The Leavenworth Case

The Leavenworth Case (1878) is considered by many as the first American detective novel. Set in New York City, it concerns the murder of a retired merchant, Horatio Leavenworth, in his New York mansion. The novel introduced the unlikely detective Ebenezer Gryce, who investigates the murder through the narrator, the family’s attorney Everett Raymond. It offers a family secret, many red herrings, a mysterious detective and surprises aplenty. In her autobiography, Agatha Christie cited it as an influence on her own fiction.