The Circular Study is a detective novel by Anna Katharine Green, published in 1900. It features her famous detective, Ebenezer Gryce, and is part of her popular series of mystery novels. Green is often regarded as one of the pioneers of the detective fiction genre, influencing later writers like Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle.
The novel revolves around a mysterious murder that takes place in a unique circular study-a room designed with no corners, which plays a crucial role in the investigation. The victim, Mr. Leavenworth, is found dead under puzzling circumstances, and Detective Gryce must unravel a complex web of secrets, hidden motives, and deceptive appearances.
Anna Katharine Green was one of the first American women to write detective fiction, and her works laid the groundwork for the genre's golden age. The Circular Study showcases her talent for intricate plotting and clever misdirection.
About the Author
Anna Katharine Green (November 11, 1846 - April 11, 1935) 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. Green has been called "the mother of the detective novel".
Green was born in Brooklyn, New York on November 11, 1846. She had an early ambition to write romantic verse and corresponded with Ralph Waldo Emerson. When her poetry failed to gain recognition, she produced her first and best known novel, The Leavenworth Case (1878), praised by Wilkie Collins, and the hit of the year. She became a bestselling author, eventually publishing 37 books over 40 years.
On November 25, 1884, Green married the actor and stove designer, and later noted furniture maker, Charles Rohlfs (1853 - 1936). Rohlfs toured in a dramatization of Green's The Leavenworth Case. After his theater career faltered, he became a furniture maker in 1897, and Green collaborated with him on some of his designs. Together they had one daughter and two sons: Rosamund Rohlfs, Roland Rohlfs, and Sterling Rohlfs. Her daughter Rosamund married Robert Twitty Palmer.
Green died on April 11, 1935, in Buffalo, New York, at the age of 88. Her husband died the following year.
In 2002, Buffalo Literary Walking Tours began an annual series of weekend walking tours highlighting authors with local connections. Green is included along with Mark Twain, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Herman Melville, Taylor Caldwell, and others.
Green's short story "The Intangible Clue" featuring Violet Strange was adapted by Chris Harrald for the second series of BBC Radio 4's drama series The Rivals and starred Jeany Spark as Violet Strange. (wikipedia.org)
