A Difficult Problem

by Anna Katharine Green

This early work by Anna Katharine Green was originally published in 1900 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introduction. 'A Difficult Problem' is one of Green's short stories of crime and mystery. Anna Katharine Green was born in Brooklyn, New York, USA in 1846. She aspired to be a writer from a young age, and corresponded with Ralph Waldo Emerson during her late teens. When her poetry failed to gain recognition, Green produced her first and best-known novel, The Leavenworth Case (1878). Praised by Wilkie Collins, the novel was year's bestseller, establishing Green's reputation. Green wrote at a time when fiction, and especially crime fiction, was dominated by men. However, she is now credited with shaping detective fiction into its classic form, and developing the trope of the recurring detective.

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories, Victorian, Classics

34 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1900

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

[Katja Labonté]

3 stars & 3/10 hearts. This is a quick little mystery, a little sad. There was a mention of whiskey, but otherwise it was clean. It was a murder mystery but not gruesome at all; mostly sadness for Lucy and James...

A Favourite Humorous Quote: “I went home. I felt ill, or imagined that I did, which under the circumstances was almost as bad.”

[Susan]

Lucy Holmes receives the death notice of her husband before he has died. She consults with a detective to discover the why and the who.
Not really much of a problem.
Short story originally published in 1900

[Myrna]

This is the same story as "The Little Steel Coils" that is in book "Room Number 3 and other stories,"

[A.M.]

A woman receives a letter from her husband saying he will be home in five days time. But it is his death notice that arrives first. And it is cut out and pinned to a small cushion. As she wonders at it, a telegram arrives saying her husband was found dead that morning. She goes to Philadelphia to check.
Then she engages a detective when the local police say it was an accidental death.

He died in his room. He was found lying on the floor near the bell button, which he had evidently risen to touch. One hand was clenched on his chest, but his face wore a peaceful look as if death had come too suddenly to cause him much suffering. His bed was undisturbed; he had died before retiring, possibly in the act of packing his trunk, for it was found nearly ready for the expressman. (Kindle Locations 46-49).

The young widow remembers hearing a man cough in a distinctive way that she recognised.
He is the prime suspect, and from there on, it is more a ‘howdunnit’ than a whodunnit.
Woorali is curare - the South American poison used in arrows.
2 stars

[William]

Mystery listening

Another will written thriller murder mystery by Anne Katherine Green with interesting will developed characters. The story line is set in New York City where murder comes to a new bride and the adventure begins. I would recommend this novella to readers looking for a quick mystery read or listening. Enjoy the adventure of reading or listening 2021 🗽

[Pamela]

Green is always a pleasure.

[Maureen]

I don’t know what to say about this…I don’t think I’ll read another one.

[Chandini]

There's not really any mystery to this. There's only one suspect and all the "detecting" that goes on is of the simplest type. There's much better out there, try Edgar Wallace or Richard Austin Freeman if you want something from the Golden Age of Detection. Read Dorothy L. Sayers, the Queen of the Golden Age of Detection instead of Anna Katherine Green.

[El]

I love the story. Neat plot. But I'm wondering why the title A difficult problem? I don't think it's so hard.