Anna Katharine Green

Anna Katharine Green - often called "the mother of the detective story," was an American poet and novelist, who has been widely (but erroneously) credited with writing the first American detective novel, 1878's bestselling The Leavenworth Case (The Dead Letter by Seeley Regester was published in 1866). Still, there's no doubt she was tremendously influential - developing the first series detective (Ebenezer Gryce of the New York Metropolitan Police Force), and the first spinster sleuth (Miss Butterworth), as well as the Miss Violet, the first "girl detective."