The Mill Mystery (Large Print Edition) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Anna Katharine Green (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 18, 2008

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 232 pages
• Publisher: BiblioLife; Large type edition edition (August 18, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0554237733
• ISBN-13: 978-0554237732
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

Customer Reviews

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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lots of sudden deaths & dark doings, June 22, 2010

By 

Patto (Vermont) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Mill Mystery (Paperback)

Anna Katherine Green (1846-1935) was known for her complex plots, and the plot is the best thing about this book. There's no real development of several of the main characters. They just plunge into their adventures with glittering eyes and pounding hearts.

Initially the mystery revolves around the death of a beloved young minister, Mr. Barrows, who's found drowned in the vat of an old abandoned mill. In a modern thriller, forensics would quickly determined if it was suicide or murder. But no such luck in 1886, when this book was published. A beautiful young woman called Constance has to figure it out.

Constance is constant to a promise she made to her roommate Ada Reynolds, the fiancée of Mr. Barrows. Ada does not accept the idea of suicide and wants Constance to clear her lover's name of this awful suspicion. Ada drops dead of heart failure just after Mr. Barrows' death. Sudden deaths are rife in this novel.

Constance finds a sinister connection between the clergyman and the rich and locally prominent Pollard family. In the earliest stages of her contact with them, she's drawn to the oldest son of the family - a somewhat unconvincing case of love at first sight. This naturally complicates her investigation, which will be full of shocking discoveries.

Green at her best is a melodramatic but ingenious weaver of mysteries. She helped shape the genre of detective fiction, and her influence lives on in Miss Marple and Sherlock Holmes. This is not her best effort, however. I'd recommend instead The Leavenworth Case, her greatest mystery. Another good one is The House of the Whispering Pines. But if you're reading all her works, as I am, The Mill Mystery will be of interest.