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Caleb Sweetwater #1
Agatha Webb
In this elegant drama, Anna Katharine Green, one of the greatest mystery writers of all time, weaves a narrative with her usual consummate skill, and portrays her characters with exceptional sympathy. On the New England seacoast, not far from Boston, lies a staid, picturesque village called Sutherlandtown. In these tranquil surroundings, Agatha Webb and her servant are found murdered. The task of unraveling the mystery begins at once, and suspicion points to a number of persons. Agatha herself had a tragic and troubled past. She suffered the loss of six of her children who died in infancy; some of the people of the village suspected her of complicity in these deaths, while others looked upon her as a victim. Adding to the complexity of the situation, a wealthy local man is being blackmailed by someone who believes that he is guilty of Agatha's murder. The solution of the puzzle is uncovered in an intensely dramatic court scene. In addition to the attraction of the mystery, there is a great love story. One of the detectives in the case, Caleb Sweetwater, was first introduced in a minor role in A Strange Disappearance (1880). Here, the details of his interesting life story are revealed, considerably fleshing out and developing his character. We learn that he was raised in Sutherland-town, maturing into a talented violinist, but constrained to supporting his mother with limited means. He relinquishes his musical career in order to become a detective. In this role he stands out as a trustworthy and conscientious young man, who volunteers his services to a patron in return for past consideration. Sweetwater becomes the hero by ultimately solving the crime in Agatha Webb. He appears again in several other Green novels as Gryce's assistant in the New York Police Department.
236 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1899
20 people are currently reading
207 people want to read
About the author
Anna Katharine Green
539 books197 followersAnna 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).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
September 6, 2017
Utterly preposterous. I enjoyed it quite a lot, because I do enjoy a really preposterous piece of melodrama.
It seemed, though, that Green put cards with a lot of plot elements into a bag and pulled them randomly. Let's see: a murder; an amateur sleuth; an evil young woman; secrets; the mysterious deaths of two men; more secrets; a young man with reason to commit murder; even more secrets... And then--oh, yes--let's add the amateur sleuth finding that he can't solve the crime without betraying someone who saved his life as a child, so he-- Okay, it just got completely ridiculous here. Coincidence piles onto coincidence, until we get absurdity piled onto absurdity. I couldn't tell if Green had written herself into a corner and couldn't figure out any other way to end up with a happily ever after; or if she thought this ricketty stack of unbelievabilities actually holds up.
Mixed with the usual crowd of stock characters--the profligate son, the noble father, the saintly woman--are some interesting characters. Amabel is wonderfully manipulative. (Though, what happens to her at the end? She just vanishes.) Caleb Sweetwater isn't a bad amateur sleuth: he notices things and thinks everything through. Until, that is, he melodramatically decides he can't go on with his investigation, and he goes off and-- (Oh, you just have to read this part; the word "coincidence" doesn't do it justice.)
The title is interesting, given that Agatha is dead before the book even starts. But it really is her book. (Though: Agatha, Agnes, and Amabel--couldn't Green have come up with more distinctive names? I mixed up Agnes and Agatha for much of the book.) She even gives testimony at the inquest into her death, via her letters. (Though they are entirely too long.)
The twist of who's related to whom is absurd, but if you've gotten that far, you've had so many ridiculous situations thrown at you that you just roll with it. (Really?!? A sailor who speaks the language happens to pass the murder house at the exact moment a Scandinavian maid screams out an important plot point before dramatically flopping dead across a windowsill? And he doesn't wonder if he should maybe try to help? He just walks on by with his buds?)
Still, fun read.
(I read the manybooks copy, which has this cover and a number of typos.)
It seemed, though, that Green put cards with a lot of plot elements into a bag and pulled them randomly. Let's see: a murder; an amateur sleuth; an evil young woman; secrets; the mysterious deaths of two men; more secrets; a young man with reason to commit murder; even more secrets... And then--oh, yes--let's add the amateur sleuth finding that he can't solve the crime without betraying someone who saved his life as a child, so he-- Okay, it just got completely ridiculous here. Coincidence piles onto coincidence, until we get absurdity piled onto absurdity. I couldn't tell if Green had written herself into a corner and couldn't figure out any other way to end up with a happily ever after; or if she thought this ricketty stack of unbelievabilities actually holds up.
Mixed with the usual crowd of stock characters--the profligate son, the noble father, the saintly woman--are some interesting characters. Amabel is wonderfully manipulative. (Though, what happens to her at the end? She just vanishes.) Caleb Sweetwater isn't a bad amateur sleuth: he notices things and thinks everything through. Until, that is, he melodramatically decides he can't go on with his investigation, and he goes off and-- (Oh, you just have to read this part; the word "coincidence" doesn't do it justice.)
The title is interesting, given that Agatha is dead before the book even starts. But it really is her book. (Though: Agatha, Agnes, and Amabel--couldn't Green have come up with more distinctive names? I mixed up Agnes and Agatha for much of the book.) She even gives testimony at the inquest into her death, via her letters. (Though they are entirely too long.)
The twist of who's related to whom is absurd, but if you've gotten that far, you've had so many ridiculous situations thrown at you that you just roll with it. (Really?!? A sailor who speaks the language happens to pass the murder house at the exact moment a Scandinavian maid screams out an important plot point before dramatically flopping dead across a windowsill? And he doesn't wonder if he should maybe try to help? He just walks on by with his buds?)
Still, fun read.
(I read the manybooks copy, which has this cover and a number of typos.)
August 20, 2016
Not Ms. Green's best work, sadly. The pace is erratic and the tale often slows to a point where it struggles to hold interest in the reader. That doesn't hold true for much of her writing, so why it should do so here, I confess I don't understand; she could write far better than this when she tried.
The solution to the ultimate crime feels a bit "humbugged-up", but I shan't say more about that. The apparent revelation leading to it? Well, it removes much confidence in the investigator to see that he almost had to be told outright to understand or imagine the link, when I as a reader had worked it out a long time previously from exactly the same information the investigating party had been given.
Reading this tale a century or so after its original publication, many of the plot devices that have since become tropes of the genre are easily recognised. Unfortunately, that has a detrimental effect on the story itself for modern-day readers. I imagine it might have been more of a mystery in its original time; that's why I give it 3 stars, as while the story drags and the of-its-time sexism annoys me, when it was written it was, to a certain degree, quite fresh and innovative, so it deserves a little credit for that.
The solution to the ultimate crime feels a bit "humbugged-up", but I shan't say more about that. The apparent revelation leading to it? Well, it removes much confidence in the investigator to see that he almost had to be told outright to understand or imagine the link, when I as a reader had worked it out a long time previously from exactly the same information the investigating party had been given.
Reading this tale a century or so after its original publication, many of the plot devices that have since become tropes of the genre are easily recognised. Unfortunately, that has a detrimental effect on the story itself for modern-day readers. I imagine it might have been more of a mystery in its original time; that's why I give it 3 stars, as while the story drags and the of-its-time sexism annoys me, when it was written it was, to a certain degree, quite fresh and innovative, so it deserves a little credit for that.
January 4, 2017
I don't know why I continually try to read Green's books. I guess I hope to enjoy one of the few female authors of mystery novels of this time, however I am always disappointed with the actuality. This is a basic who-dunnit - woman is found stabbed to the heart but with an exceptionally serene countenance, her servant lying half out of the window dead with an expression of terror on her face but no wounds, and the husband of the stabbing victim asleep in the next room.
Aside from the melodrama, which is always present in Green's work, this particular book was unusually heavy on the religion. If there had been any redeeming features I could have dealt with that but the mystery was more than a little anemic. For the first third or so of the book I had high hopes but those hopes were soon dashed. For a little while it wasn't completely obvious who had killed Agatha Webb and the developments came fast and thick. But it all came to an end when none of the characters were anything but what they seemed. The characters were trite and predictable - the saintly victim, her pathetic unstable husband, the dead servant woman, the dissolute young man, his upright father, the pretty but evil girl, the plain but virtuous girl, the two brothers who are old friends of the victim, the pompous big city detective, the various city elders, the eager amateur detective, a few townspeople and various shady characters sent in to confuse issues. The servant's death is glossed over in favor of her employer; she seems to be used as a plot device to further the horror of the real crime and offer a last minute solution to the crime. Now, I didn't expect this to be literature with a capital "L" but I did expect an interesting story line and, at the very least, passable writing.
Tl;dr
Green's sentence structure was convoluted at best, the solution to the mystery contrived, and the denouement far too long-winded. Definitely not worth a re-read or even continued space on my phone.
Aside from the melodrama, which is always present in Green's work, this particular book was unusually heavy on the religion. If there had been any redeeming features I could have dealt with that but the mystery was more than a little anemic. For the first third or so of the book I had high hopes but those hopes were soon dashed. For a little while it wasn't completely obvious who had killed Agatha Webb and the developments came fast and thick. But it all came to an end when none of the characters were anything but what they seemed. The characters were trite and predictable - the saintly victim, her pathetic unstable husband, the dead servant woman, the dissolute young man, his upright father, the pretty but evil girl, the plain but virtuous girl, the two brothers who are old friends of the victim, the pompous big city detective, the various city elders, the eager amateur detective, a few townspeople and various shady characters sent in to confuse issues. The servant's death is glossed over in favor of her employer; she seems to be used as a plot device to further the horror of the real crime and offer a last minute solution to the crime. Now, I didn't expect this to be literature with a capital "L" but I did expect an interesting story line and, at the very least, passable writing.
Tl;dr
Green's sentence structure was convoluted at best, the solution to the mystery contrived, and the denouement far too long-winded. Definitely not worth a re-read or even continued space on my phone.
August 26, 2019
I find it difficult to gauge this book... to judge it, to opine... It feels very old-timey, very dated, and as such, different from the books by the Brontes and Jane Austen, whose tales and characters are just as ridiculous to our eyes (with their religiosity and stiff sexual mores and social norms and the like...), but... But they aren't dated... Perhaps because those women did not write detective fiction? Or because they were better writers...? I don't know. But I do know that I was very interested in finding out who done it, and alas, it was a total surprise! Which is more than I can say for many contemporary detective fiction crap...
So detective fiction and crime novels are probably my least favorite genres (among the genres that I would even consider reading), but I really wanted to know what the first novels of their kind were like, and the fact that it was a woman who was among the first and best-known detective fiction writers in the US, got me interested in Anna K. Green. That, and having read an Elizabeth Gaskell novel, too. I like these oldtimey heroes and heroines and evildoers. I do not like the hegemonic sleuth of today, who is almost invariably an alcoholic man who had a totally normal break up or bad relationship that he never got over, or a totally brutal widowship and loss of his children at the hands of a psychopath (because yes, that is totally common) that he never got over. I mean, I have friends with PTSD and terrible traumas, and they do not go around moping and drinking and being cynical about everything. God. Right, that has nothing to do with this book--because this is not one of those noir novels where you can smell the smoke and the drink and the toxic masculinity in every page. Nope. Here, gentlemen are so gentlemanly they kind of make you smile, both with them and at them.
This is a cute and very entertaining book. Not a great book, but, yeah. Perhaps a bit too romantic. A tad romantic in the extreme.
So detective fiction and crime novels are probably my least favorite genres (among the genres that I would even consider reading), but I really wanted to know what the first novels of their kind were like, and the fact that it was a woman who was among the first and best-known detective fiction writers in the US, got me interested in Anna K. Green. That, and having read an Elizabeth Gaskell novel, too. I like these oldtimey heroes and heroines and evildoers. I do not like the hegemonic sleuth of today, who is almost invariably an alcoholic man who had a totally normal break up or bad relationship that he never got over, or a totally brutal widowship and loss of his children at the hands of a psychopath (because yes, that is totally common) that he never got over. I mean, I have friends with PTSD and terrible traumas, and they do not go around moping and drinking and being cynical about everything. God. Right, that has nothing to do with this book--because this is not one of those noir novels where you can smell the smoke and the drink and the toxic masculinity in every page. Nope. Here, gentlemen are so gentlemanly they kind of make you smile, both with them and at them.
This is a cute and very entertaining book. Not a great book, but, yeah. Perhaps a bit too romantic. A tad romantic in the extreme.
July 7, 2011
When I first started reading Agatha Webb, it was mildly amusing, a rich brat goes off the night, a pious woman dies and then all of a sudden the brat changes into a good guy, shuns the vampy gf and tries to woo the good girl. A soap opera in the making if ever I saw. The Days of Our Lives or that even more irritating Bold and the Beautiful. The nuances though does make a difference. As I read, I started yearning, wanting to know more, started really caring for the brat, hated the vamp and cheered for the good girl. Moreover I wanted to know the most important detail... did he really kill Agatha Webb. If you hate soap operas, can't stand the sight of them, then do pls. read this book. Its that one off soap opera that you love to hate in the beginning, but ends up making you its most ardent fan.
February 11, 2021
I read this bec I saw it on a GR friend's review list. I'd never heard of Anna K. Green, and so much that I then read about her was glowing. Allegedly Agatha Christie learned all her skills from Green. I had high hopes. They were dashed. :( While Green came before AC and may have helped pave the way for female mystery writers, she's no AC. The writing style is v dated--genre lit does use a lot more of common idiomatic/stylistic devices from its period than 'literature' does. It's also too long in virtually every respect. The sentences are too long. The chapters and letters [it becomes epistolary for a while] and the book are all too long. UGH. You really just lose interest because everything progresses in a slow and circuitous pattern. I'd have loved to have enjoyed this book--Green has so many others and I was psyched to dive in. Maybe others are better than this. But I can't devote another minute to this writer when there are so many great other books to read. I applaud Green for being a pioneer in the genre, but can't recommend actually reading her work, at least based on this book. (I took so long reading it bec I kept reading other books and was just avoiding this one.)
February 9, 2019
I wouldn't call this a feminist story at all. Miss Page rudely buts into the investigation in the beginning then becomes a bitch who thinks she has the upper hand by using blackmail against Mr. Frederick. The story also goes into various forms of love & how strong love can be but isn't mushy by any means. Give this a try.
October 28, 2012
Enjoyable read from 1899. Does not feel as dated as some from the period. Green must have read Sherlock Holmes. Sweetwater even plays the violin.
December 14, 2016
First published in 1899, this enjoyable murder mystery takes numerous twists and turns. Colorful characters.
September 14, 2021
Excellent mystery, well-woven. Sweetwater, the young detective trained by inspector Gryce is on his own and working behind the scenes. The main reader for the Librivox audio version had a very cute and easy to understand Latin American accent, and I am only hoping there are more books available that have been recorded by her.
June 22, 2023
Too may coincidences for my tastes, and the solution to the mystery, not to mention the background for it, was far too implausible for my tastes. The various characters seemed to me to be more like archetypes and stereotypes than individually crafted persons.
Still, entertaining enough since the search for a solution seemed rather like a maze with multiple deadends as suspects were eliminated.
Still, entertaining enough since the search for a solution seemed rather like a maze with multiple deadends as suspects were eliminated.
September 14, 2021
Good, old-fashioned novel.
Loved the twist and turns. Fully developed characters. Loved the redemptive qualities, the way goodness is sought after, instead of despised. So much better than novels of today.
Loved the twist and turns. Fully developed characters. Loved the redemptive qualities, the way goodness is sought after, instead of despised. So much better than novels of today.
March 31, 2024
Dear me!! Grim, sad and tragic w/ several melodramatic stories intertwined. Just when you think it can't get any sadder, it gets even more sorrowful! I suppose you could say there is a happy ending of sorts, but all in all kind of depressing!
February 12, 2018
Not author’s best but still worthwhile reading. Really enjoyed the narration.
March 2, 2021
This was so dramatic, and oh boy did it had sad parts :(
Otherwise it was super predictable and new plots came and went nowhere lmao
Otherwise it was super predictable and new plots came and went nowhere lmao
August 9, 2023
This was quite a long story with a confusing timeline of events and too many characters. It didn’t get interesting till the end.
October 30, 2024
Like watching paint dry.
August 13, 2025
Este libro es una historia de misterio que se va desenvolviendo de a poco y te mantiene con la intriga todo el tiempo. La trama gira en torno a Agatha Webb, una mujer ya mayor que es asesinada, y a partir de ahí se empieza a desenredar una historia llena de secretos, sospechas y vueltas inesperadas.
Me gustó cómo la autora mezcla lo policial con lo humano, cómo muestra las relaciones, los prejuicios y cómo cada detalle puede ser importante.
Es un libro que se disfruta si te gusta el misterio clásico con una ambientación bien lograda y un ritmo que te invita a seguir leyendo para saber quién fue y por qué.
Me gustó cómo la autora mezcla lo policial con lo humano, cómo muestra las relaciones, los prejuicios y cómo cada detalle puede ser importante.
Es un libro que se disfruta si te gusta el misterio clásico con una ambientación bien lograda y un ritmo que te invita a seguir leyendo para saber quién fue y por qué.
June 25, 2025
3 stars. This is a bit of a hard book to review. It deals with some sad/heavy topics. The ending, though, is overall hopeful and happy. I think mystery novels really show us what humanity and life is like. As a mystery, the book was good, though I was a little annoyed that sometimes she gave things away that took off the suspense a wee bit. I REALLY disliked Amabel--very--but I really liked Frederick, and Agnes was perfect. I really liked Sweetwater, too, and his dear old mother. Mr. Sutherland was awesome as well. There were a few swear words, but nothing else really. In spite of the suspense and even sadness of the book, there was a lot of humour. Overall, it was a gripping mystery, but just a little sad...
A Favourite Quote: "The man had given him a five-dollar gold piece instead of the nickel he had evidently intended. How hungrily Sweetwater eyed that coin! In it was lodging, food, perhaps a new article or so of clothing. But after a moment of indecision which might well be forgiven him, he followed speedily after the man and overtook him[.] 'Sir, pardon me; but you gave me five dollars instead of five cents. It was a mistake; I cannot keep the money.'"
A Favourite Humorous Quote: "With such a topic at hand, [everyone] found ample material to occupy their thoughts and tongues, without wasting time over a presumptuous busybody, who had not wits enough to know that five minutes before sailing-time is an unfortunate moment in which to enter a ship."
A Favourite Quote: "The man had given him a five-dollar gold piece instead of the nickel he had evidently intended. How hungrily Sweetwater eyed that coin! In it was lodging, food, perhaps a new article or so of clothing. But after a moment of indecision which might well be forgiven him, he followed speedily after the man and overtook him[.] 'Sir, pardon me; but you gave me five dollars instead of five cents. It was a mistake; I cannot keep the money.'"
A Favourite Humorous Quote: "With such a topic at hand, [everyone] found ample material to occupy their thoughts and tongues, without wasting time over a presumptuous busybody, who had not wits enough to know that five minutes before sailing-time is an unfortunate moment in which to enter a ship."
July 14, 2012
It’s a little melodramatic. The women are either evil temptresses or pure as snow. The hero is given to sinful excesses, which are never quite named, until he is reformed. But, hey, it was first published in 1899. Anna Katherine Green is considered very influential in the development of the detective fiction genre, and her modest but clever hero here gets into a lot of trouble (including being thrown overboard in the middle of the ocean) before he finally solves the case.
It’s a fun read. I certainly didn’t guess the solution, which is improbable, unexpected and as melodramatic as the rest of the book.
It’s a fun read. I certainly didn’t guess the solution, which is improbable, unexpected and as melodramatic as the rest of the book.
July 6, 2013
I didn't like the structure of this. The story is simple enough and the twists are lame in my opinion, just not believable. Sweetwater the detective here just chases his tail in circle, at no moment did he know the big "reveal" and he was just bumbling through his investigation of Agatha Webb's murder. No character is this book is original and they probably weren't original at the time either. It was my first book by this author and I'm disappointed because I had read so many good things about her, I probably will try here again, but not in this series.
August 21, 2013
Highly enjoyable old-fashioned melodramatic murder-mystery. Written in the 1890s, this story is chock full of twists and turns, secrets and lies, love and honor, and compelling characters acting for good or ill. No one seems to have all the threads of this tangled web in hand, until the cleverness of a talented amateur detective gets a helping hand from Fate. You find yourself rooting for the "good guys" and wishing ill on the "bad 'uns"---even though you can't always tell which is which! All in all, though certainly not the Great American Novel, it's a very fun read.
March 8, 2011
American mystery writer Anna Katherine Green, deserves to be rediscovered but this was not her strongest work. It is better to start with The Leavenworth Case or The Golden Slipper and other Problems for Violet Strange. Still her given her early contributions to detective fiction and memorable characters it is strange that she is so overlooked.
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August 12, 2010Lovely and chilling murder of well to do woman named Agatha Webb. The author is supposedly to influence the great mystery writers like Agatha Christie, et cetera. The time period is mostly 1890s to 1910s. I am currently reading other her works.
July 28, 2010
This plot seemed contrived but I believe it was the first of Caleb Sweetwater, and his bright mind and intuition added an interesting sidelight -- he gets better in later tales.
August 8, 2013
Not a great mystery but intriguing enough to make me want to read more by this author.
February 19, 2014
Plot twists up until practically the last page! Frederick is suspected, but did he do it?
July 28, 2014
Good mystery with many colorful and unexpected twists. Love reading AKG's descriptions of life at the turn of the 20th century. Very moving ending, if not a bit verbose.
June 19, 2023
This was another really good mystery by this author. I've read almost all of her mysteries that are available on Librivox and quite a few were 5 star rated.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews