The Golden Slipper and Other Problems for Violet Strange

Anna Katharine Green

Summary

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. Green has been called "the mother of the detective novel".
In a discussion of women writers of detective fiction, scholar Ellen Higgins in 1994 chronicled the work of Green as popularizing the genre a decade before Arthur Conan Doyle brought out his first Sherlock Holmes story. "I only found out afterward that some people were a little upset with it because they don't want to hear about women competing with the master", Higgins said.
Green is credited with shaping detective fiction into its classic form, and developing the series detective. Her main character was detective Ebenezer Gryce of the New York Metropolitan Police Force, but in three novels he is assisted by the nosy society spinster Amelia Butterworth, the prototype for Miss Marple, Miss Silver and other creations.
She also invented the 'girl detective': in the character of Violet Strange, a debutante with a secret life as a sleuth. Indeed, as journalist Kathy Hickman writes, Green "stamped the mystery genre with the distinctive features that would influence writers from Agatha Christie and Conan Doyle to contemporary authors of suspenseful "whodunits". In addition to creating elderly spinster and young female sleuths, Green's innovative plot devices included dead bodies in libraries, newspaper clippings as "clews", the coroner's inquest, and expert witnesses. Yale Law School once used her books to demonstrate how damaging it can be to rely on circumstantial evidence.
Scroll Up and Get Your Copy Now.

Available since: 08/09/2020.

Other books that might interest you

A Slice of Murder

Marissa De Luna

A groom-to-be is cut down at his engagement party, and solving the case won’t be a piece of cake . . . Shilpa Solanki’s talent is making sure that special occasions are accompanied by special cakes, and her first booking after her move to Devon, England—where she’s inherited a house in Otter’s Reach—is a posh engagement party for Mason Connolly and Harriet Drew. Unfortunately, a knife has been used for something other than cutting the cake. Now Shilpa is working to uncover layers of secrets and scandals in hopes of identifying the killer who permanently parted Mason and Harriet—and before she’s done, someone else might get iced . . .

Show book

The Fuhrer's Orphans

David Laws

In this moving novel based on true events, a teacher and a British spy discover a group of children hiding from the Nazis in WWII Munich. 
 
When their parents are taken to concentration camps, twenty-seven children are left alone, hungry, and scared. Claudia Kellner, a German elementary school teacher, discovers the group hiding in a deserted Munich railroad yard. Only able to hide two of them in her home, she is desperate to find shelter for the others. 
 
Meanwhile, British spy Peter Chesham has penetrated Third Reich territory. But his critical mission is interrupted when he discovers the orphans’ hiding place. Following through on his orders would have fatal consequences for them. But giving up could mean losing the war. Now Peter and Claudia must work together, attempting an impossible rescue operation with the children’s lives—and the fate of the world—at stake.

Show book

The First Murder

Carol Goodman Kaufman

The ME ruled her death an accident. He was dead wrong.
 
When Mary Jane Bennett is found dead in her bed— alone, strangled by her own scarf, and with every door in the house locked — the medical examiner rules her death accidental, the result of a sex game gone horribly awry. State police decline to investigate further, but Queensbridge Police Chief Caleb Crane doesn't buy for a minute that his good friend died this way, so he undertakes his own investigation. Facing town councilors afraid of bad publicity, an angry medical examiner, and his own personal demons, he labors to solve what he believes is the first-ever murder in his pastoral Berkshire Hills village. Complicating things: the list of suspects includes some of the people to whom he is closest — including his own wife.
 
“. . . [a] smartly-paced debut novel . . .”—Gerald Elias, author of the Daniel Jacobus mystery series
 
“. . . one of my favorite mystery reads this year . . . With a talent reminiscent of Louise Penny, Kaufman creates a small town ambience of alliances and hidden resentments among characters whose humanity draws you in while raising your suspicions. The First Murder is an engaging and intriguing journey to an exciting conclusion.”—Sharon Healy-Yang, author of the Jessica Minton Mystery Series
 
“. . . [a] deftly constructed debut novel [that] kept me guessing until the very end.”—Leslie Wheeler, award-winning author of the Berkshire Hilltown Mysteries

Show book

The Malykant Mysteries -...

Charlotte E. English

To catch a killer, send a monster.
 
There's a realm. Wreathed in ice and snow, drowning in the dark, Assevan needs a different kind of hero.
 
There's a god. Merciless and cold, and quick to anger, the Lord of the Dead insists upon one thing only: vengeance for a murdered soul.
 
And there's a man. A ruthless killer, Konrad is detective, judge and executioner in one. Dauntless, relentless, monstrous, he stands alone against the dark.
 
Meet the Malykant. Justice will be served. 
 
For the first time, all twelve Konrad Savast murder mysteries are collected in one volume! This gigantic compendium includes:
 
DEATH'S DETECTIVE: The Rostikov Legacy, The Ivanov Diamond, Myrrolen’s Ghost Circus and Ghostspeaker
 
DEATH'S AVENGER: The Corpse Thieves, The Spirit of Solstice, The House at Divoro and Snowbound 
 
DEATH'S EXECUTIONER: The Zolin Conspiracy, The Tarasov Despite, The Malefic Curse and Shandral 
 
Dive deep into Konrad's icy world. Binge the whole series in one volume.

Show book