Customer Reviews

The House of the Whispering Pines

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Carmel Cumberland at seventeen is of such rare beauty that Elwood Ranelagh, upon seeing her, falls directly out of love with his fiancé, her older sister Adelaide, and madly in love with Carmel.

His selfish attempt to marry Carmel in place of Adelaide indirectly leads to Adelaide's murder.

The scene of the crime is Ranelagh's clubhouse, The Whispering Pines, just after he, its president, has locked it up for the winter. No one should have been there that snowy winter night, but several people were, either having secret meetings or wandering about in the dark. The police struggle to figure it out, as they lay a murder charge first against Ranelagh, and then Arthur Cumberland, the dissipated brother of Carmel and Adelaide.

So perplexing is the case that the local authorities call in an ace detective from the New York City police force. Sweetwaters with his weak chin and protruding nose impresses no one, until he begins uncovering disturbing new evidence.

Anna Katherine Green was the daughter of a prominent trial lawyer, and as a child she often listened to him discussing cases with his friends - fellow lawyers, judges and police chiefs. When she later became a best selling novelist, Green was greatly admired for her accurate presentation of the law, forensics and police procedure.

In The House of the Whispering Pines, published in 1910, Green does a masterful job of portraying tricky interrogations. Her inquest and trial scenes are rich in drama and suspense.

Green is credited with many original contributions to the genre of detective fiction, including the invention of the detective series.

I found this book thoroughly enjoyable. There's nothing quite like a good vintage mystery, with characters dashing about in one-horse sleighs through the blinding snow, their emotions in turmoil.

This was the first book I downloaded and read on my new Kindle. Being new to Kindle, I wanted to try a free e book while I got used to the process of reading on a Kindle. I chose this as I tend to enjoy mysteries and thrillers. I wasn't thinking that this would probably be a fluff book but I was pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed it. The author is quite wordy at times but despite her meandering she gets to the point eventually. It took me about a quarter of the way into the book for it to really grab my interest but once it did I needed to know how it would all turn out in the end. The main Character Elwood Ranelagh, is easy to despise, but the author also instills enough in her writing to have compassion for him even though he bears much responsibility for the horror of events that take place. The same as for the drunken brother whom seems undoubtedly to blame for his sister Adelaide's death. Interestingly I found both Carmel and Adelaide just short of being featherheads so blinded by a single man's attentions that they lose themselves to it all. Sweetwater the New York Detective despite the descriptions of his homely appearance is instantly attractive and likable due to his quick whit and sharp mind.

This is not a story I would have picked up had it not been free on the Kindle list but I was glad to have opened my horizons to it.

I liked this book. Like many of these old free books, they are not heavy reading, and not actually believable but entertaining. This book held my interest all the way through. I did guess the ending, but not too early to ruin it.

After downloading and reading several free books, I was expecting to be mildly entertained but was pleasantly surprised. I didn't expect to enjoy this book because of the dated and stilted language it started with, but as I continued to read, I found myself comfortable with the language style and very engrossed in the story. As I got more involved in the story I found it harder and harder to put down. The plot was very good and the presentation delivered the clues at a pace guaranteed to keep you interested. I felt the ending was a little quick but I guess once the final clue was revealed, she felt the story had been told. I still had some questions about some of the characters but all in all, I enjoyed this book and am glad that I got it and will look for others by Ms. Green.

I downloaded this free book to my Kindle b/c it came up as a recommendation after I read The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart. The House of the Whispering Pines is an okay book, it had a good storyline and the mystery of it was enough to keep me interested. I didn't care much for the writing style, I ended up skimming a lot. As others have pointed out, the dialogue is well-written. All in all, this was a pretty good mystery, which is what I was looking for, and it was a Kindle freebie, which is always nice! Fairly short, too, so it doesn't take long to read.

I'm an Agatha Christie and Wilkie Collins fan. While I feel that this author is not quite as good as them, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. There are not many main characters, which makes it very easy to follow. However, there are lots of small details that really keep you guessing. This was my first book by this author, and I'll definately be trying out more by her.

I thought this book was really entertaining. I couldn't put it down. I would figure out one part of it, but then there were still so many unanswered questions that I had to keep reading. It pulled me along because I was waiting for the part I had figured out to come into play, and I still wanted my questions answered. I don't often get scared by books--and I'm not saying this is a scary book, it's not--but the first chapter was so vivid it definitely had me spooked. Maybe just because I read it right before bed. :) Especially for a free book, I would highly recommend giving this book a shot.

I downloaded this to try on my new kindle, and loved it. Reminds me of what writing should be like. To many of us want the quick read with no real substance.

I had never heard of this author before and only considered it because the title appealed to me; then read the first chapter and decided to buy it.
I really enjoyed reading it until the ending let me down slightly. It seemed to me that the ending happened all too quickly (maybe even too simply) after a great build up of twists and turns.
But I still really enjoyed it!

Being an avid fan of early mystery writers, I was delighted to see Anna Katherine Green's works appear in Kindle, since she was one of the writers who inspired Agatha Christie. I thoroughly enjoy the writing style, as it helps to immerse me into the story and the time period.

I was pulled along, guessing wrongly a couple of times, then deciding who did it and racing to the end to find myself correct.

This is book 4 of 6 in the Caleb Sweetwater series -- he being the investigator brought in from New York to help solve the crime. I will be looking for the other five.

I had a lovely time. If you like old style thrillers, where one is inside someone's thoughts, you'll enjoy it.