Mary Roberts Rinehart, a renowned American novelist and playwright, is famous for her mystery stories that stand out from typical Rinehart criticism. Her work shares similarities with the hard-boiled school in style and subject, as well as belonging to the American school of "scientific" detection. These three groups, scientific, hard-boiled, and Rinehart, exhibit common features and form an American school that blends adventure and detection with a realism in depicting modern life, showcasing various classes, corruption at all levels, and a diverse range of characters. Her memorable tales skillfully intertwine murder, love, ingenuity, and humor in a unique style that is unmistakably hers. Although her general novels were her top-selling works, critics held her in high regard for her intricately plotted murder mysteries. It was from one of her books that the famous phrase, "The butler did it," originated, and during her prime, she rivaled England's Agatha Christie in popularity. Rinehart's autobiography, My Story, was first published in 1931 and later revised in 1948. By the time of her passing, her books had collectively sold over 10 million copies.
