The Leavenworth Case

author：	Anna Katherine Green
readBy：	Jim Killavey
inLanguage：	english

Anna Katharine Green 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. She is generally regarded at the author who inspired Agatha Christie to begin her writing career.

Although she was a best-selling author, and published 40 books, her first mystery, The Leavenworth Case, turned out to be her best. It was an overnight success that sold 750,000 copie - a huge amount for that time. The book was praised for the mastery of legal points and was used at Yale University to demonstrate the fallacy of circumstantial evidence. It was made into a critically acclaimed movie in 1936.

Horatio Leavenworth is a New York merchant whose material wealth is matched by his eminence in the community and reputation for good works. He is also the guardian of two striking nieces who share his Fifth Avenue mansion. Mary, her uncle's favorite, is to inherit her uncle's fortune at his death. As this mystery opens, that lamentable event has just occurred. Leavenworth has been shot to death and circumstances point to one of his young wards.