Rinehart, Mary Roberts (1876-1958), was an American novelist and playwright. She was best known for her mystery stories with clever plots that mix horror and humor. She gained fame with her first two mystery novels, The Circular Staircase (1908) and The Man in Lower Ten (1909). With Avery Hopwood, she adapted The Circular Staircase into a popular mystery play, The Bat (1920). Most of Rinehart’s mysteries are narrated by a heroine who solves the crime but must be rescued from the villain by a detective. Rinehart also wrote a series of comic stories about an independent-minded woman called Tish.
Mary Ella Roberts was born on Aug. 12, 1876, in Allegheny, Pennsylvania (now part of Pittsburgh), and studied nursing in Pittsburgh. She married Stanley M. Rinehart in 1896. My Story (1931, revised 1948) is her autobiography. She died on Sept. 22, 1958.
