9 h 39 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 9 h 39 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the smallest mark of a name points you toward a killer—or away from one?
In Initials Only, Anna Katharine Green draws you into a crime and the patient effort to name the person behind it. The case depends on small signs, not force. Initials can suggest an identity, but they can also turn attention elsewhere. Your task is to look closely before deciding what those marks mean.
Green builds a puzzle around evidence laid out in plain view. Her clear, formal prose moves at a steady pace, and careful talk carries the weight of action. A crime that seems to have no answer becomes an invitation to think: which details matter, and what can they really prove?
What you’ll discover
- Small signs, real stakes Follow scraps of evidence as the search for a name gives each detail weight.
- Patience before certainty Enjoy detection that asks you to weigh the clues rather than leap toward an answer.
- The pull of initials Consider how a few letters can direct suspicion or draw it away.
- Talk worth following Settle into careful conversations that matter as much as action in the unfolding puzzle.
- A fair reader's challenge Test your own judgment against a mystery whose solution rests on evidence in plain view.
Who will love it
This book suits readers who love classic detective puzzles, impossible crimes and clever disguises, and who enjoy a rival pair of minds circling each other in a turn-of-the-century setting.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- An odd gesture becomes a clue
- The wound overturns the first theory
- A neat answer leaves room for doubt
- Frank answers do not settle guilt
- Another death brings Sweetwater closer
- The initials hide two different men
- Love enters the inventor's guarded world
- Patient attention connects the scattered clues
Who’s who
- SweetwaterA plain-faced young detective with great patience, he trusts his hunch about one man and goes undercover to prove it.
- Ebenezar GryceAn aging, rheumatic detective called back for a case no one else can solve, he guides Sweetwater with sharp old instincts.
- Orlando BrothersonA tall, brilliant inventor with a double life, he wants fame for his flying machine and has a stern pride.
- Oswald BrothersonOrlando's gentle younger brother, manager of the Derby works, loves Edith Challoner in secret and falls ill before he can learn of her death.
- Doris ScottA young girl in Derby with a queen's hair and a brave heart, she must break terrible news to the man she cares for.
- Mr. ChallonerA white-haired banker whose daughter has died, he refuses to believe it was suicide and searches for proof.
- Edith ChallonerA beautiful and kind young woman of means, she writes secret letters to the man she loves and is found dead.
- Laura AndersonA curious wife who sees the stranger in the snow, she tells the early story and urges her husband to speak up.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook and the audiobook open when the book texts go online.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then USD 0.14 a day in your first year on the yearly plan and USD 0.27 a day after, or USD 0.66 a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Initials Only in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Initials Only
by Anna Katharine Green · 1911
A gentleman scrubs his hands in the snow on Broadway while a hotel heiress lies dead with no weapon in sight.
Medium level5–10 hours to read2 languages
Learn a language with medium classicsSpanishFrenchGermanItalianJapanesePortugueseEnglishHow we measure levels
Excellent
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then USD 0.14 a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
In short
A gentleman in a fur-trimmed coat bends at the curb on a snowy Broadway and scrubs his hands with snow. Moments later a young heiress lies dead in a hotel writing room, scarlet poinsettias on her ivory gown and no weapon anywhere.
Initials Only at a glance
- Reading time
- About 5 h 30 min4 h 25 min fast, 6 h 35 min slow
- Length
- 79,100 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1911by Anna Katharine Green
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Two strangers watch a man wash his hands
The story opens on a bitterly cold winter night on Broadway. Laura and George Anderson, a married couple, push through a crowd of theatergoers on their way to visit a friend. They smile at the odd scraps of talk one hears in the street.
Then they see a tall, handsome gentleman step out of the Clermont Hotel and hurry around a corner. He wears a silk hat and an overcoat trimmed with black fur. He bends to the curb and washes his hands in the snow. He does it with such energy that Laura jokes about Pilate. George does not smile. He does not like the man's face.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
You looked at
Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1911
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 6 h 15 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Green, Anna Katharine. Initials Only. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/initials-only.
Green, A. K. (2026). Initials only. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/initials-only (Original work published 1911)
Green, Anna Katharine. Initials Only. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/initials-only.
@book{green2026initials,
author = {Green, Anna Katharine},
title = {Initials Only},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/initials-only},
note = {First published 1911}
}
Free gifts
USD 580 in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
USD 170FREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
USD 120FREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
USD 60FREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
USD 60FREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
USD 170FREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Initials Only
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is Initials Only about?
It is a detective novel about the sudden death of an heiress in a New York hotel, with no sign of a weapon. Two detectives chase the man who may be responsible, and clues lead them from the city to a Pennsylvania mill town.
Who is O. B. in Initials Only?
Two men sign their letters O. B. Orlando Brotherson is an inventor with a double life, and his younger brother Oswald manages ironworks in Derby. Telling them apart is the key to the early mystery.
Who is Sweetwater in the book?
Sweetwater is a young police detective who has been trained by Mr. Gryce. He is plain-faced and talkative, but he works hard and turns himself into a workman, a carpenter and a patient listener to follow his suspect.
The author
Anna Katharine Green
1846–1935 · American detective novelist
Anna Katharine Green (1846–1935) was an American novelist born in Brooklyn, New York. She wrote detective fiction, including The Leavenworth Case, published in 1878, and That Affair Next Door, published in 1897. She married actor and furniture designer Charles Rohlfs in 1884. She lived in Buffalo, New York, where she died.
More by Anna Katharine Green
See all their booksMore like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
