This short detective story is either a long short story or a short novella... in either case, it is a good murder mystery. An agent of the Secret Service searching for clues to a ring of counterfeiters gets mistakenly mixed up in a family quarrel & happens to be on the spot when the family patriarch is poisoned. ( )

It is surprising how few crime novels begin with the letter X. (This is clearly NOT a problem in the sci-fi or fantasy genres.) In search of one as part of an A-to-Z challenge, I came across this novelette by [a:Anna Katharine Green|60005|Anna Katharine Green|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1261149367p2/60005.jpg]. I'm ashamed to say that although she lived in Buffalo NY for many years, a city where I also have lived, I hadn't previously heard of her.

Judging by this short book, I'd have to say she was quite an amazing author for her time. The fact that there were doubts that her first novel, [b:The Leavenworth Case|1940880|The Leavenworth Case|Anna Katharine Green|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1190625919l/1940880._SY75_.jpg|1943473] had been written by a woman speaks for itself. XYZ is not as complicated a story as those written by her contemporary, Arthur Conan Doyle, but it's very readable - and enjoyable.

Take a minute to click through the link above to read more about her undoubted contributions to the crime fiction genre, for which she gets little credit. And take an hour or two to read one of her books. It's worth it, regardless of the first letter. ( )

1881 June. While investigating one crime an agent discovers another in Brandon.
This novella has an enjoyable storyline
Originally written in 1883 ( )

Enjoyable short story: an early American murder mystery from the 1880's. A detective on the trail of counterfeiters discovers an unrelated mystery involving the Benson family; a rich family who treasure their privacy but are suddenly holding a party. A masked ball is planned and a scheme is afoot to help a disgraced son. ( )

The detective who is the central character, employed by the United States Government, is hot on the trail of some counterfeiters when he discovers that a Massachusetts post office is being used by a gang to drop instructions in envelopes addressed to X. Y. Z.

Here is the "hook".

Sometimes in the course of his experience, a detective, while engaged in ferreting out the mystery of one crime, runs inadvertently upon the clue to another. But rarely has this been done in a manner more unexpected or with attendant circumstances of greater interest than in the instance I am now about to relate.

The gang have established a pattern in picking up the letters and so the detective's curiosity is piqued when a young man arrives at the "wrong time" and asks for X.Y.Z's correspondence. When the new arrival collects the letters he hands all but the last one back to the postmaster saying they are not for him. The detective decides to follow him and observes a murder.

X. Y. Z. A DETECTIVE STORY is one of a number of Anna Katherina Green novels and novellas available free for Kindle from Amazon.
My attention was drawn to it recently by Margaret@BooksPlease in the Crime Fiction Alphabet for Letter X.
As Margaret says in her mini-review "It’s written in a somewhat formal and stilted style, and is melodramatic" but even so it is interesting to note how much it seems to have in common with writers like Edgar Allan Poe and Wilkie Collins, at the same time realising that the writer is a woman.
Wikipedia says this of her: 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.
She apparently wrote about 40 stories, including The Leavenworth Case (1878), praised by Wilkie Collins, and the hit of the year.
X.Y. Z is really a novella or an extended short story and takes almost no time to read.
It is one of a number of Green's books available from Gutenberg Project if you are looking for something other than an .azw file. ( )