The Circular Staircase (Updated)

by Mary Roberts Rinehart,  (published 1908),  narrator Lorna Raver (published 2010)

I loved it and hated it at the same time. 

 

I picked this one up because it was one of the choices for a side-read for The Agatha Christie Centenary Read group that I am part of -- and because it is free for me with my Audible membership.

Would I recommend it? Yes, it is a bit of literary history. But not necessarily this audio version. It wasn't until I read the reviews on Audible that I figured out what bothered me about the read. It wasn't the story; it was the narrator. The vocal characterization that she chose for the protagonist -- and this is a first person narrative, so we hear the voice 90% of the time -- made her sound like she was in her eighties (or even older), when she was actually only in her 40s. I realized only after I finished that I had let the vocal interpretation control my interpretation of the story. 

Besides the facts that this is Mary Roberts Rinehart first book of a long career and pre-dates the publication of Ms. Christie's first book by 12 years, the other historical bit about the book is that it introduces a new approach to story telling that has been labeled "Had I But Known." It is a kind of foreshadowing that holds back information from both the reader and other characters. It works well in mysteries --if done right. Among other things, it is a way of prolonging the story. Overused in a tale, it can come across as too melodramatic -- which is what I thought as I read the book. 

 

 So, if you can get past the melodrama and the not quite stellar narrator, then by all means, enjoy!

 

UPDATE: There are actually five different recordings on Audible. The one I read and was so disappointed in was the freebie available in the Audible Plus Catalog and read by Lorna Raver. The other four by various readers are available for cash or credit.