User:EN6000Leavenworth/sandbox

The Leavenworth Case is a detective novel in terms of genre. Its major themes are in some cases typical of the genre and in others innovative. In writing this book, Green began, notably, what would become one of the first detective series. This is thematically significant and sets the novel apart from previous works in the genre that most often were stand-alone; Green instead extended the themes and other elements of the novel, such as its detective and his methods, across a series of novels. While thematically and structurally the novel is typical of the genre in some regards in terms of being a “whodunit,” Green’s characterization of Detective Gryce adds additional intrigue, setting up the series of Gryce novels that would follow.

The atmospheric and suspenseful aspects of the novel make it notable. Green used her familiarity with criminal and legal matters to create a novel that is characterized by technical accuracy and realistic procedural details. Green’s use in the novel of aspects that include a coroner’s inquest, expert testimony, scientific ballistic evidence, a schematic drawing of the crime scene, a reconstructed letter, and the first suspicious butler “anticipates many of the features used by subsequent mystery novels." Further, her innovative techniques and creative thematic elements were demonstrative of what would become standard elements in the detective novel. These aspects include: “a murder in a library, a narrator who is an assistant to the detective, newspaper accounts of the case, wills and a large inheritance, a second murder that heightens the mystery, and a final confrontation scene that prompts a confession." Certainly, the major themes of the novel and how Green presents them situate it as an influential text within the genre.