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The Old Stone House and Other Stories
Anna Katharine Green (1846-1935) 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 (no doubt assisted by her lawyer father). Born in Brooklyn, New York, her early ambition was to write romantic verse, and she corresponded with Ralph Waldo Emerson. When her poetry failed to gain recognition, she produced her first and best known novel, The Leavenworth Case (1878). She became a bestselling author, eventually publishing about 40 books. She was in some ways a progressive woman for her time-succeeding in a genre dominated by male writers-but she did not approve of many of her feminist contemporaries, and she was opposed to women's suffrage. Her other works include A Strange Disappearance (1880), The Affair Next Door (1897), The Circular Study (1902), The Filigree Ball (1903), The Millionaire Baby (1905), The House in the Mist (1905), The Woman in the Alcove (1906), The House of the Whispering Pines (1910), Initials Only (1912), and The Mystery of the Hasty Arrow (1917).
- GenresMysteryShort Stories
108 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1891
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About the author
Anna Katharine Green
536 books197 followersAnna Katharine Green (1846-1935) 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. Born in Brooklyn, New York, her early ambition was to write romantic verse, and she corresponded with Ralph Waldo Emerson. When her poetry failed to gain recognition, she produced her first and best known novel, The Leavenworth Case (1878). She became a bestselling author, eventually publishing about 40 books. She was in some ways a progressive woman for her time-succeeding in a genre dominated by male writers-but she did not approve of many of her feminist contemporaries, and she was opposed to women's suffrage. Her other works include A Strange Disappearance (1880), The Affair Next Door (1897), The Circular Study (1902), The Filigree Ball (1903), The Millionaire Baby (1905), The House in the Mist (1905), The Woman in the Alcove (1906), The House of the Whispering Pines (1910), Initials Only (1912), and The Mystery of the Hasty Arrow (1917).
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 8, 2025
These stories were collected in 1891. This now nearly forgotten American author is supposedly remembered as the earliest woman writer of mysteries in the U.S. which sounded interesting to me. However…I’ve never seen a collection of short stories so irrationally unconnected. They happened not to be mystery stories at all, although four of them dealt somewhat with crime.
The longest and most interesting story, The Old Stone House, could have been written in the early to mid nineteenth century by someone like Washington Irving or Nathaniel Hawthorne. It’s definitely Early American Gothic in style. There are no castles or ghosts as in British or European Gothic but civilization does stop at the edge of town. The characters lack emotional stability, have dark, dark moods and often meet in the cemetery at night.
One other story caught my attention, not necessarily in a good way. The Black Cross deals with raiders who come to a house after a long ride through the woods at night. They mean to kill someone on a list. I nearly dropped the book when I came upon “The Ku-Klux commands but never explains.”
I’ve never read nineteenth century fiction and come across the Klan. It’s mentioned so matter of factly here as not really a criticism of Klan thinking but more as something included in a story of violence done to the wrong victim. Weird in the extreme. No more Anna Katharine Green for me.
First story four stars, the rest two stars at best.
The longest and most interesting story, The Old Stone House, could have been written in the early to mid nineteenth century by someone like Washington Irving or Nathaniel Hawthorne. It’s definitely Early American Gothic in style. There are no castles or ghosts as in British or European Gothic but civilization does stop at the edge of town. The characters lack emotional stability, have dark, dark moods and often meet in the cemetery at night.
One other story caught my attention, not necessarily in a good way. The Black Cross deals with raiders who come to a house after a long ride through the woods at night. They mean to kill someone on a list. I nearly dropped the book when I came upon “The Ku-Klux commands but never explains.”
I’ve never read nineteenth century fiction and come across the Klan. It’s mentioned so matter of factly here as not really a criticism of Klan thinking but more as something included in a story of violence done to the wrong victim. Weird in the extreme. No more Anna Katharine Green for me.
First story four stars, the rest two stars at best.
August 21, 2014
A collection of five short stories.
The Old Stone House
The longest of the five. It was creepy with gothic element in it. While Juliet and Orrin were not deserving of any pity, they did not deserve the gruesome fates either. The twist was no twist, and I thought Philo was too trusting and transparent for his own good.
A Memorable Night
This one is short and rather comic. The narrator acted like a hero of P.G. Wodehouse.
A Mysterious Case
My favorite! This one featured an amateur sleuth with good 'ol who-dunnit plot.
The Black Cross
Old Western story with a twist in the end. It didn't hold my attention.
Shall He Wed Her
A tragic love story (?) cause by meddling albeit well meaning friend.
The Old Stone House
The longest of the five. It was creepy with gothic element in it. While Juliet and Orrin were not deserving of any pity, they did not deserve the gruesome fates either. The twist was no twist, and I thought Philo was too trusting and transparent for his own good.
A Memorable Night
This one is short and rather comic. The narrator acted like a hero of P.G. Wodehouse.
A Mysterious Case
My favorite! This one featured an amateur sleuth with good 'ol who-dunnit plot.
The Black Cross
Old Western story with a twist in the end. It didn't hold my attention.
Shall He Wed Her
A tragic love story (?) cause by meddling albeit well meaning friend.
January 20, 2023
For how short this is, It really book me like 6 months to read, It was boring
October 10, 2022
1. The Old Stone House - A traveller comes across a deserted stone house. While visiting a nearby Inn he is able to read about the events of 50 years ago which led to it.
2. A Memorable Night - For Dr Richard Atwater it is important that he catch a ship but he is detained. But by whom and why.
3. The Black Cross - The Black Cross next to Judge Hawkins name means he must die. But why and who by.
4. A Mysterious Case - Who is trying to poison typewriter Miss Wilcox, and how.
5. Shall We Wed Her? - Mr Taylor intends to marry widow Mrs Walworth within a week, but then..
An enjoyable set of stories
2. A Memorable Night - For Dr Richard Atwater it is important that he catch a ship but he is detained. But by whom and why.
3. The Black Cross - The Black Cross next to Judge Hawkins name means he must die. But why and who by.
4. A Mysterious Case - Who is trying to poison typewriter Miss Wilcox, and how.
5. Shall We Wed Her? - Mr Taylor intends to marry widow Mrs Walworth within a week, but then..
An enjoyable set of stories
April 25, 2016
Not bad but not Anna Katherine Green's best short story collection either.
The Stone House 3 stars
A wandering man finds an abandoned near-finished stone house, and asks a villager what happened...
Forty years before a young coquettish girl named Juliet, draws the boys in a small village after her, and along the way a rich Colonel, whose love for her reaches farther than anyone would have expected. She also hooks a fiery, unstable man named Orrin. Both men are determined to have Juliet. The Colonel gets her to swear she will marry him as soon as he finishes a stone house for her, while Orrin tries something secretive to win his love. The narrator is a former lover of Juliet, and perhaps he is not the most partial of observers, but what he tells of is a twisted tale of a selfish woman and an evil man, decide for yourself which man is the villain ...
Not bad, though I must say I wasn't sorry for any of the three main characters demises.
A Memorable Night 3? 2 1/2? Stars?
Odd. Two doctors. One is German the other English. The English one is in love with a woman who he has just quarreled with and she's leaving on an ocean liner the next morning with his rival on board. In his mad rush to get ready to join her and save their relationship, he gets in a strange carriage to do one last visit to a sick patient, and finds himself locked up in a room, with no real explanation available.
Odd. I really don't know what to say about this.
The Black Cross 2 stars
A band of men go to raid the local Judge and give him his death sentence. One man goes ahead to scout, and sees a beautiful woman with the judge who obviously loves him, and he goes back and asks the men to leave her out of the raid.
The raid begins and ends most unexpectedly.
At first I thought this was Scottish, then I realized it was set in the old south (U.S.A.) and that the raiders were the KKK (Klu-Klux-Klan). After that I couldn't enjoy it, and the narrator was part of the KKK.
SO, I didn't really like this!
Maybe she was showing the danger of the group?
A Mysterious Case 3 stars
Another doctor one! This one features a woman Doctor/apothecary who mixed medicine for a sick woman. But by the time the nurse gave it to the woman a deadly poison was in the medicine and no one knew how it had gotten there.
The conclusion was a bit far fetched to me, but the way the poison found its way into the medicine was interesting.
Shall He Wed Her?
Ah, that is the question! Should one always tell a man of the questionable past of his betrothed? Or should he leave it and let them find happiness?
This man decides to tell, since it seems fishy to him, someone played the part of his friend and asked for money, but later he finds it was someone he doesn't know. It was one of three woman, could it have been that man's betrothed? Will he find the truth or marry her anyway?
Would you have spoken or kept silent? Me, after reading this I really don't know. Read it yourself and see.
G A strange and not very strong collection of stories! I don't know what to think. Nothing really objectionable here except for the KKK and two lovers dying.
The Stone House 3 stars
A wandering man finds an abandoned near-finished stone house, and asks a villager what happened...
Forty years before a young coquettish girl named Juliet, draws the boys in a small village after her, and along the way a rich Colonel, whose love for her reaches farther than anyone would have expected. She also hooks a fiery, unstable man named Orrin. Both men are determined to have Juliet. The Colonel gets her to swear she will marry him as soon as he finishes a stone house for her, while Orrin tries something secretive to win his love. The narrator is a former lover of Juliet, and perhaps he is not the most partial of observers, but what he tells of is a twisted tale of a selfish woman and an evil man, decide for yourself which man is the villain ...
Not bad, though I must say I wasn't sorry for any of the three main characters demises.
A Memorable Night 3? 2 1/2? Stars?
Odd. Two doctors. One is German the other English. The English one is in love with a woman who he has just quarreled with and she's leaving on an ocean liner the next morning with his rival on board. In his mad rush to get ready to join her and save their relationship, he gets in a strange carriage to do one last visit to a sick patient, and finds himself locked up in a room, with no real explanation available.
Odd. I really don't know what to say about this.
The Black Cross 2 stars
A band of men go to raid the local Judge and give him his death sentence. One man goes ahead to scout, and sees a beautiful woman with the judge who obviously loves him, and he goes back and asks the men to leave her out of the raid.
The raid begins and ends most unexpectedly.
At first I thought this was Scottish, then I realized it was set in the old south (U.S.A.) and that the raiders were the KKK (Klu-Klux-Klan). After that I couldn't enjoy it, and the narrator was part of the KKK.
SO, I didn't really like this!
Maybe she was showing the danger of the group?
A Mysterious Case 3 stars
Another doctor one! This one features a woman Doctor/apothecary who mixed medicine for a sick woman. But by the time the nurse gave it to the woman a deadly poison was in the medicine and no one knew how it had gotten there.
The conclusion was a bit far fetched to me, but the way the poison found its way into the medicine was interesting.
Shall He Wed Her?
Ah, that is the question! Should one always tell a man of the questionable past of his betrothed? Or should he leave it and let them find happiness?
This man decides to tell, since it seems fishy to him, someone played the part of his friend and asked for money, but later he finds it was someone he doesn't know. It was one of three woman, could it have been that man's betrothed? Will he find the truth or marry her anyway?
Would you have spoken or kept silent? Me, after reading this I really don't know. Read it yourself and see.
G A strange and not very strong collection of stories! I don't know what to think. Nothing really objectionable here except for the KKK and two lovers dying.
June 6, 2012
Book of short stories, The Old Stone House being the longest in this book. Great story about a beauty and a few village guys that all wished to marry her. I really liked all five of these stories.
July 28, 2010
A collection of short stories by "the mother of detective stories" that were varied in their interest to me. The title story, longer than the others, was the best!
September 23, 2011
This Book contains the following: The Old Stone House : A Memorable Night : The Black Cross : A Mysterious Case : Shall He Wed Her
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April 22, 2015Not her best. More of the thriller type. Her other books are mysteries and much more enjoyable
November 27, 2020
One of the most underrated mystery writers around.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews