That Affair Next Door

by Anna Katharine Green

Leslie Klinger (Editor) and Leslie S. Klinger (Editor)

"This inaugural volume in the Library of Congress Crime Classics series, featuring the first woman sleuth in a series, is a must for genre buffs."—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
From the "mother of detective novel" and the first book unearthed in exclusive partnership with the Library of Congress, That Affair Next Door follows Miss Amelia Butterworth, an inquisitive single woman in the Victorian Era who becomes involved in a murder investigation after the woman next door turns up dead.
Heralded as a perfect vintage murder mystery, That Affair Next Door is:For fans of historical crime mysteries and crime classicsFor readers of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple seriesFor fans of trailblazing women on and off the pageMiss Amelia Butterworth prides herself on being an observer of human nature, especially of the people she sees every day from her usual spot at her front window—that is, until she witnesses the prelude to a ghastly murder. Late at night, two people enter her neighbor's home, but only one leaves. The next morning a young woman is found dead, crushed beyond recognition beneath a cabinet. But her death was no accident—it soon comes to light that she was stabbed by a seemingly innocuous item: a hat pin.
Rife with social tension and mistaken identity, the messy case is assigned to veteran Detective Ebenezer Gryce. He expects Miss Butterworth to demurely return home, but she was there at the beginning of this case and she intends to see it through to the end. Miss Butterworth is determined to solve the mystery before the detective, but what begins as a battle of the sexes soon turns into a fight for the ever-elusive truth.
Anna Katharine Green is credited as the "mother of the detective novel," and the classic That Affair Next Door proves that the intrigue of a well-crafted mystery is timeless.

• ISBN10: 1464212953
• ISBN13: 9781464212956
• Publish Date: 7 May 2020 (first published 1 January 2010)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Poisoned Pen Press
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

That Affair Next Door is the 8th book in the Mr. Gryce series by Anna Katharine Green. First published in 1897, this reformat and re-release from Poisoned Pen Press is part of the Library of Congress Crime Classics. It's 384 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats (other editions available in other formats). It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.

Anna Katharine Green is often credited as the first American female to write a mystery novel (there is some doubt about this claim). She was indubitably a prolific and successful writer, especially considered as a female in the late 19th century in a field dominated by male writers.

There are several series published by different publishers re-introducing these long out of print classic mysteries. They all include well written introductions (in this case by Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress - which might be the coolest job title ever) full of interesting historical notes and resources for further background reading. Although listed as the 8th book in the Mr. Gryce series, this book is also the first one introducing Amelia Butterworth, one of Green's more enduring characters. To modern readers, the book does seem quite dated (Ms. Butterworth herself is quite a product of her time period and is quite antiquated in attitude and thoughts). It's written in first person point of view which can be difficult, but the author was technically adept and capable andenough that the book doesn't suffer for that. The language is very clean, the dialogue (if a bit anachronistic to modern ears) is well executed.

Three and a half stars. It's very nice to see these classics (however dated) being re-released for a new generation of fans. I found the introduction and historical notes very well written and informative.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.