This is a complete collection of the Caleb Sweetwater series all written by, Anna Katherine Green. The books include: Agatha Webb, The Woman in the Alcove, The House of the whispering Pines.

To have reared a towering scheme Of happiness, and to behold it razed, Were nothing: all men hope, and see their hopes Frustrate, and grieve awhile, and hope anew; But- A Blot in the 'Scutcheon. The moon rode high; but ominous clouds were rushing towards it-clouds heavy with snow. I watched these clouds as I drove recklessly, desperately, over the winter roads. I had just missed the desire of my life, the one precious treasure which I coveted with my whole undisciplined heart, and not being what you call a man of self-restraint, I was chafed by my defeat far beyond the bounds I have usually set for myself. The moon-with the wild skurry of clouds hastening to blot it out of sight-seemed to mirror the chaos threatening my better impulses; and, idly keeping it in view, I rode on, hardly conscious of my course till the rapid recurrence of several well-known landmarks warned me that I had taken the longest route home, and that in another moment I should be skirting the grounds of The Whispering Pines, our country clubhouse. I had taken? Let me rather say, my horse; for he and I had traversed this road many times together, and he had no means of knowing that the season was over and the club-house closed. I did not think of it myself at the moment, and was recklessly questioning whether I should not drive in and end my disappointment in a wild carouse, when, the great stack of chimneys coming suddenly into view against the broad disk of the still unclouded moon, I perceived a thin trail of smoke soaring up from their midst and realised, with a shock, that there should be no such sign of life in a house I myself had closed, locked, and barred that very day. I was the president of the club and felt responsible. Pausing only long enough to make sure that I had yielded to no delusion, and that fire of some kind was burning on one of the club-house's deserted hearths, I turned in at the lower gateway. For reasons which I need not now state, there were no bells attached to my cutter and consequently my approach was noiseless. I was careful that it should be so, also careful to stop short of the front door and leave my horse and sleigh in the black depths of the pine-grove pressing up to the walls on either side. I was sure that all was not as it should be inside these walls, but, as God lives, I had no idea what was amiss or how deeply my own destiny was involved in the step I was about to take.

A day after closing down the Whispering Pines country club house for winter break, the narrator is surprised to see what looks like smoke emanating from the building's chimney. Upon investigating, he witnesses his sister's fiancé flee the building crying and, upstairs, finds her dead body. The third book in Green's detective series featuring Caleb Sweetwater, “The House of the Whispering Pines” is a riveting page-turner brimming with intrigue not to be missed by fans of classic detective fiction. Anna Katharine Green (1846–1935) was an American novelist and poet. Among the first writers of detective fiction in America, she is considered to be the “mother” of the genre for her legally-accurate and well-thought-out plots. Other notable works by this author include: “The Leavenworth Case” (1878), “One of my Sons” (1901), and “The Circular Study” (1900). Read & Co. Classics is proudly republishing this vintage detective novel now in a brand new edition complete with a specially-commissioned new biography of the author.

This carefully crafted ebook: "ANNA KATHERINE GREEN Ultimate Collection: Amelia Butterworth Series, Detective Ebenezer Gryce Mysteries, The Cases of Violet Strange, Caleb Sweetwater Trilogy & Other Mysteries" is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents. Anna Katharine Green (1846-1935) was one of the first writers of detective fiction in America and distinguished herself by writing well plotted, legally accurate stories. Green has been called "the mother of the detective novel". She is credited with shaping detective fiction into its classic form, and developing the series detective. Her main character was detective Ebenezer Gryce of the New York Metropolitan Police Force, but in three novels he is assisted by the nosy society spinster Amelia Butterworth, the prototype for Miss Marple, Miss Silver and other creations. She also invented the 'girl detective': in the character of Violet Strange, a debutante with a secret life as a sleuth. Indeed, as journalist Kathy Hickman writes, Green "stamped the mystery genre with the distinctive features that would influence writers from Agatha Christie and Conan Doyle to contemporary authors of suspenseful "whodunits". Table of Contents: Amelia Butterworth Series: That Affair Next Door Lost Man's Lane The Circular Study Mystery Novels: The Leavenworth Case A Strange Disappearance X Y Z: A Detective Story Hand and Ring The Mill Mystery The Forsaken Inn Cynthia Wakeham's Money Agatha Webb One of My Sons The Filigree Ball The Millionaire Baby The Chief Legatee' The Woman in the Alcove The Mayor's Wife The House of the Whispering Pines Three Thousand Dollars Initials Only Dark Hollow The Mystery of the Hasty Arrow Non Detective Novel: The Sword of Damocles: A Story of New York Life Short Stories: The Old Stone House and Other Stories A Difficult Problem and Other Stories Room Number 3 and Other Detective Stories The Golden Slipper and Other Problems for Violet Strange

The dance was over. From the great house on the hill the guests had all departed and only the musicians remained. As they filed out through the ample doorway, on their way home, the first faint streak of early dawn became visible in the east. One of them, a lank, plain-featured young man of ungainly aspect but penetrating eye, called the attention of the others to it. "Look!" said he; "there is the daylight! This has been a gay night for Sutherlandtown." "Too gay," muttered another, starting aside as the slight figure of a young man coming from the house behind them rushed hastily by. "Why, who's that?" As they one and all had recognised the person thus alluded to, no one answered till he had dashed out of the gate and disappeared in the woods on the other side of the road. Then they all spoke at once. "It's Mr. Frederick!" "He seems in a desperate hurry." "He trod on my toes." "Did you hear the words he was muttering as he went by?" As only the last question was calculated to rouse any interest, it alone received attention. "No; what were they? I heard him say something, but I failed to catch the words." "He wasn't talking to you, or to me either, for that matter; but I have ears that can hear an eye wink. He said: 'Thank God, this night of horror is over!' Think of that! After such a dance and such a spread, he calls the night horrible and thanks God that it is over. I thought he was the very man to enjoy this kind of thing." "So did I." "And so did I." The five musicians exchanged looks, then huddled in a group at the gate. "He has quarrelled with his sweetheart," suggested one. "I'm not surprised at that," declared another. "I never thought it would be a match."

The Caleb Sweetwater Mysteries is a collection of three novels featuring Caleb Sweetwater, a policeman in New York City. The author, Anna Katharine Green is credited with shaping detective fiction into its classic form, and developing the series detective She was one of the first writers of detective fiction in America and distinguished herself by writing well plotted, legally accurate stories. Green has been called "the mother of the detective novel". As journalist Kathy Hickman writes, Green "stamped the mystery genre with the distinctive features that would influence writers from Agatha Christie and Conan Doyle to contemporary authors of suspenseful "whodunits". Table of Contents: Agatha Webb The Woman in the Alcove The House of the Whispering Pines