Horatio Leavenworth, a wealthy and widowed philanthropist, raises his two beautiful orphaned nieces, Mary and Eleanore. One of the cousins, Mary, is his designated heir. When Mr. Leavenworth is murdered in mysterious circumstances, a young lawyer is called upon to support the distraught cousins. At the coroner’s inquest it becomes clear that the perpetrator can only be a member of the household—but no positive evidence is found to incriminate anyone. As the investigating detective digs in, the lawyer, Mr. Raymond, becomes ever more deeply embroiled.

The Leavenworth Case is Anna Katharine Green’s first novel, and quickly became a best-seller. Among the very earliest women to write mystery novels, Green’s expert handling of legal details enhanced her reputation and contributed to this novel being widely admired. “Have I read The Leavenworth Case ?” Wilkie Collins wrote to Green’s American publisher, “I have read it through at one sitting.”

The Leavenworth Case is also notable for having launched the career of the character Ebenezer Gryce, one of the first “series” detectives, years before his more famous English counterpart, Sherlock Holmes . He appears in a dozen of Green’s later whodunits.