The Leavenworth Case (1878) by Anna Katharine Green is a landmark of early detective fiction. When wealthy merchant Horatio Leavenworth is found shot dead in his locked library, suspicion falls on his two beautiful nieces and heirs, Mary and Eleanore. Young lawyer Everett Raymond, captivated by both women, assists the shrewd detective Ebenezer Gryce as clues—a torn letter, a vanished servant, a mysterious stranger—lead through a maze of secrets, romance, and betrayal. Blending courtroom drama with psychological suspense, the novel became a bestseller, influenced generations of mystery writers, and established Green as the pioneering "mother of detective fiction."
