Mary Roberts Rinehart

The Breaking Point "", has been considered a very important part of the human history, but is currently not available in printed formats. Hence so that this work is never forgotten we have made efforts in its preservation by republishing this book in a modern format so that it is never forgotten and always remembered by the present and future generations. These books are not made of scanned copies of their original work and hence the text is clear and readable. This whole book has been reformatted, retyped and designed.

... An absorbing romance set in the early days of World War I. Against great odds and opposition, 20-year-old Sara Lee Kennedy leaves her small town and stolid fianc to run a soup kitchen for soldiers on the Belgian front. Her experience... and a gallant Belgian captain ... change her worldview. (Leah A. Zeldes)

A puzzler by a great American writer of the early 20th century, often called "America's Agatha Christie", even though she pioneered the cozy mystery form a decade before Dame Agatha had her first publication.

Mary Roberts Rinehart (August 12, 1876 - September 22, 1958) was an American writer, often called the American Agatha Christie, although her first mystery novel was published 14 years before Christie's. She is considered the source of the phrase "The butler did it", although she did not actually use the phrase. She is considered to have invented the "Had-I-But-Known" school of mystery writing. She also created a costumed supercriminal called "the Bat", who was cited by Bob Kane as one of the inspirations for his "Batman." (wikipedia.org)

The arsenic in her sugar bowl was wealthy widow Eliza Fairbanks' first clue that somebody wanted her dead. The nightly plagues of bats, birds, and rats unleashed in her bedroom were the second indication, an obvious attempt to scare the life out of the delicate dowager. So instead of calling the exterminator, Eliza calls the cops, who send Hilda Adams -- "Miss Pinkerton" to the folks at the bureau -- to go undercover and investigate. Hilda Adams is a nurse, not a detective -- at least, not technically speaking. But then, nurses do have the opportunity to see things that the police can't, and to witness the inner workings of a household when the authorities aren't around. From the moment Adams arrives at the Fairbanks mansion, confronted by a swarm of shady and oddball relatives, many of whom seem desperate for their inheritance, it's clear that something unseemly is at work in the estate. But not even she is prepared for the web of intrigue that awaits her therein. Reissued for the first time in over twenty years, and featuring one of Mary Roberts Rinehart's only series characters, The Haunted Lady is the thrilling follow-up to Miss Pinkerton, also available from American Mystery Classics. The books can be read in any order.

The arsenic in her sugar bowl was wealthy widow Eliza Fairbanks' first clue that somebody wanted her dead. The nightly plagues of bats, birds, and rats unleashed in her bedroom were the second indication, an obvious attempt to scare the life out of the delicate dowager. So instead of calling the exterminator, Eliza calls the cops, who send Hilda Adams -- "Miss Pinkerton" to the folks at the bureau -- to go undercover and investigate. Hilda Adams is a nurse, not a detective -- at least, not technically speaking. But then, nurses do have the opportunity to see things that the police can't, and to witness the inner workings of a household when the authorities aren't around. From the moment Adams arrives at the Fairbanks mansion, confronted by a swarm of shady and oddball relatives, many of whom seem desperate for their inheritance, it's clear that something unseemly is at work in the estate. But not even she is prepared for the web of intrigue that awaits her therein. Reissued for the first time in over twenty years, and featuring one of Mary Roberts Rinehart's only series characters, The Haunted Lady is the thrilling follow-up to Miss Pinkerton, also available from American Mystery Classics. The books can be read in any order.

First serialized in 1907 and then published as a book in 1908, Mary Roberts Rinehart's "The Circular Staircase" is the popular mystery story about the dowager Rachel Innes as she reveals and prevents a series of strange crimes at the home she has rented for the summer. "The Circular Staircase" was Rinehart's first bestseller and was the originator of the popular "had I but known" genre of mystery writing, where the main character narrates the tale and foreshadows impending doom and tragedy while reflecting on what they might have done differently if only they had known what was to come. Rinehart was inspired to write this tale after visiting a Gothic revival castle in Virginia and sets her story in a similarly mysterious older house in the country. The main character, Rachel, is an older woman who has raised her niece and nephew, who are now adults and have convinced her to leave her city home behind for the summer and vacation with them in the country. What follows is a masterfully written and suspenseful tale of murder, arson, kidnapping, and mysterious intruders sneaking about in the night that continues to thrill readers over a century later. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

It is the early days of The Great War. As the curtain rises, Sara Lee is sitting by the fire in her aunt and uncle's home, knitting a baby afghan. Her beau's name is Harvey. He has his eye on a little house that is just perfect for two and he will soon propose to Sara Lee. But in this play, the mise en sc ne is about to change. A fairyland transformation will take place and Sara Lee will step into a new and different story, where she is the princess in a forest of adventure. There is a prince, too, whose name is Henri. He is as strange as the forest itself. And then just as suddenly, the scene changes back and Sara Lee is once again sitting alone by the fire, knitting socks for the soldiers this time, and with a memory and a new stirring in her heart. This is the story of Sara Lee's amazing interlude.

It is the early days of The Great War. As the curtain rises, Sara Lee is sitting by the fire in her aunt and uncle's home, knitting a baby afghan. Her beau's name is Harvey. He has his eye on a little house that is just perfect for two and he will soon propose to Sara Lee. But in this play, the mise en sc ne is about to change. A fairyland transformation will take place and Sara Lee will step into a new and different story, where she is the princess in a forest of adventure. There is a prince, too, whose name is Henri. He is as strange as the forest itself. And then just as suddenly, the scene changes back and Sara Lee is once again sitting alone by the fire, knitting socks for the soldiers this time, and with a memory and a new stirring in her heart. This is the story of Sara Lee's amazing interlude.