The Leavenworth Case

By Anna Katharine Green and Michael Sims

The classic genre-defining whodunit, by the mother of the detective novel

Introducing the first American series detective, Ebenezer Gryce, The Leavenworth Case was published nine years before the debut of Sherlock Holmes, and made author Anna Katharine Green an enormously popular and influential writer who changed the mystery genre forever. Showcasing Green's verve and style, The Leavenworth Case opens with the shocking murder of Horatio Leavenworth, a wealthy New York merchant, philanthropist, and well-known member of the community. His favorite niece, Mary, is to inherit his fortune, and all of the evidence seems to implicate her or her sister. Yet surprises greet Gryce at every turn-even before the second murder.

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Release date: Apr 27, 2010
• ISBN: 9781101549773

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.

Reviews for The Leavenworth Case

[antiquary_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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 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

[encephalical · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

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 bad.

[kathleen586 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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 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.

[bookmarque · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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 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.

[souloftherose · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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, 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.

[bogopea · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great old-timey mystery that takes place in New York City during the Victorian era--this does not read like a modern novel. Any afficionado of Patricia Wentworth or Agatha Christie would enjoy this.

[devenish_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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 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.