The Leavenworth Case (1878)

About this episode

The episode discusses Anna Katherine Green's impact on detective fiction through her work 'The Leavenworth Case'.

The year is 1878. Detectives in fiction had cut shapes before (Poe, Collins and Gaboriau had all experimented) but few woman, if any, had ever been credited for work in the genre, let alone acclaimed. Along comes Anna Katherine Green, metaphorically brandishing "fingers up" to the establishment and bestowing upon the literary world this classic narrative. "The Leavenworth Case" is a story of two secretive cousins, a complex murder investigation and the lovestruck young lawyer driven to prove their innocence. It was a landmark publication when it appeared, impressively advancing the chains of the genre and introducing the world to Detective Ebeneezer Gryce in his first of 13 appearances. Thanks to Green, the modern mystery was about to get a transformative kick in the posterior! FastFacts@15:00; Summary@38:30; PIPES@1:20:00

People in this episode

Host: Lighting the Pipes

Topics covered

• detective fiction
• literary history
• murder investigation
• female authors
• 19th century literature

Keywords

• detective fiction
• Anna Katherine Green
• The Leavenworth Case
• murder mystery
• 19th century
• literary genre
• Ebeneezer Gryce

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Leavenworth Case

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