American mystery writer Mary Roberts Rinehart, known as “the American Agatha Christie,” broke Van Dine’s rule only two years later in her book “The Door,” in which the butler is the murderer. Although the phrase “the butler did it” is associated with this book, it doesn’t actually appear in the text. The book was popular but was also lampooned for having such an obvious ending.
According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, years later, Rinehart ended up in a situation not unlike one of her books: Her personal chef of 25 years tried to kill her. He was angry that she hadn’t promoted him to be her butler. She was able to escape initially, when his gun jammed, but the chef chased after her. A chauffeur took him down while a maid took his gun and Rinehart called the police. The chef got away from the chauffeur and chased Rinehart again with two kitchen knives instead. A gardener helped the chauffeur immobilize him again. Her actual butler fled the scene instead of helping (via Mental Floss and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).
