The story follows dowager Rachel Innes as she thwarts a series of strange crimes at a summer house she has rented with her niece and nephew.

Rinehart was inspired to write the novel after a visit to Melrose, a Gothic Revival castle in Northern Virginia.

[1] The Circular Staircase pioneered what became known as the "had I but known" school of mystery writing, which often feature female protagonists and narrators who foreshadow impending danger and plot developments by reflecting on what they might have done differently.

The first night Lydia and Rachel are awoken by the sounds of an intruder sneaking around and dropping a metal golf stick on a staircase.

The next night Rachel is again woken by a loud sound and a dead body is found at the bottom of a circular set of stairs.

Suspicion immediately falls on the missing Jack Bailey, who turns himself into police custody that day proclaiming his innocence.

The stable is lit on fire as a distraction so someone can break into the house, but Rachel realizes this and manages to shoot the would-be-burglar in the foot but the burglar still gets away.

After Arnold was disinherited from his family he began to blackmail Mary by threatening to take his child away from her if she did not give him money.

[6][7] In 1915, Rinehart sold the film rights to The Circular Staircase to Selig Polyscope Company for an apparently small amount.

[6] It was directed by Edward LeSaint and starred Guy Oliver as Halsey, Eugenie Besserer as Ray, and Stella Razeto as Gertrude.

Rinehart started working on the play in 1917 with Avery Hopwood; they made a number of alterations to the source to prepare it for the stage.

They renamed characters, changed plot elements, and most significantly, added the titular villain, who disguises his identity under a frightening bat costume until the play's denouement.

[13] Rinehart later denied that The Bat was connected to The Circular Staircase after the works' similarities led to legal troubles over film rights.

[11] In 1920, Rineheart bought back The Circular Staircase rights from Selig Polyscope, and hoped to license The Bat for a film.