A detective story first published in 1911, "Initials Only" deals with the case of beautiful young heiress Edith Challoner dropping dead in the writing room of a luxury hotel while nobody is near her, and no shot is heard and no bullet found in the deadly wound. Did she take her own life by stabbing herself through the heart with a paper knife, later found on the floor in the hotel lobby (but with no traces of blood on it)?
Her grieving father refuses to believe the coroner's verdict of suicide, and employs an investigator who is actually part of the police force but acts on his own for most of the time.
Among Miss Challoner's personal belongings are found letters signed with initials only, O.B. Who is O.B., and what - if anything - does he have to do with her death?
Sweetwater, the investigator, finds out the identity of O.B. pretty soon, but instead of answering the questions the case poses, he only brings up more mysteries.
In the end, though, the truth is revealed by the murderer himself, and we are left with a ray of hope for the grieving people left behind in possibly finding love and happiness again.
The wikipedia entry about Anna Katharine Green dubs her as "the mother of the detective novel", having created not only the series detective later made so famous by other authors, but also inventing the prototype for Miss Marple (nosy society spinster Amelia Butterworth), the girl detective (Violet Strange, a debutante with a secret life as a sleuth) and using legally accurate descriptions of police procedures and scientific methods employed in both the murders and their solvings.
Her first mystery novel, "The Leavenworth Case", was already a bestseller ten years before Sir Arthur Conan Doyle entered the stage with Sherlock Holmes. At one time, there was even doubt on whether her books could have really been written by a woman!
Green's life (1846 to 1935) was not quite average for her times; she seems to have been a rather unconventional lady with very much her own head on her shoulders. For instance, she married relatively late (at 38 years) and a man seven years her junior.
"Initials Only" held a few surprises for me, but none of its twists and turns was so illogical or incredible as to appear ridiculous. The language and descriptions of places and people very much reflect their times. I really enjoyed reading this mystery, and will maybe look for more (free) ebooks by the same author.
I read "The Bell Jar" years ago. Very moving. Perhaps I should read it again. "Initials Only" doesn't sound like my cup of tea as I am not into detective mysteries and all that malarkey. As with film or song, my choice of fiction is normally connected with the ordinary reality of human experience.
ReplyDelete"The Bell Jar" certainly has an even more moving dimension to it when one considers the author's life (and death).
Delete"Initials Only", as a lot of my reading (many books that are 100-150 years old), is certainly not everyone's cup of tea, but every now and then, I do come across a small gem in the kindle shop for free ebooks.
I wonder if she wrote enough to interest the TV programme makers. I don't read such books as a rule but I do enjoy 'easy' Agatha Christie type TV programmes.
ReplyDeleteShe wrote around 40 books, says wikipedia, and since some of her characters appear in several stories, they'd probably work quite well as a series.
DeleteI'll bite. I read mysteries incessantly and this one sounds intriguing. It's not free, but very inexpensive for my kindle.......And your review makes me want to know more about this author.
ReplyDeleteStrange that the book would be free on the German Amazon website but not on the US one!
DeleteGlad you find it interesting enough through my review to give it a chance. After having read the wikipedia article about the author, I was amazed that I had never come across her before.
This sounded good so I went to Amazon and they had it free for the Kindle, naturally I ordered it.
ReplyDeleteNice to know! I hope you'll enjoy it. And even if not - at least you did not waste any money on it :-)
DeleteWhat fun to hear that it was a woman who began the custom of having a series detective. I once had a writing teacher who said that women make such good mystery writers because they have a lot of reasons to want to do away with people, but it's safer and easier to do it in print than in real life! xoxo
ReplyDeleteAn interesting explanation, Carol, and I do believe it is true for many a mystery writer!
DeleteHow could this lady have escaped my attention; thanks for telling us about her and I think I would like this book.
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome! I was amazed not having heard about her before, too.
DeleteShe sounds like n interesting person.Perhaps I’ll check her out too.
ReplyDeleteShe certainly did not lead the average lady's life in those days, Friko, and from the expression on her face she comes across as a lot less "stiff" than people often did in typical portraits of the time, but like a person with a warm sense of humour.
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