The Story
- Genre: cozy mystery
- Form: novel
- First book in the Mr. Gryce series, but can be read as a standalone
- Reading time: 7h30
- Published in 1877
- Status: in the public domain everywhere
- Read online for free at Standard EBooks
- Setting: It takes place in New York City and New York State during the 1870s.
- Premise: When Horatio Leavenworth gets shot in his library, Mr Raymond, a lawyer, is asked to look after the interests of Mr Leavenworth’s nieces, Mary and Eleonore. As Mr Leavenworth also became their guardian when they were orphaned, it stands to reason to consider that they will inherit. The coroner’s inquest establishes that there is not enough evidence for the moment, but that the murderer is part of the household. Detective Gryce is in charge of the investigation and is not opposed to collaborating with Mr Raymond. But when Eleonore starts to act suspiciously and when it becomes clear that she had the key to the library where the body was found, Mr Raymond tries his best to avoid an arrest. But what to think of Hannah, a maid who disappeared the night of the murder, what about Mr Harwell, the personal secretary of the deceased, and what will the reading of the will reveal? As the investigation progresses, Detective Gryce’s behaviour makes Mr Raymond wonder if he is a real partner or if he is hiding things from him. To add to the confusion, Mr Raymond has to face deceiving appearances and, smitten with one of the nieces, struggles to remain objective.
Literary context
Anna Katharine Green was the first woman writer of detective novels in the United States. She pioneered the mystery series, with a recurring detective, a decade before the creation of Sherlock Holmes. She had an influence on other writers, including Agatha Christie. As one of the first, she shaped the genre and established some of its rules and format.
The Leavenworth Case is her first novel. It is written from the point of view of Mr Raymond, though it introduces Detective Gryce for his first case in the series. In this novel, she also launches “a body in the library” trope. So try not to read it as some new instance of it. When Green did it, it had never been done before.
The writing is also literary, with beautiful phrasings and imagery. There is some romance, and the book is said to belong to the sentimental genre as well – that’s to say that it focuses greatly on emotions. This crossover between genres may be explained by the fact that she is innovating and creating something new out of a familiar literary context: the Victorian novel and the sentimentality in the women’s literature of her time.
Close reading
I will be very vague to avoid spoiling, but for those who would like to slow read the book, you may want to pay attention to:
- The police procedural aspect of the book and the legal process: how the book tries to be as realistic as possible – the coroner’s inquest, the will, and other legal concerns, etc
- The different kinds of evidence – circumstantial evidence, tangible proof – and how to tell if it is evidence at all or just a bias
- How some characters explain things away or justify their innocence in a very personal way, sometimes even in an irrational way. Why do they think it is evidence enough?
- The struggle between rationality and objectivity, and emotions
- The similarities and differences between the two cousins
- Are the two cousins sisterly or antagonists?
- Is Mr Raymond too much of a gentleman for his own good?
- Pay attention to the omnipresence of eye movements: are they significant or just a quirk? How do they tell about the characters, their personalities, and their emotions in the moment?
