The step on the stair

"The Step on the Stair" is a mystery novel written by Anna Katharine Green, an influential early American crime writer. Published in 1923, it is one of her later works. Green is often credited with shaping the detective genre, and her works are known for their intricate plots and legal accuracy.

"The Step on the Stair" revolves around a mysterious death and the subsequent investigation. Like many of Greens novels, it features elements of suspense, hidden motives, and a carefully constructed mystery. The title itself hints at a crucial clue or moment tied to a stairway-perhaps a literal step that holds the key to unraveling the crime.

While not as widely remembered today as Doyle or Agatha Christie, Green was immensely popular in her time and influenced later mystery writers. Her most famous works include The Leavenworth Case (1878) and The Circular Study (1900).

About the Author

Anna Katharine Green (November 11, 1846 - April 11, 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. Green has been called "the mother of the detective novel".

Green was born in Brooklyn, New York on November 11, 1846. She had an early ambition to write romantic verse and corresponded with Ralph Waldo Emerson. When her poetry failed to gain recognition, she produced her first and best known novel, The Leavenworth Case (1878), praised by Wilkie Collins, and the hit of the year. She became a bestselling author, eventually publishing 37 books over 40 years.

On November 25, 1884, Green married the actor and stove designer, and later noted furniture maker, Charles Rohlfs (1853 - 1936). Rohlfs toured in a dramatization of Greens The Leavenworth Case. After his theater career faltered, he became a furniture maker in 1897, and Green collaborated with him on some of his designs. Together they had one daughter and two sons: Rosamund Rohlfs, Roland Rohlfs, and Sterling Rohlfs. Her daughter Rosamund married Robert Twitty Palmer.

Green died on April 11, 1935, in Buffalo, New York, at the age of 88. Her husband died the following year.

In 2002, Buffalo Literary Walking Tours began an annual series of weekend walking tours highlighting authors with local connections. Green is included along with Mark Twain, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Herman Melville, Taylor Caldwell, and others.

Greens short story "The Intangible Clue" featuring Violet Strange was adapted by Chris Harrald for the second series of BBC Radio 4s drama series The Rivals and starred Jeany Spark as Violet Strange. (wikipedia.org)