Quotes and anectdotes from the wise to the foolish, and the courageous to the drunk

Mary Roberts Rinehart Novelist

  • Gender: Female
  • Citizenship: United States
  • Born: Aug 12, 1876
  • Died: Sep 22, 1958

Mary Roberts Rinehart was an American writer, often called the American Agatha Christie, although her first mystery novel was published 14 years before Christie's first novel in 1922.

Rinehart is considered the source of the phrase "The butler did it" from her novel The Door, although the novel does not use the exact phrase. Rinehart is also considered to have invented the "Had-I-But-Known" school of mystery writing, with the publication of The Circular Staircase.

She also created a costumed super-criminal called "the Bat", cited by Bob Kane as one of the inspirations for his "Batman".

I never saw a lawyer yet who would admit he was making money. legal

The writing career is not a romantic one. The writer's life may be colorful, but his work itself is rather drab. romantic