The Mystery of a Hansom Cab
$13.99
- Paperback
414 pages
- Release Date
26 April 2012
Summary
Fergus Hume’s sensational novel The Mystery of a Hansom Cab is Australia’s original blockbuster and international best-selling crime novel.
First published in 1886, it was an overnight sensation, selling hundreds of thousands of copies around the world and being translated into eleven languages. Over a century later, Hansom Cab has lost none of its page-turning power.
Set in the charming and deadly streets of Melbourne, this brilliantly plotted murder thrille…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781921922220 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 1921922222 |
| Author: | Fergus Hume |
| Publisher: | Text Publishing |
| Imprint: | Text Classics |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 414 |
| Release Date: | 26 April 2012 |
| Weight: | 312g |
| Dimensions: | 35mm x 197mm x 130mm |
| Series: | Text Classics |
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About The Author
Fergus Hume
Fergus Hume was born in England in 1859. His family soon immigrated to New Zealand, where Hume qualified as a lawyer. He was admitted to the bar in 1885 and moved to Melbourne in the same year.
Desperate to become a playwright but having no success, Hume decided to write a murder novel instead. When he couldn’t find a publisher for The Mystery of a Hansom Cab he published it himself. It was a sensation and sold over twenty thousand copies in Melbourne.
With a hit on his hands, Hume sold his copyright to the Hansom Cab Publishing Company in London for fifty pounds. The book was a phenomenal success but Hume never saw another penny from his bestseller. It may have influenced Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet, the first Sherlock Holmes adventure.
Hume moved back to England in 1888 after the publication of his second novel, Madame Midas. He embarked on a career that produced over 130 novels. He never became a famous playwright but he did co-write the theatrical adaptation of The Mystery of a Hansom Cab, which played in London for five hundred nights. The story was also filmed three times in the silent era.
Fergus Hume died in 1932.
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