Hand and Ring

Mr. Gryce #4

by Anna Katharine Green

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." *Life and work* She was born in Brooklyn, New York on November 11, 1846.Green had an early ambition 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), praised by Wilkie Collins, and the hit of the year. She became a bestselling author, eventually publishing about 40 books.On November 25, 1884, Green married the actor and stove designer, and later noted furniture maker, Charles Rohlfs (1853 - 1936), who was seven years her junior.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.Green died on April 11, 1935 in Buffalo, New York, at the age of 88.

Genres: Mystery, Classics, Fiction, Audiobook, Crime, New York, Mystery Thriller

246 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1883

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

[El · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again, I really liked a book by this author. Though Hand and Ring is set in the late 19th Century and with forensics not yet discovered, thorough and dogged detective work - by way of lots of red herrings - enables the perpetrator to be found in the end. With a manageable cast of suspects and detectives, we are led from the discovery of the victim, via false leads, dead ends and hard-to-believe actions (because of the mores of the time rather than bad writing!) to a conclusion that I had no inkling of throughout the book. It started a bit slowly for me but as I got into it, this book gripped me to the end. Definitely worth the reading!

[Elisabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is classic Green, with lots of high drama and a twisting, many-layered plot turning on stubbornly kept secrets and the fine points of physical and circumstantial evidence. I thought I'd pinpointed the criminal at one point, but then it took another twist! Mr. Gryce appears only briefly, but his part is surprisingly crucial, and there's also an occasional dash of humor—something not so common with Green—from one of the subordinate detectives.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another very pleasing mystery by the wonderful Anna Katharine Green. This is the 4th book of her Inspector Gryce series. However, Inspector Gryce isn't central to the book until the last 50 pages - although he appears in disguise earlier in the book. He certainly ties the mystery together and provides the reader with more clues to the killer. The ending was surprising, interesting, and, for this reader, very unexpected. Happy reading!

[Wanda]

7 SEP 2015 - this is free everywhere today. How much fun is that?! Enjoy!

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a bit lengthy and convoluted but interesting read. Set in Upstate New York, we follow a team of detectives and attorneys as they try to solve a murder. In the period preceding the advent of advanced forensics, the process is totally dependent on the skills and logic of the men tasked with bringing justice. A nice change of pace.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written, convoluted mystery of the death of a woman with several suspects. As the suspicion tightens on an obvious suspect, a great detective sorts out the real mystery with a great twist in the end.

[Stifynsemons · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.3 stars, I liked it and may read again

Mrs. Green constructs another complex and mystifying mystery with Hand and Ring. The murder story starts with a mysterious stranger relating how to commit a perfect crime to certain officials moments before just such a perfect crime is committed.

Ping ponging between inquest, trial, and detective work, there are too many culprits, too many confessions, and too many facts, and the story resolves with as great a coincidence as that that began it.

Mr. Gryce plays a pivotal, but minor role in the whole, and unlikely more modern crime fiction, these early stories take place in the absence of motor cars, in a society that is quite different than today, and this is part of its charm.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

1882. When a Mrs Clemmens is found attacked and consequently dies there seem to be a few suspects. But who will be brought to trial via some detective work, the telling of secrets and misdirection.
An enjoyable mystery

[claudia ruddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit melodramatic

This book is a product of it's time with the flowery prose but it is still a clever mystery complete with a master detective who steps in to cast a new light on all the evidence. I shall look for more of her books.

[Cindy B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoy the Grice series. Author's usual; long, end wrap up and intriguing plot. Nicely narrated by Richard Kilmer, recommended.

[Drpsychorat · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very clever, fast paced and engaging mystery. Plan to read more!

[Lucy · Rating 1 out of 5]

This goes on forever. I suggest you skip most of the middle.

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Daniy ♠ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not her best, and it felt so loonggg

[Craig L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great old 19th Century mystery novel by Anna Katharine Green. In the town of Sibley in New York, the widow Clemens is attacked right after a group of friends, including the local District Attorney, had just concluded a discussion about crimes of this type. Before she dies she cries out: "Hand! Ring!" Later, during the coroner's inquest, suspicion falls on one man who stood to benefit from her death. But, Horace Byrd, a detective visiting from New York city, is not satisfied with this view, and begins to investigate on his own... complications, and much drama ensue. Finally, in the very closing chapters Mr. Gryce shows up to straighten things out.

The author had a wonderful knack for writing these lengthy old mystery novels — and sustaining interest all the way through. It's a long book. The table of contents (in the digital version from which I read) preserves the original page numbers: and, the last chapter is listed as beginning on page 600! Nevertheless, I never lost interest, as new "red herrings" show up along the way.

Without giving anything away, I should mention that readers may not find the events and reconstructions in the closing chapters to be entirely credible. The attitudes about men and women in this book are very 19th Century.

Just the same, I recommend this highly to all lovers of mystery novels.