Two Flights Up

by Mary Roberts Rinehart

A boarder comes to live with three women and finds them frighteningly strangeFrom the outside, it seems like the three women of the Bayne house are frozen in time. There is Mrs. Bayne, an aging widow obsessed with propriety; her sister, Margaret, a spinster whose desperate loneliness is eating her from the inside out; and young Holly, a beautiful creature with a vibrancy that fades a little each day. Her only hope is Furness Brooks, a playboy with an idea that he might like to marry Holly, but each day that he doesn’t propose, she becomes more frightened that she will die an old maid.Into this steps Howard Warrington, a bond salesman who answers an advertisement to rent the Baynes’ extra room. He finds the house to be full of old secrets and quiet grudges, and he soon grows to hate his life there. But when Margaret attempts to kill herself, he realizes how dark life is for the women Bayne—and how difficult it might be for him to escape. 

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Classics, Ebooks

92 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1928

About the author

Mysteries of the well-known American writer Mary Roberts Rinehart include The Circular Staircase (1908) and The Door (1930).

People often called this prolific author the American version of Agatha Christie. She is considered the source of the phrase "The butler did it," though the exact phrase doesn't appear in her works, and she invented the "Had-I-But-Known" school of mystery writing.

Rinehart wrote hundreds of short stories, poems, travelogues, and special articles. Many of her books and plays were adapted for movies, such as The Bat (1926), The Bat Whispers (1930), and The Bat (1959). Critics most appreciated her murder mysteries.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ro...

Reviews

[Marigold · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Decaying gentility noir." Probably set in the 1920s? Unclear on that.

Just when I was getting fed up with horrible Mrs. Bayne and the desperation of her grown up daughters, along comes the new lodger who among other things saves one daughter's life, falls for the other daughter, feeds a starving dog, runs from the cops by barging into other people's houses in the middle of the night, rips his pants, holes up in a hotel room overnight, and has to get his coworker to bring him some new clothes! Worth the read just for this scene!

So he's fun. The rest, not so much.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary Roberts Rinehart is a master storyteller. She gives you emotion, mystery, romance, tension, danger, irony, and characters that seem alive.
Once I started this book, I felt like I didn't want to put it down.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

CLEVER story line

I loved the way this story unfolded and the characters involved. ANNIE Bayne was an easy character to dislike, shallow and self absorbed. Her behavior and that of her errant husband create a situation that could destroy lives. It resolves two flights up.

[Nightwitch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasant mystery although a trifle too reliant on "had-I-but-known" narrative. The actual mystery isn't very mysterious - it's more a story of decaying gentility and secrets surrounding same and the central dilemma is will Holly and Warrington escape all the confusion and end up together or no?

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

After the incredible build-up of suspense and angst, the resolution was surprisingly short and swift.

[Robyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Early Bird Book Deal | Pretty terrible | Whole group of people being made miserable and ruining their lives to protect the feelings of a truly awful person.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a mystery, but a completely charming light read. Rinehart is always entertaining.

[Mare · Rating 4 out of 5]

Her books are a constant source of entertainment for me.

[Jenn Estepp · Rating 2 out of 5]

Slightly disappointed in this. Extremely slow going and all the stupid things the characters do is in deference to the whims of a pretty loathsome one.

[TJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not her best book

[josee · Rating 2 out of 5]

i wanted to like this but the plot was weak af !