Customer Reviews

A Strange Disappearance

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

 

 

The "Strange Disappearance" involves a sewing woman who disappears from the household of Holman Blake, much to the dismay of housekeeper Mrs. Daniels, who calls the police even while Mr. Blake remains indifferent to the issue. Ebenezer Gryce and his investigator, known only as "Q," arrive on the scene to a near-hysterical Mrs. Daniels and an annoyed and uncooperative Mr. Blake. Thus begins a series of questions regarding the stated and real objectives of Ms. Daniels and Mr. Blake, and another series of questions as to the reasons for their respective states of hysteria or indifference regarding the disappearance.

In this, the second novel in the "Mr. Gryce" series, Anna Katharine Green lays out two apparently unrelated mysteries, to which Mr. Gryce assigns Q to investigate. Green introduced Q in The Leavenworth Case as rather a shadowy character who gets the job done in spite of, or more likely because of, his strangeness. He was arguably the most enthralling character in the novel. Q's ability to follow leads and ferret out clues, along with his mastery of disguise render him the perfect leg man for the brilliant but reclusive Ebenezer Gryce.

Like The Leavenworth Case, Anna Katharine Green presents the story of A Strange Disappearance from a first-person viewpoint. However, in the former, the narrator was Everett Raymond, a member of the law firm that handled the Leavenworth's legal matters. In the latter, to my delight, the narrator is Q. When he comes to some rash and controversial conclusions, Q finds as much challenge in convincing Mr. Gryce of his own competence as he does in solving the two cases and uncovering the relationship, if any, between the two.

The Leavenworth Case has been Anna Katharine Green's best-known and best-selling novel. However, owing to the storytelling prowess of Q and a compelling story-within-a-story told by Holman Blake, A Strange Disappearance was for this reader even more enjoyable than the first.

I'm so happy to see some of the great works of Anna Katherine Green; she has become one of my favorite writers, after I ran out of Christie's books to read. I found out that Agatha Christie, got into writing after reading Greens' books, who was a bestselling author who publishing about 40 books.

I read she was first poet and later became a novelist to get attention to her poetry, however, she was so successful at mystery plotting, (she was an expert at the gradual unfolding of the mystery through the successful unearthing of clue after clue), that she dove right into mystery writing only. She was one of the first writers of detective fiction in America and distinguished herself by writing legally accurate stories, something like Law and Order in the way that the stories are accurate and sometimes based on actual cases.

Her many fans besides me, include such literary luminaries as Arthur Conan Doyle, Wilkie Collins, Mary Roberts Rinehart, and Agatha Christie. In fact, not just Christie, but Rinehart wrote that it was the novels of Anna Katharine Green which first inspired her to become writers of mystery fiction to.

A Strange Disappearance is her second novel, and a great mystery, I'm only half way through and I'm trying to ration myself because its soooo good! If you love a mystery, if you love Christie, or Rinehart, you'll love this book too!

I'm one of those people addicted to British mysteries, both on TV and in print. I enjoy the older TV crop, Rumple of the Bailey, Miss Marple, Poirot Frost, etc, but I do enjoy some of the new TV productions that the British offer too. As far as books, I am also of the old school, Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, Poirot, Tommy and Tuppence, etc. Of course, all the authors I like have passed on, and while I do re-read their books over and over, I miss new mysteries of the old school. I say that because if any of you feel as I do, I can offer you a wonderful solution that I surprised and delighted me, and that is the works of Anna Katherine Green. I know there are lots of better informed reviewers on Amazon, so please forgive me if I am preaching to the choir, but I had never heard of Green before, let alone that she was the inspiration of Agatha Christie, Conan Doyle, Mary Roberts Rinehart, etc. I just had never heard of her, (some American TV producer should read her books and make a US mystery series in the British manner since we have exhausted Christie, Doyle, and Rinehart!), but I digress.

Here is really what I wanted to say, if you love Agatha, and the rest, and miss new mysteries, and are tired re-reading from your existing library, (because you know `whodunit'), than here is a wonderful surprise, you can read the works of Anna Katherine Green! Short and sweet, she `wrote the book' on these types of `locked door' mysteries, or they type favored by you and I. She was American, but the method, the situations, the characters and motives are all as good as the British authors she inspired.

Drink from the well that was the source, and enjoy some fresh mysteries! It's nice for a change NOT knowing whodunit!

Another interesting mystery by this author; but to me it was not as interesting as her first novel ("The Leavenworth Case"). It is a little less about mystery and more about characters; but, that can be interesting to some, too. I just prefer a little more mystery. As with most Victorian era novels, I find when there is lot of dialogue (near the end), it becomes rather overly "dramatic" to our more modern ears which is why I believe some people may have found it hokey. If you read it carefully, however, you may find some interesting insight into this era's attitudes and thoughts about men, women, family ties, motives, NYC society, and other matters (at least through the author's eyes). I just wonder-would NYC police really have acted this way with respect to the criminals? (I will not go into detail-you'll have to read to the end.)
A problem I had with the Kindle version was that every time there was a note or something similar and the book said something like "and written on it was: " there was nothing there, no indication of what was written (I think there are about four times this occurred). I assume it has something to do with the "translation" from the book form. It does not, perhaps, change the reader's understanding but is very annoying. There were the usual very minor typos.
The reason for MY three rather than four stars then is a combination of it not being as much a "mystery" as her first novel and the evident problems with it being translated into an electronic Kindle version.

I can see why this mystery is the predecessor to Christie, Rinehart, and other great authors. It had great plot, good characterization, and easy to read. Very enjoyable.

The kindle version of this book has annoying lapses in the text, most notably in what might be italicized. A typical case might be "the letter read:" and the text of the letter is missing! Some of the missing can be guessed at, but some instances cause a major loss of context.

This is a review of the free Kindle version.

If a woman disappeared from your house, you would probably care. Mr. Blake, doesn't, so he comes under some appropriate suspicion. As time passes, the story is revealed and it involves a marriage, attempted murder and kidnapping.

A fun read - worth the download. Pay attention to the painting!

I'm a big fan of Victorian mysteries, but this one let me down. The author was supposedly the inspiration for writers such as Wilkie Collins, Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, etc. That's like calling a cave painting the inspiration for the Mona Lisa. The story was clumsy, totally unrealistic, and melodramatic even by Victorian potboiler standards. I kept expecting Snidely Whiplash to appear, it was *that* hokey. I can't even attribute the book's silliness to age: it was published in 1880, a time when there were lots of good mystery writers around. I'm just glad I didn't have to pay for it.

I love mysteries. This book should not be classified as a mystery. It is a precursor to the Harlequin Romance novels of which I totally hate.

This is the most boring book I have ever read. It is much too wordy with little substance. It goes on and on and on. Total waste of time.

I can understand why it was free.

I will delete it and any others written by this author.