Locked Doors

"Locked Doors" by Mary Roberts Rinehart is a crime fiction novel set in the early 20th century, reflecting the author's characteristic blend of mystery and psychological suspense. The story revolves around a young nurse who becomes embroiled in a peculiar case at the Reed household, where strange happenings unfold, raising suspicions around a possible crime. The tension escalates as the nurse navigates her responsibilities to care for two small children while uncovering the unsettling secrets of their family's life. In this gripping detective narrative, the protagonist, Anne Adams, is hired to look after the Reed children during a mysterious crisis in their home. The previous nurse has fled in fear, leading her to believe that some malevolent force resides within the house. As Anne settles in, she discovers locked doors, strange behaviors from Mr. and Mrs. Reed, and the unsettling presence of a locked-up governess. With relentless curiosity, she embarks on an investigation, ultimately revealing a shocking connection to a plague-related incident involving escaped rats and the troubling atmosphere of dread suffusing the family home. The narrative deftly intertwines themes of fear, duty, and discovery, culminating in a dramatic resolution that ties together the threads of mystery and human vulnerability. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Mary Roberts Rinehart was an American writer, often called the American Agatha Christie. Rinehart published her first mystery novel The Circular Staircase in 1908, which introduced the "had I but known" narrative style. Rinehart is also considered the earliest known source of the phrase "the butler did it", in her novel The Door (1930), although the exact phrase does not appear in her work and the plot device had been used prior to that time. She also worked to tell the stories and experiences of front line soldiers during World War I, one of the first women to travel to the Belgian front lines.