Hand and Ring

What It's About

When the widow Clemmens is found dead in her home in the small town of Sibley, the news interrupts a casual gathering of lawyers and officials just after court has adjourned. Young detective Horace Byrd is drawn into the investigation, and as he pieces together the details of the crime he meets Imogene Dare, a mysterious woman whose connection to the case proves far more tangled than it first appears. The story is a classic Victorian detective novel, built on suspicion, concealed motives and a slowly tightening puzzle.

Key Concepts

The novel turns on the tension between a detective's duty and his personal feelings, as Byrd's curiosity about Imogene begins to compete with his professional judgement. It also explores how appearances and circumstantial evidence can mislead, and how a close-knit community responds when violence breaks into ordinary life.

About the Author

Anna Katharine Green (1846–1935) was an American novelist, born in Brooklyn and later based in Buffalo, New York. Her father was a lawyer, and her familiarity with legal and criminal procedure shaped her fiction. She is widely regarded as a pioneer of the American detective novel, admired for her carefully constructed plots and her attention to evidence and courtroom detail.