Publisher's Synopsis
Green (1846-1935) was an American poet and novelist. One of the first writers of detective fiction in America, she distinguished herself by writing well plotted, legally accurate stories, and is credited with developing the series detective. Her main character was Ebenezer Gryce of the New York Metropolitan Police Force who first appeared in The Leavenworth Case (1878), but in three of her novels he is assisted by nosy society spinster Amelia Butterworth, a prototype for such characters as Agatha Christie's Miss Marple. Green also invented the 'girl detective' in Violet Strange, a debutante with a secret life as a sleuth. Whilst in many ways a progressive woman for her times, succeeding in a genre dominated by male writers, Green did not approve of many of her feminist contemporaries and was opposed to women's suffrage. This stand alone mystery novel was first published in 1895.
