. At a graduation party, Catalina "accidentally" pulled me into the pool with her. Jax dove in without a second's hesitation. He swam right past me as I struggled, wrapped his arms around Catalina, and pulled her to safety. As he helped her out to the cheers of his friends, he glanced back at me, my body shivering and my mascara running in black rivers. "Your life isn't my problem anymore," he said, his voice as cold as the water I was drowning in. That night, something inside me finally shattered. I went home, opened my laptop, and clicked the button that confirmed my admission. Not to UCLA with him, but to NYU, an entire country away.

Eighteen days after giving up on Brendan Maynard, Jayde Rosario cut off her waist-length hair and called her father, announcing her decision to move to California and attend UC Berkeley. Her father, surprised, asked about the sudden change, reminding her how she' d always insisted on staying with Brendan. Jayde forced a laugh, revealing the painful truth: Brendan was getting married, and she, his stepsister, could no longer cling to him. That night, she tried to tell Brendan about her college acceptance, but his fiancée, Chloie Ellis, interrupted with a bubbly call, and Brendan' s tender words to Chloie twisted a knife in Jayde' s heart. She remembered how his tenderness used to be hers alone, how he had protected her, and how she had poured out her heart to him in a diary and a love letter, only for him to explode, tearing the letter and yelling, "I'm your brother!" He had stormed out, leaving her to painstakingly tape the shredded pieces back together. Her love, however, didn't die, not even when he brought Chloie home and told her to call her "sister-in-law." Now, she understood. She had to put that fire out herself. She had to dig Brendan out of her heart.

After eight years in captivity, I was finally rescued. I thought it was the beginning of a new life with my mother. But she didn't even look at me. She ran into the arms of a handsome stranger, her real husband, and I was treated like a dirty secret from her past. They called me a contamination, a reminder of their trauma. My new stepsister set their Doberman on me, and as the dog's teeth sank into my arm, I looked up and saw my mother watching from the window. She met my eyes for a second, then slowly closed the curtains. In that moment, the last bit of hope I had died. The shallow bond of family was completely gone, and I finally gave up. But they made one mistake. The family patriarch, suspicious after a car accident, ordered a secret DNA test. The results came back on the day of my stepsister's birthday party, revealing a truth that would burn their perfect world to the ground.

Forget the riches and the popularity.    Rissa didn't want any of this as much as she wanted her parents to be around the house. She spent most of her childhood surrounded by strangers who only work as staffs in the mansion. There was nothing she could do to prevent them from always leaving her. This was until her mother bailed someone from jail, a young offender whom they had forgotten. A boy who lost his parents at a young age and was left to face the world alone. After so many years, they bring him back into their lives to stay in their house. Mykel is all grown up now, has tattoos, a handsome face, and a clever mind.  The first thing Rissa does was to hate him. She called him a jerk and berates him for being an ex-convict.  All that changed with time after Rissa fell for him. But Mykel has a grudge that won't go away. A strong zeal to kill and his target was her parents. 

Cali Evans is just trying to get through high school without bringing unnecessary attention to her. She decided to join the cheer team and now hangs around in the popular crowd. Shawn Myers is the bad boy. Without even trying, Shawn get all the girls attention, even when he doesn't want it. He only wants one girls attention, and one only. When Cali gets paired up with The Shawn Myers, she thinks her life it over. Quinn would find out and she would be friendless. Trust, love and jealously brings the two together, but it also brings them apart. And so does Cali's thoughts about How To Get Through Highschool.

My phone glowed in the dark, showing the smiling face of Ethan Reed, the man I' d loved for years. Next to him, Tiffany Chen leaned close, radiating triumph. The caption below demanded "100 likes and we' re done!" The count was stuck at 99. My thumb hovered, then pressed. 99 became 100. It was over, just like he wanted. But then, Mark, his best friend and messenger, called. "Sarah? What the hell did you just do? Ethan is just messing around, he doesn' t mean it." I told him I was busy, packing for college abroad on a scholarship. He muffled a curse, and I hung up. The fight that led to this was orchestrated by Tiffany. She had "accidentally" ruined my university application designs, then cried to Ethan, who, of course, believed her. He accused me of jealousy, of being "needy." And then, his favorite threat: "Maybe we should just break up." I was silent, not with weakness, but with a leaden weight in my chest. He stormed out, slamming the door. That night, alone, I found his tablet. A voice memo to Mark played his casual, cruel voice: "Sarah is getting on my last nerve...I'm gonna have to put her back in her place. Maybe another public breakup threat? That always gets her crying and begging." I had been a fool, shrinking myself to fit his world. But hearing his utter contempt, it wasn't just pain-it was clarity. The fight was over. I had lost. But in that loss, I found myself.

Tessa is the picture perfect student with good grades, flawless attendance and a charming smile. With one year left to graduate high school and a bucket list imposed by her best friend, her goal is pretty much the same with an extra addition--tick off every item on the cursed bucket list. But trouble comes knocking in the form of blue eyes, muscled body and an ego the size of her head. What happens when the school's bad boy, Benjamin notices her in a boxing ring?

Olivia or Livy for short. She has been through a lot. More than you possibly can imagine. She has lost touch with her true self. Old Livy may still exist deep within her soul, but to others, she is nothing more than a girl with a stone heart who doesn’t feel pain. Caleb pretends to have the demeanor of a bad boy, but he is far from it. Yes, indeed! He is a popular jock, but he is not your typical bad boy. Perhaps he did not suffer as much as Livy did, but he witnessed someone close to him destroying his or her life. What happens if they cross each other’s path? Will they fall in love, or will they despise each other? Will Caleb be able to restore Livy to her former self, or will he push her even deeper into the unknown? This story will provide an answer to every question.