Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A perfect mystery!
I'm one of those people addicted to British mysteries, both on TV and in print.I enjoy the older TV crop, Rumple of the Bailey, Miss Marple, Poirot Frost, etc, but I do enjoy some of the new TV productions that the British offer too.As far as books, I am also of the old school, Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, Poirot, Tommy and Tuppence, etc.Of course, all the authors I like have passed on, and while I do re-read their books over and over, I miss new mysteries of the old school.I say that because if any of you feel as I do, I can offer you a wonderful solution that I surprised and delighted me, and that is the works of Anna Katherine Green.I know there are lots of better informed reviewers on Amazon, so please forgive me if I am preaching to the choir, but I had never heard of Green before, let alone that she was the inspiration of Agatha Christie, Conan Doyle, Mary Roberts Rinehart, etc.I just had never heard of her, (some American TV producer should read her books and make a US mystery series in the British manner since we have exhausted Christie, Doyle, and Rinehart!), but I digress.

Here is really what I wanted to say, if you love Agatha, and the rest, and miss new mysteries, and are tired re-reading from your existing library, (because you know `whodunit'), than here is a wonderful surprise, you can read the works of Anna Katherine Green!Short and sweet, she `wrote the book' on these types of `locked door' mysteries, or they type favored by you and I.She was American, but the method, the situations, the characters and motives are all as good as the British authors she inspired.Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-American, I'm an American, but its the style of Green and those she inspired that I love, and I think you know what I mean.

Drink from the well that was the source, and enjoy some fresh mysteries!It's nice for a change NOT knowing whodunit!

Fantastic Female Detective!For lovers of Christie!
I'm so happy to see some of the great works of Anna Katherine Green; she has become one of my favorite writers, after I ran out of Christie's books to read.I found out that Agatha Christie, got into writing after reading Greens' books, who was a bestselling author who publishing about 40 books.I read she was first poet and later became a novelist to get attention to her poetry, however, she was so successful at mystery plotting, (she was an expert at the gradual unfolding of the mystery through the successful unearthing of clue after clue), that she dove right into mystery writing only.

She was one of the first writers of detective fiction in America and distinguished herself by writing legally accurate stories, something like Law and Order in the way that the stories are accurate and sometimes based on actual cases.Her many fans besides me, include such literary luminaries as Arthur Conan Doyle, Wilkie Collins, Mary Roberts Rinehart, and Agatha Christie. In fact, not just Christie, but Rinehart wrote that it was the novels of Anna Katharine Green which first inspired her to become writers of mystery fiction to.

In this classic mystery story featuring the first woman detective, Katherine Anna Green's legendary character Violet Strange has been hailed as the first fictional female detective series. If you love classic mysteries in the Agatha Christie vein, you will love the Violet Strange stories. Violet was a young woman from a wealthy family, who was gifted with remarkable detective skills. When her father disowned her sister for choosing a musical career, Violet set out to earn enough money to launch her sister's career and to support them both. But she knew the decision would estrange her from the man she loved. Soon she was facing a baffling mystery in The Golden Slipper, and don't worry, there are more Violet Strange stories here!

You'll love them all as I did!

... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Product Description
The Old Stone House and Other Stories is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Anna Katharine Green is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Anna Katharine Green then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Classic Mystery
The first part of the book (over 50%) is a really good classic mystery.I would have given it a five star rating.The last part of the book were very short story mysteries which were more thought-provoking than classic mystery.Overall I enjoyed the book, especially because it was free. ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

not a good book at all
the stories missing words and pages changes the scene too much and although it seems valuable the story seems too be dragged out to make the story longer ... Read more

Product Description
BOOK I - SMOKE
I.--THE HESITATING STEP
II.--IT WAS SHE--SHEINDEED!
III.--"OPEN!"
IV.--THE ODD CANDLESTICK
V.--A SCRAP OFPAPER
VI.--COMMENTS AND REFLECTIONS
VII.--CLIFTON ACCEPTS MYCASE
VIII.--A CHANCE! I TAKE IT

BOOK II - SWEETWATER TO THEFRONT
IX.--"WE KNOW OF No SUCH LETTER"
X.--"I CAN HELP YOU"
XI.--IN THECOACH HOUSE
XII.--"LILA--LILA!"
XIII.--"WHAT WE WANT IS HERE"
XIV.--THEMOTIONLESS FIGURE
XV.--HELEN SURPRISES SWEETWATER
XVI.--62 CUTHBERTROAD
XVII.--"MUST I TELL THESE THINGS?"
XVIII.--ON IT WASWRITTEN--
XIX.--"IT'S NOT WHAT YOU WILL FIND"

BOOK III - HIDDENSURPRISES
XX.---"HE OR YOU! THERE IS NO THIRD"
XXI.--CARMELAWAKES
XXII.---"BREAK IN THE GLASS!"
XXIII.--AT TEN INSTEAD OFTWELVE
XXIV.--ALL THIS STOOD
XXV.--"I AM INNOCENT"
XXVI.--THE SYLLABLEOF DOOM
XXVII.--EXPECTANCY
XXVIII.--"WHERE Is MY BROTHER?"

BOOK IV- WHAT THE PINES WHISPERED
XXIX.--"I REMEMBERED THEROOM"
XXX.--"CHOOSE"
XXXI.--"WERE HER HANDS CROSSED THEN?"
XXXII.--ANDI HAD SAID NOTHING!
XXXIII.--THE ARROW OFDEATH
XXXIV.--"STEADY!"
XXXV.--"As IF IT WERE A MECCA"
XXXVI.--THESURCHARGED MOMENT

Customer Reviews (1)

"You do not often see such beauty"
Carmel Cumberland at seventeen is of such rare beauty that Elwood Ranelagh, upon seeing her, falls directly out of love with his fiancé, her older sister Adelaide, and madly in love with Carmel.

His selfish attempt to marry Carmel in place of Adelaide indirectly leads to Adelaide's murder.

The scene of the crime is Ranelagh's clubhouse, The Whispering Pines, just after he, its president, has locked it up for the winter. No one should have been there that snowy winter night, but several people were, either having secret meetings or wandering about in the dark. The police struggle to figure it out, as they lay a murder charge first against Ranelagh, and then Arthur Cumberland, the dissipated brother of Carmel and Adelaide.

So perplexing is the case that the local authorities call in an ace detective from the New York City police force. Sweetwaters with his weak chin and protruding nose impresses no one, until he begins uncovering disturbing new evidence.

Anna Katherine Green was the daughter of a prominent trial lawyer, and as a child she often listened to him discussing cases with his friends - fellow lawyers, judges and police chiefs. When she later became a best selling novelist, Green was greatly admired for her accurate presentation of the law, forensics and police procedure.

In The House of the Whispering Pines, published in 1910, Green does a masterful job of portraying tricky interrogations. Her inquest and trial scenes are rich in drama and suspense.

Green is credited with many original contributions to the genre of detective fiction, including the invention of the detective series.

I found this book thoroughly enjoyable. There's nothing quite like a good vintage mystery, with characters dashing about in one-horse sleighs through the blinding snow, their emotions in turmoil. ... Read more

Product Description
The Mill Mystery by Anna Katharine Green

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Customer Reviews (1)

Lots of sudden deaths & dark doings
Anna Katherine Green (1846-1935) was known for her complex plots, and the plot is the best thing about this book. There's no real development of several of the main characters. They just plunge into their adventures with glittering eyes and pounding hearts.

Initially the mystery revolves around the death of a beloved young minister, Mr. Barrows, who's found drowned in the vat of an old abandoned mill. In a modern thriller, forensics would quickly determined if it was suicide or murder. But no such luck in 1886, when this book was published. A beautiful young woman called Constance has to figure it out.

Constance is constant to a promise she made to her roommate Ada Reynolds, the fiancée of Mr. Barrows. Ada does not accept the idea of suicide and wants Constance to clear her lover's name of this awful suspicion. Ada drops dead of heart failure just after Mr. Barrows' death. Sudden deaths are rife in this novel.

Constance finds a sinister connection between the clergyman and the rich and locally prominent Pollard family. In the earliest stages of her contact with them, she's drawn to the oldest son of the family - a somewhat unconvincing case of love at first sight. This naturally complicates her investigation, which will be full of shocking discoveries.

Green at her best is a melodramatic but ingenious weaver of mysteries. She helped shape the genre of detective fiction, and her influence lives on in Miss Marple and Sherlock Holmes. This is not her best effort, however. I'd recommend instead The Leavenworth Case, her greatest mystery. Another good one is The House of the Whispering Pines. But if you're reading all her works, as I am, The Mill Mystery will be of interest. ... Read more

Product Description
The dance was over. From the great house on the hill the guests had all departed and only the musicians remained. As they filed out through the ample doorway, on their way home, the first faint streak of early dawn became visible in the east. One of them, a lank, plain-featured young man of ungainly aspect but penetrating eye, called the attention of the others to it.
... Read more

Product Description
The Woman in the Alcove by Anna Katharine Green

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Click on our Editor Name (eBook-Ventures) next to the book title above to view all of the titles that are currently available.
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Customer Reviews (4)

The Woman in the Alcove
This is one of the most refreshingly well written mysteries I have read in awhile. At least as good and maybe better than Christie, who I find to be somewhat predictable and less original in some of her plots. Green is a real find.

Miss Van Arsdale Goes Undercover
A forerunner of the classic English mystery genre, The Woman in the Alcove was written by an American in 1905. Miss Van Arsdale, short and plain, is a member of the lower echelon of New York's high society, and has recentlyresigned her self to a life as a spinster nurse. As the story opens, she is attending a grand party at the Ramsdells' mansion, and is swept off her feet by Anson Durand, who proposes marriage. But the star of the evening is not a person; it is the spectacular diamond worn by the elegant Mrs. Fairbrother.

During the course of the evening, Mr. Durand and Miss Van Arsdale are often separated, and she notices some decidedly odd goings-on in the curtained alcove at the end of one of the large salons. It comes to pass that Mrs. Fairbrother is murdered there, ostensibly for her diamond, and Mr. Durand, alas, is the prime suspect.

But Miss Van Arsdale is certain that her one true love is innocent. Could this be a set-up? She determines to discover who is the real perpetrator, and manages to convince Inspector Dalzell to assist her in quest to identify that true villain.

This book is a delight to read if only for its illustrations. The plot is an intriguing one, but it is narrated in the first person, which by necessity makes it a "talky" sort of mystery, with only brief episodes of action. The vocabulary and speech patterns of the day contribute to that quality. Also, it was rather difficult to believe that Miss Van Arsdale could fall so instantly and completely in love with a man withwhom she had never spoken to prior this meeting. Finally, Inspector Dalzell comes across as a rather blinkered detective, having made up his mind that first night that Durand had to be guilty.

Miss Van Arsdale is a true Edwardian heroine. The Woman in the Alcove, despite its naivete, is a very proper yet very enjoyable little mystery that deserves a modern readership.

A perfect mystery!
I'm one of those people addicted to British mysteries, both on TV and in print.I enjoy the older TV crop, Rumple of the Bailey, Miss Marple, Poirot Frost, etc, but I do enjoy some of the new TV productions that the British offer too.As far as books, I am also of the old school, Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, Poirot, Tommy and Tuppence, etc.Of course, all the authors I like have passed on, and while I do re-read their books over and over, I miss new mysteries of the old school.I say that because if any of you feel as I do, I can offer you a wonderful solution that I surprised and delighted me, and that is the works of Anna Katherine Green.I know there are lots of better informed reviewers on Amazon, so please forgive me if I am preaching to the choir, but I had never heard of Green before, let alone that she was the inspiration of Agatha Christie, Conan Doyle, Mary Roberts Rinehart, etc.I just had never heard of her, (some American TV producer should read her books and make a US mystery series in the British manner since we have exhausted Christie, Doyle, and Rinehart!), but I digress.

Here is really what I wanted to say, if you love Agatha, and the rest, and miss new mysteries, and are tired re-reading from your existing library, (because you know `whodunit'), than here is a wonderful surprise, you can read the works of Anna Katherine Green!Short and sweet, she `wrote the book' on these types of `locked door' mysteries, or they type favored by you and I.She was American, but the method, the situations, the characters and motives are all as good as the British authors she inspired.Now, about British vs. American, I'm not anti-American, I'm an American, but its the style, and I think you know what I mean.Green is American, and her stories are set there.They just that 'certain something' that makes it work.

Drink from the well that was the source, and enjoy some fresh mysteries!It's nice for a change NOT knowing whodunit!

IF you love Christie, or Rinehart, you'll love this book too!
I'm so happy to see some of the great works of Anna Katherine Green; she has become one of my favorite writers, after I ran out of Christie's books to read.I found out that Agatha Christie, got into writing after reading Greens' books, who was a bestselling author who publishing about 40 books.I read she was first poet and later became a novelist to get attention to her poetry, however, she was so successful at mystery plotting, (she was an expert at the gradual unfolding of the mystery through the successful unearthing of clue after clue), that she dove right into mystery writing only.

She was one of the first writers of detective fiction in America and distinguished herself by writing legally accurate stories, something like Law and Order in the way that the stories are accurate and sometimes based on actual cases.Her many fans besides me, include such literary luminaries as Arthur Conan Doyle, Wilkie Collins, Mary Roberts Rinehart, and Agatha Christie. In fact, not just Christie, but Rinehart wrote that it was the novels of Anna Katharine Green which first inspired her to become writers of mystery fiction to.

The Woman in the Alcove is one of her best novels, and a great mystery, I'm such a fan, and so happy to have found these books, that a year ago I had never heard of.Here's how this mystery starts..."I was, perhaps, the plainest girl in the room that night. I was also the happiest - up to one o'clock. Then my whole world crumbled, or, at least, suffered an eclipse. Why and how, I am about to relate...."I'll let you in on one thing and one thing only: it wasn't the Butler!
If you love a mystery, if you love Christie, or Rinehart, you'll love this book too!Green has the ability to make her novels feel rich and complete, and the mystery sound.

Now back to my mystery!

... Read more

Product Description
The House in the Mistand The Woman in the Alcove ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A treasure trove of classic mysteries
The genre of detective fiction would not be the same without Anna Katharine Green. Her prolific production of bestselling mysteries spanned two centuries, from 1880 to 1923. She was busily inventing many of the conventions of detection well before the appearance of Sherlock Holmes.

Green wrote thirty-six detective novels, so this Kindle collection, offering twenty-five books, is a good sampling of her work. Several of the "books" are really short pieces, but novels predominate. And her most important novel, The Leavenworth Case, is included. British prime minister Stanley Baldwin (in 1928) called this book "one of the best detective stories ever written."

As a young man, Arthur Conan Doyle corresponded with Green and was inspired by her work, as was Agatha Christie, who credited Green's influence in her autobiography. I'm pleased that Green was an American, since so many distinguished mystery writers, past and present, are British.

Though shy and petite, Green was a powerhouse, raising children and tending house and garden while she wrote - and always earning more than her husband. She held traditional values and opposed the suffragist movement - but I think of her as a feminist at heart. She was noted for her strong women investigators.

Green invented the idea of the detective series, and you can follow her great detectives at work in this collection, including crafty Inspector Ebenezer Gryce of the indirect gaze; Miss Amelia Butterworth, forerunner of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple; the young debutant sleuth Violet Strange; and a number of other engaging investigators, both male and female.

I've so far read several delightful mysteries in this Kindle file, and two not so great ones (Green was uneven). But I'm pleased to have such a terrific collection on my ipad for those restless nights that cry out for a good mystery. ... Read more

Product Description
"The man ahead of uspresenting in every respect the appearance of a gentlemanhad suddenly stooped to the kerb and was washing his hands in the snowfurtivelybut with a vigour and purpose which could not fail to arouse the strangest conjectures in any chance onlooker..." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A perfect mystery!
I'm one of those people addicted to British mysteries, both on TV and in print.I enjoy the older TV crop, Rumple of the Bailey, Miss Marple, Poirot Frost, etc, but I do enjoy some of the new TV productions that the British offer too.As far as books, I am also of the old school, Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, Poirot, Tommy and Tuppence, etc.Of course, all the authors I like have passed on, and while I do re-read their books over and over, I miss new mysteries of the old school.I say that because if any of you feel as I do, I can offer you a wonderful solution that I surprised and delighted me, and that is the works of Anna Katherine Green.I know there are lots of better informed reviewers on Amazon, so please forgive me if I am preaching to the choir, but I had never heard of Green before, let alone that she was the inspiration of Agatha Christie, Conan Doyle, Mary Roberts Rinehart, etc.I just had never heard of her, (some American TV producer should read her books and make a US mystery series in the British manner since we have exhausted Christie, Doyle, and Rinehart!), but I digress.

Here is really what I wanted to say, if you love Agatha, and the rest, and miss new mysteries, and are tired re-reading from your existing library, (because you know `whodunit'), than here is a wonderful surprise, you can read the works of Anna Katherine Green!Short and sweet, she `wrote the book' on these types of `locked door' mysteries, or they type favored by you and I.She was American, but the method, the situations, the characters and motives are all as good as the British authors she inspired.And for the record, I'm not anti-American, I'm an American, but its the style that Green did create, that I like so much, and was followed well by the British, that I like so much, I hope you know what I mean. :)

Drink from the well that was the source, and enjoy some fresh mysteries!It's nice for a change NOT knowing whodunit!

Great and flawless detective novel!
I'm so happy to see some of the great works of Anna Katherine Green; she has become one of my favorite writers, after I ran out of Christie's books to read. I found out that Agatha Christie, got into writing after reading Greens' books, who was a bestselling author who publishing about 40 books. I read she was first poet and later became a novelist to get attention to her poetry, however, she was so successful at mystery plotting, (she was an expert at the gradual unfolding of the mystery through the successful unearthing of clue after clue), that she dove right into mystery writing only.
She was one of the first writers of detective fiction in America and distinguished herself by writing legally accurate stories, something like Law and Order in the way that the stories are accurate and sometimes based on actual cases. Her many fans besides me, include such literary luminaries as Arthur Conan Doyle, Wilkie Collins, Mary Roberts Rinehart, and Agatha Christie. In fact, not just Christie, but Rinehart wrote that it was the novels of Anna Katharine Green which first inspired her to become writers of mystery fiction to.

I am half way through Initials Only, and its great - some of the passages of detective work are just flawless and first rate - better than anything written these days, (well, as good as the best)...it's locked me in and I loved it.Green really lays out the clues, andI am already looking forward to reading it a second time actually just to see the expertise in her work. Truly a great book. Enjoy!

If you love a mystery, if you love Christie, or Rinehart, you'll love this book too! Green has the ability to make her novels feel rich and complete, and the mystery sound.
... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishings Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the worlds literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Product Description
Webster's edition of this classic is organized to expose the reader to a maximum number of synonyms and antonyms for difficult and often ambiguous English words that are encountered in other works of literature, conversation, or academic examinations. Extremely rare or idiosyncratic words and expressions are given lower priority in the notes compared to words which are ¿difficult, and often encountered¿ in examinations. Rather than supply a single synonym, many areprovided for a variety of meanings, allowing readers to better grasp the ambiguity of the English language, and avoid using the notes as a pure crutch. Having the reader decipher a word's meaning within context serves to improve vocabulary retention and understanding. Each page covers words not already highlighted on previous pages. If a difficult word is not noted on a page, chances are that it has been highlighted on a previous page. A more complete thesaurus is supplied at the end of the book; synonyms and antonyms are extracted from Webster's Online Dictionary.

PSAT¿ is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination Board and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation neither of which sponsors or endorses this book; SAT¿ is a registered trademark of the College Board which neither sponsors nor endorses this book; GRE¿, AP¿ and Advanced Placement¿ are registered trademarks of the Educational Testing Service which neither sponsors nor endorses this book, GMAT¿ is a registered trademark of the Graduate Management Admissions Council which is neither affiliated with this book nor endorses this book, LSAT¿ is a registered trademark of the Law School Admissions Council which neither sponsors nor endorses this product. All rights reserved. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Pearl Pureheart meets Snidely Whiplash
I'm a big fan of Victorian mysteries, but this one let me down.The author was supposedly the inspiration for writers such as Wilkie Collins, Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, etc.That's like calling a cave painting the inspiration for the Mona Lisa.The story was clumsy, totally unrealistic, and melodramatic even by Victorian potboiler standards.I kept expecting Snidely Whiplash to appear, it was *that* hokey.I can't even attribute the book's silliness to age: it was published in 1880, a time when there were lots of good mystery writers around.I'm just glad I didn't have to pay for it.

A perfect mystery!
I'm one of those people addicted to British mysteries, both on TV and in print.I enjoy the older TV crop, Rumple of the Bailey, Miss Marple, Poirot Frost, etc, but I do enjoy some of the new TV productions that the British offer too.As far as books, I am also of the old school, Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, Poirot, Tommy and Tuppence, etc.Of course, all the authors I like have passed on, and while I do re-read their books over and over, I miss new mysteries of the old school.I say that because if any of you feel as I do, I can offer you a wonderful solution that I surprised and delighted me, and that is the works of Anna Katherine Green.I know there are lots of better informed reviewers on Amazon, so please forgive me if I am preaching to the choir, but I had never heard of Green before, let alone that she was the inspiration of Agatha Christie, Conan Doyle, Mary Roberts Rinehart, etc.I just had never heard of her, (some American TV producer should read her books and make a US mystery series in the British manner since we have exhausted Christie, Doyle, and Rinehart!), but I digress.

Here is really what I wanted to say, if you love Agatha, and the rest, and miss new mysteries, and are tired re-reading from your existing library, (because you know `whodunit'), than here is a wonderful surprise, you can read the works of Anna Katherine Green!Short and sweet, she `wrote the book' on these types of `locked door' mysteries, or they type favored by you and I.She was American, but the method, the situations, the characters and motives are all as good as the British authors she inspired.

Drink from the well that was the source, and enjoy some fresh mysteries!It's nice for a change NOT knowing whodunit!

IF you love Christie, or Rinehart, you'll love this book too!
I'm so happy to see some of the great works of Anna Katherine Green; she has become one of my favorite writers, after I ran out of Christie's books to read.I found out that Agatha Christie, got into writing after reading Greens' books, who was a bestselling author who publishing about 40 books.

I read she was first poet and later became a novelist to get attention to her poetry, however, she was so successful at mystery plotting, (she was an expert at the gradual unfolding of the mystery through the successful unearthing of clue after clue), that she dove right into mystery writing only. She was one of the first writers of detective fiction in America and distinguished herself by writing legally accurate stories, something like Law and Order in the way that the stories are accurate and sometimes based on actual cases.

Her many fans besides me, include such literary luminaries as Arthur Conan Doyle, Wilkie Collins, Mary Roberts Rinehart, and Agatha Christie. In fact, not just Christie, but Rinehart wrote that it was the novels of Anna Katharine Green which first inspired her to become writers of mystery fiction to.

A Strange Disappearance is her second novel, and a great mystery, I'm only half way through and I'm trying to ration myself because its soooo good!If you love a mystery, if you love Christie, or Rinehart, you'll love this book too!

More enjoyable than the first in the series
The "Strange Disappearance" involves a sewing woman who disappears from the household of Holman Blake, much to the dismay of housekeeper Mrs. Daniels, who calls the police even while Mr. Blake remains indifferent to the issue. Ebenezer Gryce and his investigator, known only as "Q," arrive on the scene to a near-hysterical Mrs. Daniels and an annoyed and uncooperative Mr. Blake. Thus begins a series of questions regarding the stated and real objectives of Ms. Daniels and Mr. Blake, and another series of questions as to the reasons for their respective states of hysteria or indifference regarding the disappearance.

In this, the second novel in the "Mr. Gryce" series, Anna Katharine Green lays out two apparently unrelated mysteries, to which Mr. Gryce assigns Q to investigate. Green introduced Q in The Leavenworth Case as rather a shadowy character who gets the job done in spite of, or more likely because of, his strangeness. He was arguably the most enthralling character in the novel. Q's ability to follow leads and ferret out clues, along with his mastery of disguise render him the perfect leg man for the brilliant but reclusive Ebenezer Gryce.

Like The Leavenworth Case, Anna Katharine Green presents the story of A Strange Disappearance from a first-person viewpoint. However, in the former, the narrator was Everett Raymond, a member of the law firm that handled the Leavenworth's legal matters. In the latter, to my delight, the narrator is Q. When he comes to some rash and controversial conclusions, Q finds as much challenge in convincing Mr. Gryce of his own competence as he does in solving the two cases and uncovering the relationship, if any, between the two.

The Leavenworth Case has been Anna Katharine Green's best-known and best-selling novel. However, owing to the storytelling prowess of Q and a compelling story-within-a-story told by Holman Blake, A Strange Disappearance was for this reader even more enjoyable than the first. ... Read more

Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Fiction / General; Fiction / Classics; Fiction / Literary; Fiction / Mystery ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A perfect mystery!
I'm one of those people addicted to British mysteries, both on TV and in print.I enjoy the older TV crop, Rumple of the Bailey, Miss Marple, Poirot Frost, etc, but I do enjoy some of the new TV productions that the British offer too.As far as books, I am also of the old school, Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, Poirot, Tommy and Tuppence, etc.Of course, all the authors I like have passed on, and while I do re-read their books over and over, I miss new mysteries of the old school.I say that because if any of you feel as I do, I can offer you a wonderful solution that I surprised and delighted me, and that is the works of Anna Katherine Green.I know there are lots of better informed reviewers on Amazon, so please forgive me if I am preaching to the choir, but I had never heard of Green before, let alone that she was the inspiration of Agatha Christie, Conan Doyle, Mary Roberts Rinehart, etc.I just had never heard of her, (some American TV producer should read her books and make a US mystery series in the British manner since we have exhausted Christie, Doyle, and Rinehart!), but I digress.

Here is really what I wanted to say, if you love Agatha, and the rest, and miss new mysteries, and are tired re-reading from your existing library, (because you know `whodunit'), than here is a wonderful surprise, you can read the works of Anna Katherine Green!Short and sweet, she `wrote the book' on these types of `locked door' mysteries, or they type favored by you and I.She was American, but the method, the situations, the characters and motives are all as good as the British authors she inspired.Hey, I'm not anti-American, I'm an American, but its the style of these early mysteries that is what I love and I think you know what I mean.

Drink from the well that was the source, and enjoy some fresh mysteries!It's nice for a change NOT knowing whodunit!

IF you love Christie, or Rinehart, you'll love this The Chief Legatee too!
I'm so happy to see some of the great works of Anna Katherine Green; she has become one of my favorite writers, after I ran out of Christie's books to read.I found out that Agatha Christie, got into writing after reading Greens' books, who was a bestselling author who publishing about 40 books.I read she was first poet and later became a novelist to get attention to her poetry, however, she was so successful at mystery plotting, (she was an expert at the gradual unfolding of the mystery through the successful unearthing of clue after clue), that she dove right into mystery writing only.

She was one of the first writers of detective fiction in America and distinguished herself by writing legally accurate stories, something like Law and Order in the way that the stories are accurate and sometimes based on actual cases.Her many fans besides me, include such literary luminaries as Arthur Conan Doyle, Wilkie Collins, Mary Roberts Rinehart, and Agatha Christie. In fact, not just Christie, but Rinehart wrote that it was the novels of Anna Katharine Green which first inspired her to become writers of mystery fiction to.

The Chief Legatee - a Legatee is a beneficiary in a will - is one of my favorite Green best novels, and a great mystery, I'm such a fan, and so happy to have found these books, that a year ago I had never heard of.Here's how this mystery starts..." I was married today in Grace Church. At the altar my bride-you probably know her name Miss Georgian Hazen-wore a natural look and was in all respects so far as anyone could see a happy woman satisfied with her choice and pleased with the elegancies of the occasion.."But murder was in the card...not a honeymoon!
If you love a mystery, if you love Christie, or Rinehart, you'll love this book too!Green has the ability to make her novels feel rich and complete, and the mystery sound.

Now back to my mystery!

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Product Description
That Affair Next Door is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Anna Katharine Green is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Anna Katharine Green then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Miss Butterworth catches the "fever of investigation"
This is one of Anna Katharine Green's most accomplished mysteries. It offers the reader a bizarre murder with the sly, seventy-seven-year-old Inspector Gryce on the case; an inquest rich in shocking revelations; more than one broken heart; and best of all, Miss Amelia Butterworth.

Miss Butterworth belongs to the inner circle of New York society in 1895. Over fifty and free of "the doubtful blessing of a husband," she is orderly, logical, unsentimental and a lady with impeccable taste. Her exclusive address at Gramercy Park puts her right next door to a shocking murder.

As we might expect, Miss Butterworth enjoys looking out her windows. One night around midnight she sees a man and woman enter the Van Burnam mansion, which is supposed to be empty. The man leaves soon after, but the woman does not. On the following day, Miss Butterworth persuades a policeman to enter the quiet house to see if anything's amiss. They find the body of a woman crushed to death under a cabinet in the parlor.

This is just the beginning of a complex investigation full of wrong turns and faulty conclusions. The clues are particularly delightful - a pincushion out of place, lost keys, lost rings, too many women's hats etc. Early on, Miss Butterworth feels that her worth has not been appreciated by the police. So she undertakes her own investigation - and has the time of her life doing it.

Despite a few erroneous notions, Miss Butterworth emerges as a truly amazing detective - and wins Gryce's admiration. She's charmer, a crusty old maid with a well-concealed soft heart - and quite a slippery interrogator. Agatha Christie's Miss Marple was inspired by the delightful Miss Butterworth.

Green was famous for her intricate plots, and That Affair Next Door is a first-rate example of her skill.

Another excellent mystery from Green
Returning from a trip abroad, the Van Burnam family enters their New York mansion to find a dead woman on the dining room floor. A curio cabinet has fallen on top of her, crushing her face, and law officers suspect that the victim is the wife of one of the Van Burnam sons. However, the son insists that he does not recognize the victim. How did this woman get into this locked house? Whose are those strange garments she is wearing? What is her hat doing in the closet and a strange, gaudy hat crushed underneath her? Why did the coroner insist that the woman was dead when the curio fell?

The story itself was 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.

In That Affair Next Door, Mr. Gryce owes much of his success to the main witness, a woman named Miss Amelia Butterworth, who lives next door to the crime scene. Having read about Green's life and political views at the University of Texas Tarlton Law Library's "Law in Popular Culture" site, I suspect that Miss Butterworth may have been Green's alter ego. The story itself is written in first person with Miss Butterworth narrating.

The first thing that struck me regarding the protagonist, Miss Butterworth, was the remarkable contrast between her and the victimized main witness in The Mystery of the Hasty Arrow. Miss Butterworth, a fifty-ish spinster, is well able to take care of herself and has no qualms about helping Mr. Gryce and even conducting some investigation on her own. Any attempt to victimize or take advantage of this woman would have been discovered in a trice and rebuffed with a flourish.

Notwithstanding Miss Butterworth's self-reliance, Green's prose offers a window into class and gender roles as they stood in the late nineteenth century. Her vivid descriptions of socially acceptable and unacceptable behavior picture clearly how much society has changed over the past century. One can only speculate regarding what attitudes the author intended to express. Looking into her own life, we see a woman who was successful professionally (she always earned more than her husband), but not inclined to support women's causes, such as suffrage. The fact that she was able to overcome any barriers to her professional success may have been part of her reason for finding women's causes unnecessary. As a woman who advised Conan Doyle in his early career and partnered with her husband in designing award-winning furniture she certainly served as the epitome of female success, well able to overcome any obstacles society may have established. ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishings Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the worlds literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Why does every tenant flee this house?
If you appreciate secret passageways, menacing messages in mysterious cipher, hidden treasures, floor boards that creak in the night, cranky old butlers, crazy old ladies, and beautiful heroines tormented by nameless fears - you should enjoy this mystery as much as I did.

Young Miss Saunders desperately needs work, so she accepts a peculiar job as temporary companion to the mayor's wife, a once serenely happy woman who has suddenly become nervous and depressed. The mayor is campaigning and can't be home with her. Basically he needs a kind-hearted and resourceful spy to unravel the mystery and restore his wife's happiness. A tall order, but Miss Saunders is not lacking in wit, heart or courage.

It quickly becomes apparent that the mayor and his beautiful wife, who love each other dearly, have rented a haunted house. For some years no tenant has stayed there longer than a month. Miss Saunders, of course is too sensible to believe in ghosts. She intends to find the natural cause behind the supernatural manifestations that the house offers up quite regularly.

This may not be the greatest of Green's novels, but it's well stocked with colorful characters, and the reader and Miss Saunders get to grapple with multiple mysteries.

Anna Katharine Green was a shy, introverted, Victorian-style woman with a wonderful talent for creating fearless, no-nonsense women investigators. Her plots were so ingenious that some contemporary critics thought she must be a man writing under a female pseudonym. Although her works are not much in the public eye these days, they influenced both Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie. I personally think Green deserves a revival, and I'm on a project to read all her novels. ... Read more

Product Description
Anna Katharine Green (1846-1935) 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. She has been called the American Agatha Christie. ... Read more

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The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Fiction / Mystery ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Why is Agatha Christie is a household word and Anna Katharine Green not?
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?

Green adds a peculiar twist with the fact that two heartbroken relatives of the victim sacrifice virtually everything to protect the murderer. The story leans heavily on the "woman as victim" theme, a concept that may have fallen from favor as the years have passed and women have become more their own persons rather than someone's wife. Here, Green plumbed the depths of women's motivations, leading the reader through a realm more fascinating than the motivations of the actual perpetrator. In doing so, she paints a horrific vision of Gryce's pursuit one somewhat peripheral character for questioning. The chapter is aptly called "Terror" and would make a marvelous movie scene involving a yawning ravine, a narrow and unreliable bridge and a dark, stormy night. More unfathomable than the ravine itself is the reason that the woman, who was in no way suspected of the crime, would make such a desperate attempt to avoid being found and questioned.

A murder mystery by nature actively engages the reader more than a romance or adventure because the reader becomes involved in picking up clues and ultimately predicting the resolution of the story. Green realized this fact and invited the reader to become part of the investigative team, offering a set of diagrams that picture in three dimensions where the victim and each attendee was located at the time that the cry of murder rang out. The diagrams are interesting to follow, but not all that necessary for the enjoyment of the story.

Hasty Arrow is a satisfying mystery because Green carefully ties up every small clue and explains every motivation in this strange story. When I finished reading the book, the only mystery left in my mind was why Agatha Christie is a household word and Anna Katharine Green is not.

A perfect mystery!
I'm one of those people addicted to British mysteries, both on TV and in print.I enjoy the older TV crop, Rumple of the Bailey, Miss Marple, Poirot Frost, etc, but I do enjoy some of the new TV productions that the British offer too.As far as books, I am also of the old school, Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, Poirot, Tommy and Tuppence, etc.Of course, all the authors I like have passed on, and while I do re-read their books over and over, I miss new mysteries of the old school.I say that because if any of you feel as I do, I can offer you a wonderful solution that I surprised and delighted me, and that is the works of Anna Katherine Green.I know there are lots of better informed reviewers on Amazon, so please forgive me if I am preaching to the choir, but I had never heard of Green before, let alone that she was the inspiration of Agatha Christie, Conan Doyle, Mary Roberts Rinehart, etc.I just had never heard of her, (some American TV producer should read her books and make a US mystery series in the British manner since we have exhausted Christie, Doyle, and Rinehart!), but I digress.

Here is really what I wanted to say, if you love Agatha, and the rest, and miss new mysteries, and are tired re-reading from your existing library, (because you know `whodunit'), than here is a wonderful surprise, you can read the works of Anna Katherine Green!Short and sweet, she `wrote the book' on these types of `locked door' mysteries, or they type favored by you and I.She was American, but the method, the situations, the characters and motives are all as good as the British authors she inspired.Oh, and by the way, I'm not anti-American, I'm an American, but its the style that Green created, and that the British followed that I love, I think you know what I mean.

Drink from the well that was the source, and enjoy some fresh mysteries!It's nice for a change NOT knowing whodunit!

A perfect mystery!

IF you love Christie, or Rinehart, you'll love this book too!
I'm so happy to see some of the great works of Anna Katherine Green; she has become one of my favorite writers, after I ran out of Christie's books to read.I found out that Agatha Christie, got into writing after reading Greens' books, who was a bestselling author who publishing about 40 books.I read she was first poet and later became a novelist to get attention to her poetry, however, she was so successful at mystery plotting, (she was an expert at the gradual unfolding of the mystery through the successful unearthing of clue after clue), that she dove right into mystery writing only.

She was one of the first writers of detective fiction in America and distinguished herself by writing legally accurate stories, something like Law and Order in the way that the stories are accurate and sometimes based on actual cases.Her many fans besides me, include such literary luminaries as Arthur Conan Doyle, Wilkie Collins, Mary Roberts Rinehart, and Agatha Christie. In fact, not just Christie, but Rinehart wrote that it was the novels of Anna Katharine Green which first inspired her to become writers of mystery fiction to.

In this book, which I just finished and was so enjoyed, you will find Victorian detective writing at its finest. The era of Sherlock Holmes, gas lights and horse drawn carriages. In this mystery we are treated to the immortal master of deduction Mr. Gryce - watch and discover how Gryce solves a murder that baffled everyone until at the end, we watch him unknot the murder using The Clue of the Hasty Arrow.

Gryce is perfect.
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Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Lawyers; American fiction; Fiction / Mystery ... Read more

Product Description
A Difficult Problem - 1900 is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Anna Katharine Green is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Anna Katharine Green then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Product Description
Publisher: Indianapolis Bobbs-Merrill CoNotes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there. ... Read more