The Bat

By: Mary Roberts Rinehart

Narrated by: Shelly Frasier

Miss Cornelia Van Gorder has left her New York City home for a vacation in an isolated country mansion with her beautiful young niece, neurotic maid, pompous butler and a mysterious but genteel young man, only to find herself the victim of a elusive master criminal, the Bat.

The spirited and headstrong spinster is not easily fazed until one stormy night when she stumbles on a corpse. She musters all her nerves to play the vicious killer's deadly game and confront the Bat once and for all. The Bat, which draws from The Circular Staircase but adds some new plot complexities - namely the villainous Bat - shows Rinehart at the height of her career and is considered her greatest work.

©2002 Tantor Media, Inc. (P)2002 Tantor Media, Inc.

Great Book

This book kept my attention the whole way through. Very good
Fun vintage read.
I had never heard of this writer until now.

The bat

Boy this story had me hooked from the beginning. Suspense, plot twist, young love and murder. What's not to like? I kept having to remind myself that this book was written at a time when female characters were treated condescendingly and had no grit. Cornelia was fabulous, though. She was full of grit and wealthy enough to get life on her terms.

Good radio drama

This is a book more appropriate for listening than reading since it sounds very much like the play which gave it birth. The reader does justice to the tale which unfolds much as would one of the hour radio suspense dramas of the thirties through the fifties. To get the most from this sort of book one must suspend one's twenty first century sensibilities and return to the days when imagination alone provided pictures for the mind as one heard stories of buried treasure, secret rooms, loving juveniles and heroic old ladies.
Since these days I most enjoy the bloodless mystery or detective story wherein bodies are simply props for the story not gory messes to be dissected, this book was quite satisfying as was the reader. Those who prefer modern variants of the hard boiled school or heroes and heroines who are no better, but just tougher, than the bad guys, should go elsewhere as should those who can't abide stereotyped characters who bemoan their fate and fall to pieces (loudly) in crisis. Drop some of your modern cynicism and sophistication and you will get a good couple of evenings from this book.

Almost tedious to listen, but a great ending!

This is so interwoven, it borders on confusion. Listen to the book in one pod of time. Upon further reflection, it really is well written. Well developed characters.

Fun, Vintage Mystery

This classic is full of charm and intrigue. it's action packed narrative moves fast and feels like a stage play. This one doesn't ramble or contain an endless cast of characters like many Rhineharts, it's more streamlined. Many of the Rhineharts, for me, have underwhelming solutions, but the charm and vintage feel make up for that, for me.