Mr. Gryce

A story of mystery and crime and is here narrated with an artistic skill which inevitably holds the interest of the reader, even to the point of the highest tension, to the close of the last chapter. A real marvel of fiction! (Green's first mystery novel.)

Before Sherlock Holmes, There Was Private Detective Ebenezer Gryce. The Leavenworth Case is one of the very first mystery masterpieces of our modern times. Set in New York City, detective Ebenezer Gryce investigates the curious murder case of a very rich man, Horatio Leavenworth. Many clues lead to the victim's nieces, but are they truly responsible for their uncle's death? Maybe this is where 'The butler did it' started or maybe, just maybe, Leavenworth's private secretary had something to do with it.

The Leavenworth Case is one of Green's novels of crime and mystery.

This classic mystery by one of the first female authors of detective novels has influenced the writing of Agatha Christie and thrilled generations of avid readers Everett Raymond is a junior partner in the firm of Veeley, Carr & Raymond, attorneys and counselors at law. When Mr. Horatio Leavenworth, a very old and wealthy client, is found murdered, Everett finds himself entangled in the case. Leavenworth has been inexplicably shot while sitting at his own library table at night, all the doors in the house locked and untampered with. Suicide is quickly ruled out. Was the killer someone inside the house? Suspects abound: Thomas, the butler; Harwell, the private secretary and amanuensis to Mr. Leavenworth; and Mary and Eleanore Leavenworth, the two lady nieces, one of whom has been left out of her uncle's will. Everett dives in as right-hand man to the inscrutable police detective Ebenezer Gryce, a brilliant investigator on the New York Metropolitan Police Force.   From a vanished servant to a secret marriage, from a shadowy mustached man to a forged confession, this swiftly plotted Victorian-era mystery, full of twists and turns and devastating cliffhangers, will keep you guessing until the very last page. Influential in the development of the modern suspense novel and a huge bestseller when it was first published, The Leavenworth Case is a groundbreaking tale not to be missed.   This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

This Detective Story Club Classic is introduced by Dr. John Curran, who looks at how Anna Katherine Green was a pioneer who inspired a new generation of crime writers, in particular a young woman named Agatha Christie. When the retired merchant Horatio Leavenworth is found shot dead in his mansion library, suspicion falls on his nieces, Mary and Eleanore, who stand to inherit his vast fortune. Their lawyer, Everett Raymond, infatuated with one of the sisters, is determined that the official investigator, detective Ebenezer Gryce, widens the inquiry to less obvious suspects. The Leavenworth Case, the first detective novel written by a woman, immortalised its author Anna Katharine Green as 'The Mother of Detective Fiction'. Admired for her careful plotting and legal accuracy, the book enjoyed enormous success both in England and America, and was widely translated. It was republished by The Detective Story Club after Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, speaking at the 1928 Thanksgiving Day dinner of the American Society in London, remarked: 'An American woman, a successor of Poe, Anna K. Green, gave us The Leavenworth Case, which I still think one of the best detective stories ever written.'

A Difficult Problem' is one of Green's short stories of crime and mystery. Anna Katharine Green was born in Brooklyn, New York, USA in 1846. She aspired to be a writer from a young age, and corresponded with Ralph Waldo Emerson during her late teens. When her poetry failed to gain recognition, Green produced her first and best-known novel, The Leavenworth Case (1878). Praised by Wilkie Collins, the novel was year's bestseller, establishing Green's reputation. Green wrote at a time when fiction, and especially crime fiction, was dominated by men. However, she is now credited with shaping detective fiction into its classic form, and developing the trope of the recurring detective.

" 'The Sword of Damocles' is a book of great power, which far surpasses either of its predecessors from her pen, and places her high among American writers. The plot is complicated and is managed adroitly. ... In the delineation of characters she has shown both delicacy and vigor."

This early work by Anna Katharine Green was originally published in 1883 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introduction. 'Hand and Ring' is one of Green's novels of crime and mystery. Anna Katharine Green was born in Brooklyn, New York, USA in 1846. She aspired to be a writer from a young age, and corresponded with Ralph Waldo Emerson during her late teens. When her poetry failed to gain recognition, Green produced her first and best-known novel, The Leavenworth Case (1878). Praised by Wilkie Collins, the novel was year's bestseller, establishing Green's reputation. Green wrote at a time when fiction, and especially crime fiction, was dominated by men. However, she is now credited with shaping detective fiction into its classic form, and developing the trope of the recurring detective.

Widow Clemmens is struck down in her parlor while the town's legal professionals chat outside the courthouse down the street. An investigation is made and two equally plausible suspects are quickly unearthed. But is either guilty? And what role does the mysterious Miss Imogene Dare play in this drama? A classic Green mystery notable particularly for the extended courtroom scenes in the second half of the book.

A classic detective story of murder and punishment by one of America's finest mystery writers In a small New York town, the local legal professionals are discussing the nature of crime. Breaking the law, they conclude, does not pay in modern society, as the criminal will undoubtedly be caught. A mysterious hunchbacked stranger approaches the group to interject. "The smart ones don't make tracks," he says before disappearing. Meanwhile, just out of earshot, a woman has been murdered. Mrs. Clemmens was attacked in her home and there is no sign of the killer. As the case unfolds, several plausible suspects present themselves. But who actually committed the crime? And what should be made of the mysterious stranger who had such confidence in the abilities of the seasoned outlaw?

"Behind Closed Doors" is an 1888 detective novel written by American novelist Anna Katharine Green. The fifth book in Green's detective series featuring Mr. Gryce, "Behind Closed Doors" is a riveting tale of mystery and intrigue not to be missed by fans of classic detective fiction and collectors of Green's sensational work. Anna Katharine Green (1846–1935) was an American novelist and poet. Among the first writers of detective fiction in America, she is considered to be the "mother" of the genre for her legally-accurate and well-thought-out plots. Other notable works by this author include: "The Leavenworth Case" (1878), "A Strange Disappearance" (1880), and "The Circular Study" (1900). Read & Co. Classics is proudly republishing this vintage detective novel now in a brand new edition complete with a specially-commissioned new biography of the author.

First published in 1890, "A Matter of Millions" is a detective novel written by American novelist Anna Katharine Green. The story revolves around a dying man who, having no living relatives, leaves his fortune to someone who resembles the woman whom he loved. The sixth book in Green's detective series featuring Mr. Gryce, "A Matter of Millions" is a riveting tale of mystery and intrigue not to be missed by fans of classic detective fiction. Anna Katharine Green (1846–1935) was an American novelist and poet. Among the first writers of detective fiction in America, she is considered to be the "mother" of the genre for her legally-accurate and well-thought-out plots. Other notable works by this author include: "The Leavenworth Case" (1878), "A Strange Disappearance" (1880), and "The Circular Study" (1900). Read & Co. Classics is proudly republishing this vintage detective novel now in a brand new edition complete with a specially-commissioned new biography of the author.

This early work by Anna Katharine Green was originally published in 1895 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introduction. 'The Doctor, His Wife, and the Clock' is one of Green's novels of crime and mystery. Anna Katharine Green was born in Brooklyn, New York, USA in 1846. She aspired to be a writer from a young age, and corresponded with Ralph Waldo Emerson during her late teens. When her poetry failed to gain recognition, Green produced her first and best-known novel, The Leavenworth Case (1878). Praised by Wilkie Collins, the novel was year's bestseller, establishing Green's reputation. Green wrote at a time when fiction, and especially crime fiction, was dominated by men. However, she is now credited with shaping detective fiction into its classic form, and developing the trope of the recurring detective.

Published in 1895, The Doctor, his Wife, and the Clock was written by noted American crime novelist, Anna Katharine Green.

This classic whodunit by the nineteenth-century author of The Leavenworth Case introduces the original spinster sleuth: Amelia Butterworth. Living alone in the moneyed Manhattan neighborhood of Gramercy Park, Amelia Butterworth is happy to keep to herself. But awakened one night by the sound of a horse-drawn cab outside her mansion, she spies a curious couple entering a home she knows to be empty. When only the man emerges, Amelia calls the police-and is suddenly the sole witness to a murder. But Amelia intends to do more than simply be interrogated, much to the chagrin of Det. Ebenezer Gryce. She has questions of her own, and soon the police detective and amateur sleuth are in a race to see who can solve the crime first.

First published in 1897, That Affair Next Door is another fascinating study in human motivations intertwined with bits and pieces of circumstantial evidence that at first make very little sense. True to Green's style, she calls up and explains each motivation, each piece of evidence with mathematical precision until the mystery unravels and the perpetrator is punished in a most fitting fashion.

The first book in an exciting new classic mystery series created in partnership with the Library of Congress, That Affair Next Door follows Miss Amelia Butterworth, an inquisitive single woman who becomes involved in a murder investigation after the woman next door turns up dead. Miss Amelia Butterworth is unmarried but quite content as an observer of human nature-until late one evening she notices a man and woman enter the supposedly empty house next door, whose owners are away on a trip abroad. Suspiciously, the man leaves the house some time later, but the woman doesn't follow. The next morning Miss Butterworth finds the woman dead, mysteriously crushed under a cabinet. When Detective Ebenezer Gryce takes on the case, Miss Butterworth decides to take matters into her own hands and solve the murder herself.

New York detective Mr. Gryce employs the aid of Miss Amelia Butterworth to unravel the mystery of multiple disappearances on a particular stretch of country road. The ninth book in Green's detective series featuring Mr. Gryce and the second featuring Miss. Butterworth, "Lost Man's Lane" is a riveting murder mystery not to be missed by fans of classic detective fiction. Anna Katharine Green (1846–1935) was an American novelist and poet. Among the first writers of detective fiction in America, she is considered to be the "mother" of the genre for her legally-accurate and well-thought-out plots. Other notable works by this author include: "The Leavenworth Case" (1878), "A Strange Disappearance" (1880), and "The Circular Study" (1900). Read & Co. Classics is proudly republishing this vintage detective novel now in a brand new edition complete with a specially-commissioned new biography of the author.

Ever since my fortunate-or shall I say unfortunate?-connection with that famous case of murder in Gramercy Park, I have had it intimated to me by many of my friends-and by some who were not my friends-that no woman who had met with such success as myself in detective work would ever be satisfied with a single display of her powers, and that sooner or later I would find myself again at work upon some other case of striking peculiarities. As vanity has never been my foible, and as, moreover, I never have forsaken and never am likely to forsake the plain path marked out for my sex, at any other call than that of duty, I invariably responded to these insinuations by an affable but incredulous smile, striving to excuse the presumption of my friends by remembering their ignorance of my nature and the very excellent reasons I had for my one notable interference in the police affairs of New York City. Besides, though I appeared to be resting quietly, if not in entire contentment, on my laurels, I was not so utterly removed from the old atmosphere of crime and its detection as the world in general considered me to be. Mr. Gryce still visited me; not on business, of course, but as a friend, for whom I had some regard; and naturally our conversation was not always confined to the weather or even to city politics, provocative as the latter subject is of wholesome controversy.

"The Circular Study" is a 1900 detective novel by Anne Katherine Green. The story revolves around a cryptic message received by Detective Gryce that takes him to a quiet house in up-market New York City where he discovers a dead body laid out delicately in the study. With an apparently insane, deaf, and dumb butler and a bird in a cage as the only witnesses, Gryce must employ the aid of Miss Amelia Butterworth to uncover the mystery of this heinous crime.

I am not an inquisitive woman, but when, in the middle of a certain warm night in September, I heard a carriage draw up at the adjoining house and stop, I could not resist the temptation of leaving my bed and taking a peep through the curtains of my window. First: because the house was empty, or supposed to be so, the family still being, as I had every reason to believe, in Europe; and secondly: because, not being inquisitive, I often miss in my lonely and single life much that it would be both interesting and profitable for me to know. Luckily I made no such mistake this evening. I rose and looked out, and though I was far from realizing it at the time, took, by so doing, my first step in a course of inquiry which has ended-- But it is too soon to speak of the end. Rather let me tell you what I saw when I parted the curtains of my window in Gramercy Park, on the night of September 17, 1895. Not much at first glance, only a common hack drawn up at the neighboring curb-stone. The lamp which is supposed to light our part of the block is some rods away on the opposite side of the street, so that I obtained but a shadowy glimpse of a young man and woman standing below me on the pavement. I could see, however, that the woman-and not the man-was putting money into the driver's hand. The next moment they were on the stoop of this long-closed house, and the coach rolled off.

This early work by Anna Katharine Green was originally published in 1901 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introduction. 'One of My Sons' is one of Green's novels of crime and mystery. Anna Katharine Green was born in Brooklyn, New York, USA in 1846. She aspired to be a writer from a young age, and corresponded with Ralph Waldo Emerson during her late teens. When her poetry failed to gain recognition, Green produced her first and best-known novel, The Leavenworth Case (1878). Praised by Wilkie Collins, the novel was year's bestseller, establishing Green's reputation. Green wrote at a time when fiction, and especially crime fiction, was dominated by men. However, she is now credited with shaping detective fiction into its classic form, and developing the trope of the recurring detective.

A young girl frantically summons a gentleman walking by on the street to come in and help her grandfather. Arthur Outhwaite answers her cry for help only to find himself as the last person to see her grandfather alive and left with the admonishment from the dying man to deliver a letter to someone, and to that person only. Unfortunately, he dies before he can inform Outhwaite who that particular person is. Being in a house of strangers, Outhwaite is thrust into the mystery of not only finding this unknown person, but is also faced with the mysterious circumstances under which the child's grandfather died.

Anna Katharine Green (November 11, 1846 - April 11, 1935) was an American poet and novelist. She was one of the first writers of detective fiction in America and distinguished herself by writing well plotted, legally accurate stories (no doubt assisted by her lawyer father).

This early work by Anna Katharine Green was originally published in 1911 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introduction. 'Initials Only' is one of Green's novels of crime and mystery. Anna Katharine Green was born in Brooklyn, New York, USA in 1846. She aspired to be a writer from a young age, and corresponded with Ralph Waldo Emerson during her late teens. When her poetry failed to gain recognition, Green produced her first and best-known novel, The Leavenworth Case (1878). Praised by Wilkie Collins, the novel was year's bestseller, establishing Green's reputation. Green wrote at a time when fiction, and especially crime fiction, was dominated by men. However, she is now credited with shaping detective fiction into its classic form, and developing the trope of the recurring detective.

A scientific approach to a murder mystery. A teenage girl is discovered dead with an arrow through her heart in a museum. The museum is closed and all the visitors are locked while the case is being investigated.

The Mystery of the Hasty Arrow is one of Green's novels of crime and mystery.

It is the noon hour at a museum in New York City. The date: May 23, 1913. The weekday, attendance is light; the attendees are scattered between two floors. Suddenly a cry rings out from the second floor. Scrambling to Section II, the museum director discovers a teenage girl dead with an arrow through her heart. An older woman hovers over her whispering incoherent phrases in the girl's ear and offering incomprehensible answers to the director's questions. She is the only witness to the crime, or accident, as the case may be. How will the feeble, 83 year-old Mr. Gryce unravel this mystery when this witness is apparently insane? Anna Katharine Green was noted for her scientific approach to the murder mystery. In The Mystery of the Hasty Arrow she breaks more ground with her in-depth study of the psychological interplay between the murderer, the victim and the witnesses. Although more quietly paced, this mystery presents many elements of a current psychological thriller: blind ambition, narcissism, obsession and betrayal. Green adds a peculiar twist with the fact that two heartbroken relatives of the victim sacrifice virtually everything to protect the murderer.

In this Victorian—era mystery, a New York detective must uncover a plot with millions of dollars and many lives at stake. A dying man is determined to leave his wealth to someone worthy. With no known relatives-he wants it to go to a woman who resembles the one he once loved-a woman who may not even exist. Meanwhile, across New York City, young women are being murdered. They have nothing in common except for one strange detail. It seems that anyone bearing the name Jenny Rogers is in mortal danger. As Mr. Gryce investigates this perplexing mystery, he uncovers a pair of suspects who also share a name. First published in 1890, A Matter of Millions is Anna Katharine Green's sixth novel in the series that began with The Leavenworth Case.