The Woman in the Alcove

The Woman in the Alcove is one of the real masterpieces by Anna Katharine Green and a true gem of the genre of detective fiction, a well-written and refreshing story full of action, but without any violence being involved. The spinster-detective in the novel is Miss Van Arsdale, a member of the high society in New York and a woman who is short and plain in appearance. She is invited to an elegant party where she falls in love with a gentleman called Mr. Durand, who returns her feeling and proposes to her. There are a lot of strange comings and goings at the party, especially after the appearance of Mrs. Fairbrother who wears a spectacular diamond. Mrs. Fairbrother is murdered in an alcove down the corridor soon after her arrival and the prime suspect is none else than Mr. Durand, so Miss Van Arsdale gets down to work to prove that her love is innocent. The Woman in the Alcove is among Anna Katharine Green's best mysteries. The characters are all well-rounded, Miss Van Arsdale and Mr. Durand just as much as Detective Stillwater, the police officer whom Miss Van Arsdale manages to convince to help her find the real murderer, even though every clue points towards Durand. The methods that the spinster turned amateur detective uses involve sneaking and eavesdropping, reading other people's letters and gossiping and she uses the pieces of information gathered in an ingenious way, reconstructing the events and eventually saving her love from the gallows. The story is narrated by Miss Van Arsdale herself in first person singular, allowing the reader to follow her train of thought and to see how her creative and superior mind works, matching seemingly unrelated events and elucidating a mystery that would have otherwise beaten the trained and experienced detectives of the New York police.