The Leavenworth Case

by Anna Katharine Green

Overview

A Joss Recording

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.

Circumstantial evidence points in one direction; but is that the trail to follow? Not to give anything away, but Yale University used this book in its law school to demonstrate the fallability of such evidence.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789357275637
Publisher:	Double 9 Booksllp
Publication date:	01/01/2023
Pages:	344
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.77(d)

About the Author

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.

Table of Contents

BOOK I. THE PROBLEM

I. "A GREAT CASE"

II. THE CORONER'S INQUEST

III. FACTS AND DEDUCTIONS

IV. A CLUE

V. EXPERT TESTIMONY

VI. SIDE-LIGHTS

VII. MARY LEAVENWORTH

VIII. CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE

IX. A DISCOVERY

X. MR. GRYCE RECEIVES NEW IMPETUS

XI. THE SUMMONS

XII. ELEANORE

XIII. THE PROBLEM

BOOK II. HENRY CLAVERING

XIV. MR. GRYCE AT HOME

XV. WAYS OPENING

XVI. THE WILL OF A MILLIONAIRE

XVII. THE BEGINNING OF GREAT SURPRISES

XVIII. ON THE STAIRS

XIX. IN MY OFFICE

XX. "TRUEMAN! TRUEMAN! TRUEMAN!"

XXI. A PREJUDICE

XXII. PATCH-WORK

XXIII. THE STORY OF A CHARMING WOMAN

XXIV. A REPORT FOLLOWED BY SMOKE

XXV. TIMOTHY COOK

XXVI. MR. GRYCE EXPLAINS HIMSELF

BOOK III. HANNAH

XXVII. AMY BELDEN

XXVIII. A WEIRD EXPERIENCE

XXIX. THE MISSING WITNESS

XXX. BURNED PAPER

XXXI. "THEREBY HANGS A TALE."

XXXII. MRS. BELDEN'S NARRATIVE

XXXIII. UNEXPECTED TESTIMONY

BOOK IV. THE PROBLEM SOLVED

XXXIV. MR. GRYCE RESUMES CONTROL

XXXV. FINE WORK

XXXVI. GATHERED THREADS

XXXVII. CULMINATION

XXXVIII. A FULL CONFESSION

XXXIX. THE OUTCOME OF A GREAT CRIME

Editorial Reviews

First published in 1878, nine years before the debut of Sherlock Holmes in A Study in Scarlet, this atmospheric and suspenseful mystery well deserves a modern audience. When someone shoots Horatio Leavenworth, a wealthy retired merchant, through the head in his library late one night, the evidence at the inquest indicates that no one could have left the victim's locked Manhattan mansion before the discovery of the body the next morning. Suspicion thus falls on members of the household, specifically the dead man's nieces, Mary and Eleanore, only one of whom stands to benefit from their uncle's death. Everett Raymond, a junior partner in a New York law firm that had Leavenworth as a client, teams with unassuming official investigator Ebenezer Gryce to seek the truth. Green (1846-1935), whose smooth prose remains fresh, makes Gryce an interesting enough character to leave fans of traditional whodunits eager to see more of the detective in reissues of his further exploits. (May)

Publishers Weekly