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Anna Katharine Green
Anna Katharine Green was an American poet and novelist. She was one of the first writers of detective fiction in America and distinguished herself by writing well plotted, legally accurate stories. Green has been called "the mother of the detective novel".
She was born in Brooklyn, New York on November 11, 1846.
Green had an early ambition to write romantic verse, and she corresponded with Ralph Waldo Emerson. When her poetry failed to gain recognition, she produced her first and best known novel, The Leavenworth Case (1878), praised by Wilkie Collins, and the hit of the year. She became a bestselling author, eventually publishing about 40 books.
On November 25, 1884, Green married the actor and stove designer, and later noted furniture maker, Charles Rohlfs (1853 – 1936), who was seven years her junior. Rohlfs toured in a dramatization of Green's The Leavenworth Case. After his theater career faltered, he became a furniture maker in 1897, and Green collaborated with him on some of his designs. Together they had one daughter and two sons: Rosamund Rohlfs, Roland Rohlfs, and Sterling Rohlfs. Her daughter Rosamund married Robert Twitty Palmer.
Green died on April 11, 1935, in Buffalo, New York, at the age of 88. Her husband died the following year.
Books by Anna Katharine Green
The Leavenworth Case
The Leavenworth Case (1878), subtitled A Lawyer's Story, is an American detective novel and the first novel by Anna Katharine Green. Set in New York City, it concerns the murder of a retired merchant, Horatio Leavenworth, in his New York mansion. The...
That Affair Next Door
A perplexing mystery novel published in 1897, 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 Miss Butterworth. Consequently, the middle-ag...
The Forsaken Inn
Told from the perspective of a Mrs. Truax, the owner of an inn during the time of the American and French Revolutions, "The Forsaken Inn" is a locked-room mystery that keeps readers guessing about what has happened. A young couple stays at the inn fo...
The Doctor, his Wife, and the Clock
A man has been shot dead in his house. Ebenezer Gryce is on the case, but he has no leads, no witnesses, no evidence -- until he decides to talk to the neighbors of the victim, a blind doctor and his beautiful wife.
The House of the Whispering Pines
The country club house The Whispering Pines was closed for the winter, but only one day after he locked the place personally, the narrator sees smoke come out of the chimney. He decides to investigate and enters the house. Hidden in the dark, he sees...
The Step on the Stair
The story follows a young woman named Rosamund, who moves into a new home with her husband and soon becomes convinced that the house is haunted. As she begins to investigate the strange occurrences, she discovers a dark and sinister past that threate...
The Mill Mystery
A mysterious death at a remote mill sets the stage for a suspenseful mystery in which nothing is as it seems. "The Mill Mystery" is a novel by Anna Katharine Green that tells the story of the investigation into the death of a young woman at a remote...
A Strange Disappearance
In the midst of bustling New York City, a woman vanishes without a trace, leaving behind a haunting enigma. Anna Katharine Green's "A Strange Disappearance" unfurls a web of intrigue as a peculiar mystery takes center stage. A seemingly ordinary day...
Doctor Izard
A brilliant doctor is found dead in his office, but there is no sign of forced entry or struggle. What happened to Doctor Izard? Anna Katharine Green's classic mystery novel Doctor Izard is a suspenseful tale of murder and intrigue. The novel begins...
The Golden Slipper, and Other Problems for Violet Strange
Delve into the mind of Violet Strange, a brilliant and unconventional detective, as she unravels a series of baffling cases. Violet Strange, a young woman from New York's elite society, possesses an uncanny ability to solve mysteries that leave seas...
Woman in the Alcove
"I was, perhaps, the plainest girl in the room that night. I was also the happiest—up to one o'clock. Then my whole world crumbled, or, at least, suffered an eclipse. Why and how, I am about to relate." Thus begins this mystery told by Anna Katharine...
Initials Only
Anna Katharine Green (November 11, 1846 – April 11, 1935) was an American poet and novelist. She was one of the first writers of detective fiction in America and distinguished herself by writing well plotted, legally accurate stories (no doubt assist...
Missing: Page Thirteen
Violet Strange, a clever petite detective, is called upon to solve the mystery of a page gone missing from an important document. The futures of several people, including an eccentric misanthrope, a chemical scientist, a bride and groom, depend on th...
Millionaire Baby
A reward of five thousand dollars is offered, by Phil Ocumpaugh, to whoever will give such information as will lead to the recovery, alive or dead, of his six-year-old daughter, Gwendolen, missing since the afternoon of August the 16th, from her home...
Three Thousand Dollars
This short story by Anna Katharine Green revolves around a plot to steal some goods secured safely within an impenetrable vault within the confines of Mr. Stoughton's business concern. Nobody seems to have any clue as to how the vault can be accessed...
X Y Z - A Detective Story
"Sometimes in the course of his experience, a detective, while engaged in ferreting out the mystery of one crime, runs inadvertently upon the clue to another. But rarely has this been done in a manner more unexpected or with attendant circumstances o...
Dark Hollow
The small town of Shelby is shaken by a brutal murder. A man by the name of Etheridge was found beaten to death. A local inn-keeper, is convicted and executed for the crime. Many years later, "a woman in purple" shows up at the house of Ostrander, th...
Bronze Hand
A political society secretly operates in Baltimore. When he tries to help his beautiful neighbor Miss Calhoun recover a stolen ring which might cause great unknown danger, Mr. Abbott is drawn into the midst of the conspiracy. (Introduction by Carolin...
One of My Sons
A young girl frantically summons a gentleman walking by on the street to come in and help her grandfather. Arthur Outhwaite answers her cry for help only to find himself as the last person to see her grandfather alive and left with the admonishment f...
Amethyst Box
On the evening before his marriage, Sinclair loses a precious curiosity from his collection: an amethyst box, containing a tiny flask of deadly poison. He suspects that this poison is in the possession of either his betrothed or her cousin, the girl...
House in the Mist
It was a night to drive any man indoors. Not only was the darkness impenetrable, but the raw mist enveloping hill and valley made the open road anything but desirable to a belated wayfarer like myself. Being young, untrammeled, and naturally indiffe...
Ruby and the Caldron
A valuable ruby is lost during a disturbance in the snow before a ball at The Evergreens. A detective is called for right away to recover it, but who, of the few guests, might have the jewel, and how to solve the mystery without causing a scandal? (S...
Agatha Webb
A universally beloved woman has been murdered. But who would have the heart to kill Agatha Webb? Would her husband do it for money matters? Or would it be the cook, who died at about the same time? Or would it be the rich and well-connected Mr. Frede...
Circular Study
In this well-plotted, character-driven mystery, Detective Gryce receives a cryptic message calling him to the scene of a “strange” crime. He soon finds that the adjective is correct, for in a quiet brownstone house in a respectable New York City neig...
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