The Leavenworth Case: A Lawyer's Story

Written by Anna Katharine Green and Patricia Meredith

Narrated by Andrew D Meredith

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

• Language: English
• Publisher: Games Afoot, LLC
• Release date: Sep 12, 2023
• ISBN: 9798868658426

Anna Katharine Green

Anna Katharine Green (1846–1935) was an American writer and prominent figure in the detective genre. Born in New York City, Green developed an affinity for literature at an early age. She studied at Ripley Female College in Vermont and was mentored by poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson. One of Green’s best-known works is The Leavenworth Case, which was published in 1878. It was a critical and commercial success that made her one of the leading voices in literature. Over the course of her career, Green would go on to write nearly 40 books.