When a woman is found dead at The Whispering Pines, not only is everyone shocked, but murder is suspected. After all, why would such a well liked young lady put an end to things, or why would anyone want to do away with her? Her vagabond of a brother is suspected, since he has every cause to wish her out of the picture. Her fiancée Elwood Ranelagh also is suspected since he no longer wished to marry her but her sister. So perplexing is the case that the local authorities ca...

„The Golden Slipper and Other Problems for Violet Strange” is a collection of stories by Anna Katharine Green featuring an early edition of that familiar figure, the „girl detective”. Violet Strange is a pretty young debutante with a wealthy father and the spare time to secretly investigate various matters within her social sphere. Her knowledge of the aristocracy helps the police solve the crimes. Originally published in 1915, „The Golden Slipper” is the debut entry in the...

„The Filigree Ball” centers around the Moore mansion in Washington DC, a creepy house with a terrible library. Over several generations, three dead bodies have been found there on the hearthstone. Aside from bruises from the fall, there were no signs of violence. The police have inspected the death-dealing room and its sinister settee many times over and found no explanation. But it’s not all those bodies in the library that bring the police to the Moore house this time. It...

A mystery filled with guilt, love and anger led to death. The story is about Ebenezer Gryce, a young, energetic and determined police detective who is entrusted with the investigation of the high-profile murder of Mr. Hasbrouck, a wealthy and influential resident of the Colonnade in Lafayette Place. The only real clue is provided by the victim’s wife. She woke from a deep sleep and thought she was dreaming. She soon realized that her husband wasn’t next to her in bed. While...

Early detective novelist Anna Katharine Green was a unique writer in several respects, including the fact that many of the detectives featured in her novels are women. In this mystery, protagonist Constance Sterling takes on the seemingly impossible task of uncovering the true culprits behind the drowning death of a popular well-respected clergyman who is believed to have killed himself. The news is fatal to his fiancée. Why? And why are her two sons behaving in such a sini...

Anna Katharine Green (1846-1935), known as the „Mother of the Detective Novel”, is one of the first American writers of detective fiction. She was recognized for realism and well plotted story of her mystery stories. A tale of two families, betrayal, revenge, and murder, The Circular Story, written in 1902, is still an absorbing and notable work. We highly recommend this book to fans of classic detective fiction!

A brief early American detective novella written in 1883 by Anna Katharine Green that tells the story of a detective who arrives in a small town in Massachusetts in an attempt to investigate counterfeiters possibly connected to a series of mysterious letters addressed only to X Y Z. While he is questioning the postmaster, he learns of the Benson family and their super secretive lifestyle. They are rich and reclusive. The detective feels there is something amiss and switches...

A young pianist falls in love with a rich banker’s sixteen year old daughter after she requests to meet him in mildly mysterious circumstances. Her father will only let her marry someone with lots of money and, would you know it, hates music. The pianist decides to stop tickling the ivories and become a rich banker too. One of detective fiction master Anna Katharine Green’s earlier novels, „The Sword of Damocles” combines a budding romance set against the backdrop of New Yo...

A young girl named Juliet, draws the boys in a small village after her, and along the way a rich Colonel, whose love for her reaches farther than anyone would have expected. She also hooks a fiery, unstable man named Orrin. The Colonel gets her to swear she will marry him as soon as he finishes a stone house for her, while Orrin tries something secretive to win his love. The narrator is a former lover of Juliet, and what he tells of is a twisted tale of a selfish woman and ...

Anna Katharine Green (1846-1935) was one of the first mystery writers in the United States. Called „the mother of the detective novel”, she was known for her intricate, well-plotted stories, and this novel is no exception. Her first and best known novel, The Leavenworth Case became an overwhelming success and was the best seller of the year. The readers are held spellbound until the very last page. We highly recommend this book!

Miss Saunders is out for an adventure. One, which is full of secrets, hints, and half-lies. One, which will require all of her wits. Miss Saunders, a discreet domestic spy of some kind, is hired by Mayor Packard to look after his unaccountably abstracted wife whilst he goes out of town for a fortnight. The lady is unhappy, and the reason for her grave unhappiness is more serious than you think. A detective novel involving theft, bigamy, a haunted house, lost money, ciphers ...

A detective story which solves in an exceedingly clever manner the inexplicable death of a prosperous stockbroker and the secret of his life. The reader’s attention is first caught by a mysterious letter, the key to the situation, and is held to the end by a series of ingenious devices. A dying stockbroker accuses one of his sons of his murder. Can Mr. Gryce and Caleb Sweetwater get to the bottom of the mystery. A young lawyer, who witnesses the murder decides to help. A ni...

On the night of his wedding, Sinclair flosses a precious curiosity from his collection: an amethyst box, containing a tiny flask of deadly poison and he feels sure it can only be one of two people, his intended wife, or her cousin, Dorothy. He goes to his friend Mr. Worthington and together they fight against time to find who has the poison and stop them using it. Too late, whoever took it has used it and now there is death in the house, is it suicide or murder? „The Amethy...

„Masterpieces of Mystery” is a scintillating collection of suspenseful stories of murder and mayhem from pioneering American detective-story writer Anna Katharine Green, one of the first female writers of detective fiction. Green’s many thrillers were characterized by logical construction and a knowledge of criminal law. Her stories are full of mystery and written in an elegant manner, true to the time period in which the story is set. This collection includes the classic s...

A wealthy young couple very much in love get married. Then she disappears on their wedding day. He is confused as would be expected, and seeks some help in finding her. She was an only child as her older brother disappeared at sea, and her twin sister was killed at age 5 in a fire at school. Lots of twists and turns, as well as a secret society, all show up during the search. Green, as always, holds attention and carries the reader along. Anna Katharine Green Rohlfs (1846-1...

„That Affair Next Door” focuses on a mysterious murder that has occurred in a quiet neighborhood, incidentally in the house next door to the home of the curious middle-aged amateur sleuth Miss Butterworth. One night around midnight Miss Butterworth 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 and a policeman find the body of a woman crushed to death...

After several people apparently vanish into thin air while walking along the same country road, New York aged detective inspector Mr. Gryce calls on the skills of Miss Amelia Butterworth to help him solve this most puzzling crime. In „Lost Man’s Lane” the author Anna Katharine Green shows that she has lost none of her cunning in inventing an intricate and absorbing plot, and in unfolding it carefully bit by bit by the agency of her chosen hero or heroine. This is classic Gr...

A detective story first published in 1911, it is one of the book of Ebenezer Gryce series, „Initials Only” deals with the case of beautiful young heiress Edith Challoner. She is murdered in the writing room of a luxury hotel while nobody is near her, and no shot is heard and no bullet found in the deadly wound. She is seemingly stabbed to death, yet no one was seen near her. How then was she killed? Among Miss Challoner’s personal belongings are found letters signed with in...

A beautiful young woman is interviewed by Coroner Golden and new Deputy sheriff Mr. Hammersmith. Her mother has been found dead in the nearby forest but the woman alleges they both rented rooms in Three Forks Tavern. The landlord Mr. Quimby deny her story. She describes the room her mother was in but a search reveals no room that matches it. But the sheriff believes her and he insists on staying in the tavern overnight while the coroner goes to collect his jury. He has a va...

A classic detective story of murder and punishment by one of America’s finest mystery writers. Widow Clemmens is struck down in her parlor while the town’s legal professionals chat outside the courthouse down the street and there is no sign of the killer. An investigation is made and two equally plausible suspects are quickly unearthed. But who actually committed the crime? And what role does the mysterious Miss Imogene Dare play in this drama? A powerful detective story, c...

In a small town Shelby shrouded in secrets a woman seeks to find the truth behind a terrible injustice in this classic mystery from „the mother of the detective novel”. Deborah attempts to prove that her husband was wrongly convicted of murder and was subsequently executed for a crime which she is sure he did not commit. She wants his name cleared so her daughter can marry the man she loves. Determined to prove her husband’s innocence, Deborah believes the judge who convict...

Originally published between 1894 and 1900, „A Difficult Problem” is a collection of ten short works of mysterious fiction by Anna Katharine Green. These ten short stories include the mystery and crime stories as their basic theme. This whodunit collection brings to you some of Green’s finest crime mysteries to keep you at your toes: „The gray madam”, „The bronze hand”, „Midnight in Beauchamp Row”, „The staircase at the Heart’s Delight” and others. Anna Katharine Green (Nov...

Celebrated as one of the most important early female writers of detective fiction, Anna Katherine Green was lauded for her meticulous plotting and attention to detail. In this classic mystery novel, a universally beloved woman Agatha Webb and a household servant are found dead. Would her husband do it for money matters? Or would it be the rich and well-connected Mr. Fredrick, who ran away into the woods? Detective Caleb Sweetwater works to untangle the plot that involves bl...

A melodramatic mystery, in which a young lawyer is called to the house of a dying woman to draw up her will. While searching for her legal heirs, meets a beautiful woman with a mysterious scar. The lawyer soon finds that his search for the heirs leads to some very unusual occurrences. Events then take a very sinister turn... As ever, with Anna Katherine Green, this early novel features love-struck young men; high-minded ladies with a propensity to faint, and whose reticence...