Unavailable
Unavailable
Unavailable
Ebook409 pages6 hours
The Leavenworth Case
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
Horatio Leavenworth is a New York merchant whose material wealth is matched by his eminence in the community and reputation for good works. He is also the guardian of two striking nieces who share his Fifth Avenue mansion. Mary, her uncle's favorite, is to inherit his fortune at his death. As this mystery opens, that lamentable event has just occurred. Leavenworth has been shot to death and circumstances point to one of his young wards...
Unavailable
Read more from Anna Katherine Green
The Leavenworth Case Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Dark Hollow Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5X. Y. Z. A Detective Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Leavenworth Case Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Leavenworth Case
Related ebooks
The Leavenworth Case Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Leavenworth Case Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Cases of Detective Ebenezer Gryce Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Leavenworth Case: A Lawyer's Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Essential Novelists - Anna Katharine Green: the mother of the detective novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDetective Ebenezer Gryce - Complete Murder-Mysteries Collection: 11 Novels in One Volume: New York Murder-Mysteries Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Leavenworth Case: “Perfect beauty is so rare, its effect so magical!” Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings7 to 12: A Detective Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Great Secret Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hand of Fu Manchu Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Hand Of Fu-Manchu / Being a New Phase in the Activities of Fu-Manchu, the Devil Doctor Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Return of Dr. Fu-Manchu Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Strange Disappearance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Chase of the Ruby: Action Adventure Thriller Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5THE EXPLOITS OF ELAINE (& Its Sequel The Romance of Elaine): Detective Craig Kennedy's Biggest Cases Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Great Secret Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFor the Queen Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Window at the White Cat Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Exploits of Elaine Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Witness for the Prosecution Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Betrayal Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe King of Clubs Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Exploits of Elaine Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Great Secret Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Mystery For You
Dean Koontz: Series Reading Order - with Summaries & Checklist Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Club: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5"A" is for Alibi: A Kinsey Millhone Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pretty Girls: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Life We Bury Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5None of This Is True: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summit Lake Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Paris Apartment: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finlay Donovan Is Killing It: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jack Reacher: A Mysterious Profile Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Kept Woman: A Will Trent Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pharmacist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Flight: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hidden Staircase: Nancy Drew #2 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Good Daughter: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The ABC Murders: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hunting Party: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Word Is Murder: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pieces of Her: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The River We Remember: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5False Witness: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder at the Book Club: A Gripping Crime Mystery that Will Keep You Guessing Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Murder of Roger Ackroyd Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Did I Kill You?: A Thriller Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The People Next Door Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Big Sleep Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Woman in the Library: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Leavenworth Case
Rating: 3.4921890625 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
64 ratings9 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Generally 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
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The 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.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Creaky 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 grounds (but largely on that grounds), this book should be read by fans of mystery fiction.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Wealthy 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 detective, Ebenezer Gryce, who appears in many of her books.
A NetGalley book - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This 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.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I 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.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This 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.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great 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.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I 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.