The Millionaire Baby

by Anna Katharine Green

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Genres: Mystery, Classics, Audiobook

368 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1905

About the author

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. 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).

Reviews

[Zain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nature VS. Nurture?

Six-year-old heiress, Gwendolen Ocumpaugh, disappeared one day, while napping in her backyard tent.

Her mother immediately, suspects she’s wandered down to the river and drowned.

With the whole neighborhood, and eventually, the whole city, on the lookout for the child, Mr. Trevitt decides to investigate.

With a reward of $55,000 dollars, the hunt is on to find the missing child, but the police and all the others turn up empty handed.

Mr. Trevitt, meanwhile, somehow feels, that all is not what it seems, so he tries a different strategy, and runs into a lot of suspects.

Anna Katharine Green believes, blood is thicker than water, and that nature triumphs over nurture, and that’s all I’m able to say.

Great mystery. Five stars 💫💫💫💫💫

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the books that got me hooked on classic mystery roughly ten years ago. I found a copy for about $5 in an antique store and thought it looked interesting, and ended up devouring the whole story in a few hours. It kept me guessing and entertained.

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an extremely satisfying mystery with twist after twist and suspense too! At first, it was slow, but it soon picked up and I was quite happy with the progress of the story. There was a slight theme of Christianity which was really good! A delightful mystery with fascinating characters!

[Paulkcc · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good mystery which will keep you guessing all the way to the end, which is where the book went from a 4 star to a 3 star for me. If you like resolution to your stories this isn't for you. The mystery itself gets resolved, but there's a significant amount that isn't.

[Margret Melissa (ladybug) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anna Katharine Green wrote some of the first books of detective fiction in America. She was able to distinguish herself by writing very well written and accurate mysteries. This was an enjoyable and interesting read for me.

[Scilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

This early 1900's mystery, is written from the point of view of a detective who reads about the large reward for the return of six year old heiress Gwendolen Ocumpaugh, who disappeared from a bungalow on the grounds of her home on the Hudson River. The father is in Europe and the mother is distraught. The detective begins his job. He interviews the nursery-governess, recognizes the description of a wild man who predicted the date of the abduction, searches the bungalow with its strange history, suspects the beautiful neighbor and best friend of Mrs. Ocumpaugh. As he zeroes in on the solution, he finds a clever twist in the plot.

[Yibbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A child goes missing and to save her our hero must sort through multiple family mysteries and delve into the motives of numerous suspects who are all determined to thwart his success. There are twists and turns in nearly every chapter that will, I think, baffle you just as much as it did me.
I've always found parts of Green's works wildly improbable and this one is no exception, but it is much better than some of her other works. This one isn't too wildly melodramatic, and it doesn't overemphasize odd sensibilities as much as her other works do either. Oh, there still characters that act in the most wildly improbable manners, but it's not thrown in your face for most of the book. So I would recommend this as a good little mystery and a good start into Greens works.

[Cindy B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sad tale, excellent reading by Dawn Larson.

[Chandini · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't bother with this one. Green might have been working out some issues of her own concerning motherhood or just in need of a paycheck but it's still no excuse to waste your time with this book. While Green may not be my favorite mystery author I've enjoyed some of her work. I'm glad I didn't start with this book or I'd never have read anything else from her

There is a detective who seems to mostly care about the reward with ties to the family that aren't adequately explained, a quack doctor who gets religion and becomes a total jerk, a mother who (unsurprisingly) isn't actually a mother but who suffers constantly, a neighbor lady who is much more loved by the girl but doesn't care enough to taken an orphan nephew, a boy who is ripped from one life only to be intended for an institution by his supposed savior, a little girl who only seems to care about not acting like a little girl and being with the neighbor lady, and finally a husband who never makes an appearance. The "mystery" isn't even very compelling - I was able to figure out the basic outcome less than a quarter of the way through the book.
.

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to the LibriVox recording. Lots of twists and turns, although not completely surprising for me. There's quite a bit of foreshadowing, but most of the details don't come out until the end. There are themes about what defines motherhood that I'm still not sure how I feel about. It kept my attention, though, and I even talked to my husband about some of what was happening as I made my way through the book, which is a rarity.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Anna Katherine Green's books. This one was a good mystery solved by one man who saw something that happened wrongly and doggedly followed through on it. Good writing and understandable even though classic mystery.

[Marvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you enjoy reading classic mysteries, you will enjoy this tale. Complex, compound sentences abound, an art form rarely imitated.

[Abby · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was long, it was tedious, there was a lot of extra information and stories within the story that weren't necessary or relevant. Also, I hated the ending.

[for-much-deliberation ... · Rating 3 out of 5]

A child disappears, circumstances are mysterious, those involved further baffle this state of affairs.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two stars as it kept me wondering what was going on and if my suspicions were right (nearly) but one star for crap ending. I like resolution to a story, and this didn't provide it.

[Cognatious Thunk · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jan. 2025 - narrated by Dawn Larsen on LibriVox
Generally, I really enjoy Green's books, but not this one. Within it, she plays with an ambiguous ending and I generally dislike those, feeling that they are typically an authorial cop-out, used only when authors haven't resolved the ending of their novels themselves. Similarly, the romances within the novel are left unresolved, causing the narration itself to feel unfinished. Lol, perhaps I overexercised caution on this review. Not much of it is left unspoilered. But since my comments all connected to the ending, I couldn't leave some exposed without giving away something of novel's the resolution or rather, lack thereof.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of 3.5 than 3 stars, because for the most part I liked it (wasn't a fan of the ending though). It has a fair bit of good mystery in it. I found myself scratching my head a bit at the clues though, but I think that's because I wasn't paying 100% attention to the story. My mind kept wandering off during the narrator's (sometimes) rambling descriptions. And this is the type of audiobook that requires your full attention to properly follow it along. I might have enjoyed it better if I had read an actual physical copy though.

[Daniel Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a free audio book, so it got me through some serious walking or running occasions (7.5 hrs). The story was actually pretty good and for one that written 118 years ago, surprisingly still good to follow without being overburdened with proper English. Of the surprise twists, I predicted two out of four, so either I'm good or many books written after it stole the author's tactics. Still, I do recommend this.

[Jacque · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read full of suspense and mystery, yet perhaps, because of its age, lacked the typical profanity and smut that often accompanies this type of crime novel. It was refreshing to read a good detective mystery that even my children could enjoy.

[Donna Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful!

The pace and the twists and turns kept me reading long into the night and didn't let up when I awakened the next day. I had to finish it and I did! I'll say it again, wonderful!

[Jana Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good, fun, easy reading mystery. No violence, just fun suspense and supposition.

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened to this on LibriVox with dawn Larsen and it was great; reminded me initially of the suspicions of mr whitcher

[Karen Treadwell]

This was an interesting book. I really enjoyed listening to Chritianne read it. Recommended.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Six year old Gwendolen Ocumpaugh has gone missing. Her father Philo has posted a reward of $55,ooo. P.I. Robert Trevitt investigates,
Entertaining mystery though one event is left unexplained.
Originally published in 1905

[Mark Rabideau · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting mystery. The plot, characters, atmospherics and twists are quite entertaining. The end is a bit 'weird'.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intricately plotted and quite interesting.

[Carrie Campbell-jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story was an OK read.