Hand and Ring

Nice, convoluted mystery. Not at all an obvious ending!

Another great old 19th Century mystery novel by Anna Katharine Green. In the town of Sibley in New York, the widow Clemens is attacked right after a group of friends, including the local District Attorney, had just concluded a discussion about crimes of this type. Before she dies she cries out: "Hand! Ring!" Later, during the coroner's inquest, suspicion falls on one man who stood to benefit from her death. But, Horace Byrd, a detective visiting from New York city, is not satisfied with this view, and begins to investigate on his own... Complications, and much drama ensue. Finally, in the very closing chapters Mr. Gryce show up to straighten things out. The author had a wonderful knack for writing these lengthy old mystery novels - and sustaining interest all the way through. It's a long book. The table of contents preserves the original page numbers: and, the last chapter is listed as beginning on page 600! Nevertheless, I never lost interest, as new "red herrings" show up along the way. Without giving anything away, I should mention that readers may not find the events and reconstructions in the closing chapters to be entirely credible. The attitudes about men and women in this book are very 19th Century. Just the same, I recommend this highly to all lovers of mystery novels.