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Available
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Series
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Publication
New York: Dover Publications, 1981
Description
INCLUDES PDF OF BOOK! Published nine years before Sherlock's first appearance, this debut novel by the Mother of American Detective Fiction would be credited as changing the mystery genre forever. The Leavenworth Case's dynamic prose and intriguing characters-especially the introduction of Detective Gryce, the first recurring American detective in fiction-would set the stage for all mystery novels written thereafter. Agatha Christie would credit it as one of the books that encouraged her to try her hand at writing mystery in the first place. This edition includes an engaging introduction by Patricia Meredith, author of A Deed of Dreadful Note, the first historical fiction mystery featuring Anna Katharine Green, centering on the events that would lead to her writing of this, her debut novel, an effort that would take six years beginning in 1872, ending with its publication in 1878. "The Leavenworth Case is admirable. One savors its atmosphere, its studied and deliberate melodrama. Those rich and lavish descriptions of the golden beauty of Eleanor, the moonlight beauty of Mary!� and there is the maidservant, Hannah, so true to type, and the murderer, an excellent psychological study." -Hercule Poirot in The Clocks (1963) by Agatha Christie "Have I read The Leavenworth Case? I have read it through at one sitting. Her powers of invention are so remarkable-she has so much imagination and so much belief (a most important qualification for our art) in what she writes, that I have nothing to report of myself, so far, but most sincere admiration.� Dozens of times in reading the story I have stopped to admire the fertility of invention, the delicate treatment of incidents-and the fine perception of the influence of events on the personages of the story." -Wilkie Collins, author of The Woman in White and The Moonstone.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member devenish
I must admit to rather ambivalent feelings here. On the one hand this is a seminal work in the genre of murder and detection,being written nine years before Conan Doyle's great detective, Sherlock Holmes appeared on the scene. In her own detective,Ebenezer Gryce and his Watson-like assistant
So,5✯ in many ways,but I must deduct a star for the melodrama. Thus 4✯ is my final (and difficult) verdict.
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Everett Raymond,Green has written an ideal team. Briefly, the whole tale hinges upon the murder of the wealthy Horatio Leavenworth who's body is discovered within his locked library,shot through the head. The main members of the family living with him at that time are his two nieces Mary and Eleanore and both are prime suspects in the murder. So far so good,but on the other side of the coin,and a great detraction for me to this basically excellent story,is the large amount of melodrama and what I would describe as 'fainting and shrieking' moments. William Le Queux can get away with it but Anna Katherine Green cannot.So,5✯ in many ways,but I must deduct a star for the melodrama. Thus 4✯ is my final (and difficult) verdict.
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LibraryThing member souloftherose
This has been called the first American detective novel, however it seems that's probably not quite true but Anna Katherine Green may have been the first author to develop the series detective as she wrote several series featuring different detectives. The Leavenworth Case, first published in 1878,
"And here let me say that Mr. Gryce, the detective, was not the thin, wiry individual with the piercing eye you are doubtless expecting to see. On the contrary, Mr. Gryce was a portly, comfortable personage with an eye that never pierced, that did not even rest on you. If it rested anywhere, it was always on some insignificant object in the vicinity, some vase, inkstand, book, or button. These things he would seem to take into his confidence, make the repositories of his conclusions; but as for you—you might as well be the steeple on Trinity Church, for all connection you ever appeared to have with him or his thoughts. At present, then, Mr. Gryce was, as I have already suggested, on intimate terms with the door-knob."
Mr Gryce, though, takes something of a back seat in this story which is narrated by the young lawyer, Everett Raymond, who is called in to provide advice and assistance to Mr Leavenworth's young and beautiful nieces after Mr Leavenworth has been found shot, sitting at his desk in his study. It transpires that the house was locked up for the night and there are no signs of forced entry leading to the shocking conclusion that it may have been someone inside the house who did the deed. Evidence is produced at the inquest which even more shockingly seems to point to one of Mr Leavenworth's nieces as the killer leading Raymond Everett to declare that he will clear the young lady's name by any means necessary (I had to wonder at this point whether he would have been as easily convinced of the lady's innocence if she hadn't been quite so beautiful).
It's a fairly melodramatic story but one which I enjoyed a lot until the solution which seemed to come out of nowhere. Recommended for anyone who likes early detective stories like the Sherlock Holmes tales but be aware that the writing style is quite different.
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is the first in a 12 book series featuring Ebenezer Gryce, a New York detective:"And here let me say that Mr. Gryce, the detective, was not the thin, wiry individual with the piercing eye you are doubtless expecting to see. On the contrary, Mr. Gryce was a portly, comfortable personage with an eye that never pierced, that did not even rest on you. If it rested anywhere, it was always on some insignificant object in the vicinity, some vase, inkstand, book, or button. These things he would seem to take into his confidence, make the repositories of his conclusions; but as for you—you might as well be the steeple on Trinity Church, for all connection you ever appeared to have with him or his thoughts. At present, then, Mr. Gryce was, as I have already suggested, on intimate terms with the door-knob."
Mr Gryce, though, takes something of a back seat in this story which is narrated by the young lawyer, Everett Raymond, who is called in to provide advice and assistance to Mr Leavenworth's young and beautiful nieces after Mr Leavenworth has been found shot, sitting at his desk in his study. It transpires that the house was locked up for the night and there are no signs of forced entry leading to the shocking conclusion that it may have been someone inside the house who did the deed. Evidence is produced at the inquest which even more shockingly seems to point to one of Mr Leavenworth's nieces as the killer leading Raymond Everett to declare that he will clear the young lady's name by any means necessary (I had to wonder at this point whether he would have been as easily convinced of the lady's innocence if she hadn't been quite so beautiful).
It's a fairly melodramatic story but one which I enjoyed a lot until the solution which seemed to come out of nowhere. Recommended for anyone who likes early detective stories like the Sherlock Holmes tales but be aware that the writing style is quite different.
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LibraryThing member kathleen586
I thought all the characters were somewhat annoying for about the first third of the book, but they gradually grew on me. Everett Raymond was unnecessarily clueless, and I didn't really identify with Eleanore or Mary. The language was also a bit too flowery for my taste; I usually don't mind
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Victorian Era language so I'm not sure what was different this time. I was a little disappointed in the end of the book, but I can't say why without giving it away. Show Less
LibraryThing member Bookmarque
This is another book that helped shape the detective and mystery genre. When eventually published in 1878 it became a wild success, selling a million copies and becoming a required text at Yale Law School. Must have been quite a blow to Green’s father whose disapproval of novels caused his
While not perfect, the book does a good job of illustrating how easy it is to fit facts to a hypothesis and not the other way around. Though Ebenezer Gryce is the official detective, he lets junior attorney Everett Raymond pursue his own line of inquiry driven by his utter conviction that Eleanore Leavenworth must be innocent. The circumstantial evidence against her coupled with her own stubborn silence makes it a hard case to prove. He goes at it doggedly and rationally though his whole supposition is flawed and he’s man enough to admit he was wrong when Gryce confronts him with the fruits of his own investigation.
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daughter write it in secret which took years. Oh and he was a trial lawyer too. Funny.While not perfect, the book does a good job of illustrating how easy it is to fit facts to a hypothesis and not the other way around. Though Ebenezer Gryce is the official detective, he lets junior attorney Everett Raymond pursue his own line of inquiry driven by his utter conviction that Eleanore Leavenworth must be innocent. The circumstantial evidence against her coupled with her own stubborn silence makes it a hard case to prove. He goes at it doggedly and rationally though his whole supposition is flawed and he’s man enough to admit he was wrong when Gryce confronts him with the fruits of his own investigation.
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LibraryThing member antiquary
Generally regarded as an early American classic mystery novel, with the "miilionaire shot in his library" adopted to a New York City setting, investigated by a young lawyer, Mr. Raymond, who tells the story, and the police detective Mr. Gryce. the Penguin edition quotes the British Prime Minister
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Stanley Baldwin as saying in 1928 that it was still one of the bet mysteries ever written. I would not go that far, but it is a good period piece, if you like the period, and I do. After all, it appeared the same year as A Study in Scarlet Show Less
LibraryThing member encephalical
The Victorian era gender norms overwhelmed me. Paragraphs extolling the feminine ideal and how the narrator constrained his thinking by them were incredibly boring. I think I would gave enjoyed this more if it had been from Gryce's perspective. As for the mystery itself, not bad, not great, but not
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bad. Show Less
LibraryThing member ritaer
Another truly classic mystery, published in the mid 1800s. A wealthy man is shot dead in his library. A servant in the house mysteriously disappears. An English gentleman seems interested in the household. But the two prime suspects are the beautiful cousins who are the dead man's nieces. The
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oddest aspect of the case is that the man adopted both nieces when they were only ten, yet decided for unknown reasons to make only one his heir. It does make it rather difficult to feel that his murder was any great loss to the world. The narrator is a lawyer working for the firm patronized by the dead man. He is smitten by one of the young women and endures great mental anguish as his efforts to aid the detective in the case seem only to pile up evidence against her. The detective delegates much of the footwork to the young lawyer because he is a gentleman, able to converse with witnesses and suspects on equal terms, whereas the detective is of a lower class. There is a surprise ending, which I will not spoil, marred in my mind by the suspect being allowed to fade out of the reader's memory for a good part of the action. The language is of the time, a little florid for modern tastes, especially in describing the lovely young women. There is also a bit of racism, although really bad for the times. Anna Green was a prolific author and several of her works are available in electronic format. Show Less
LibraryThing member EricCostello
Creaky and melodramatic on the one hand; on the other hand, this book was innovative, in that many of the tropes that would soon become very familiar, most notably the "gather the suspects and I'll name the murderer" are done here for either the first time, or very early in its development. On that
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grounds (but largely on that grounds), this book should be read by fans of mystery fiction. Show Less
LibraryThing member Vesper1931
Wealthy Horatio Leavenworth, is found dead one morning. Evidence seems to point to one of his nieces who lived with him. Everett Raymond a junior partner in an attorney firm decides he must provide her innocence.
An entertaining read of a book published in 1878 and introducing the reader to the
A NetGalley book
An entertaining read of a book published in 1878 and introducing the reader to the
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detective, Ebenezer Gryce, who appears in many of her books. A NetGalley book
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LibraryThing member drthubbie
A bit overwrought in some of the "eyes are like limpid pools of moonlight; lips rose petals blushed with the dew" types of descriptions. Nonetheless a good plot.
Subjects
Awards
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1878
Physical description
iv, 475 p.; 20 cm