Fergus Hume

The Solitary Farm by Fergus Hume is a mystery taking place in the country. This is one of the world's great murder mysteries. Fergus Hume was born in England, the second son of James Hume. When he was three the family emigrated to Dunedin, New Zealand, where he was educated at Otago Boys' High School and studied law at the University of Otago. He was admitted to the New Zealand bar in 1885. Shortly after graduation Hume relocated to Melbourne, Australia, where he obtained a job as a barristers' clerk. He began writing plays, but found it impossible to persuade the managers of Melbourne theatres to accept or even to read them. Finding that the novels of mile Gaboriau were then very popular in Melbourne, Hume obtained and read a set of them and determined to write a novel of the same kind. The result was The Mystery of a Hansom Cab, set in Melbourne, with descriptions of poor urban life based on his knowledge of Little Bourke Street. It was self-published in 1886 and became a great success. Because he sold the British and American rights for 50 pounds, however, he reaped little of the potential financial benefit. It became the best-selling mystery novel of the Victorian era; in 1990 John Sutherland called it the "most sensationally popular crime and detective novel of the century". This novel inspired Arthur Conan Doyle to write A Study in Scarlet, which introduced the fictional consulting detective Sherlock Holmes. Doyle remarked, "Hansom Cab was a slight tale, mostly sold by 'puffing'." After the success of his first novel and the publication of another, Professor Brankel's Secret (c.?1886), Hume returned to England in 1888. He resided in London for a few years and then moved to the Essex countryside where he lived in Thundersley for 30 years. Eventually he produced more than 100 novels and short stories. Hume did not seek publicity and little is known of his personal life. The writer of the obituary notice in The Times stated that he was a very religious man who during his last years did much lecturing to young people's clubs and debating societies. He died at Thundersley on 12 July 1932, shortly after completing his last book, The Last Straw.

Hume (1859-1932) was a prolific English novelist. Born in England, his family emigrated to New Zealand when he was three and it was here he was educated and admitted to the bar in 1885. Shortly after he relocated to Melbourne, Australia where he worked as a barrister's clerk and began writing plays without success. He then turned to mystery fiction and his first self-published work The Mystery of a Hansom Cab became the best-selling novel of the genre in the Victorian era. Hume returned to England in 1888 and went on to produce over 100 novels and stories. This short novel, described by the author as A Psychological Phantasy and also known as The Man Who Vanished, was first published in 1890.

Hume (1859-1932) was a prolific English novelist. Born in England, his family emigrated to New Zealand when he was three and it was here he was educated and admitted to the bar in 1885. Shortly after he relocated to Melbourne, Australia where he worked as a barrister's clerk and began writing plays without success. He then turned to mystery fiction and his first self-published work The Mystery of a Hansom Cab became the best-selling novel of the genre in the Victorian era. Hume returned to England in 1888 and went on to produce over 100 novels and stories. This novel was first published in 1894 and is reprinted from the American edition of 1895.

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This early work by Fergus Hume was originally published in 1912 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. 'Red Money' is a mysterious tale of an English manor house and the arrival of some transient gipsies. Fergusson Wright Hume was born on 8th July 1859 in England, the second son of Dr. James Hume. The family migrated to New Zealand where Fergus was enrolled at Otago Boys' High School, and later continued his legal and literary studies at the University of Otago. Hume returned to England in 1888 where he resided in London for a few years until moving to the Essex countryside. There he published over 100 novels, mainly in the mystery fiction genre, though none had the success of his d but work.

Hume (1859-1932) was a prolific English novelist. Born in England, his family emigrated to New Zealand when he was three and it was here he was educated and admitted to the bar in 1885. Shortly after he relocated to Melbourne, Australia where he worked as a barrister's clerk and began writing plays without success. He then turned to mystery fiction and his first self-published work The Mystery of a Hansom Cab became the best-selling novel of the genre in the Victorian era. Hume returned to England in 1888 and went on to produce over 100 novels and stories. This novel was first published in 1889.

" ...] "Hullo, little Tait " cried the newcomer, hastily striding across the room; "here I am again. Come from wandering up and down the earth, sir, like a certain person whom I need not mention." "Dear me," said Tait, welcoming his guest with prim kindliness, "it is Claude Larcher. I am very glad to see you, my dear fellow, and rather surprised; for I assure you I thought you were at the Antipodes." "I have just returned from that quarter of the globe. Yes Landed at the docks yesterday from one of the Shaw-Saville line. Had a capital passage from New Zealand. Sea like a mill-pond from Wellington Heads to the Lizard." ...]."

" ...] It was midnight-midnight on Waterloo Bridge. A plague was over the city-the concentrated vomit of a million and more chimneys wrapped all in an Egyptian darkness. The miracle of Moses could not have produced a deeper gloom-an atmosphere more impenetrable. It clung to the skin, it even pressed against the eyeballs. It might in truth have been that very outer darkness which we are taught is reserved for those amongst us who are sinners. Big Ben and his brethren of the steeples struck a muffled twelve, seeming to insist upon their strokes the more as if they knew their dials were hidden from all sight. The very gas lamps entered into rivalry, some looming out mere splotches of dirty yellow light, while here and there one more modern than its fellows managed successfully to penetrate the gloom. The bridge leapt across the river from fog-bank to fog-bank, like the bridge in Mira's vision, and if the chill mist lifted a trifle toward the centre, it was but a matter of a few feet. And above it all presumably there shone the stars and moon in their spacious firmament, they and their kindly influence shut out, it might be for ever, by the relentless pall. And in the darkness on the bridge, there crawled and lurked and squatted the noisome creatures of the night. They could hear the sullen lapping of the unseen river against the piles, as it swept full tide from the sea. To their ears, sharpened by hunger and misery, the waters were all articulate, inviting them to exchange their stony resting-place for its softer bed below. And they pondered greatly at the invitation. Were it not better to accept it, and let their half-starved bodies drift seaward with the morning ebb? ...]."

Professor Braddock hoped to compare the burial practices of the Egyptians with those of the ancient Peruvians with his latest acquisition, the mummy of the last Inca, Caxas. But on arrival, the packing case proved to hold not the mummy, but the body of his assistant Sidney Bolton. It falls to Archie Hope to discover the murderer if he is to marry the professors step-daughter, Lucy Kendal. Who killed Bolton and where is the mummy? Was it the sea captain Hervey? The mysterious Don Pedro? Cockatoo the Polynesian servant? The professor, himself? And what has become of the emeralds? These are the questions that Hope must answer amongst the secrets of the past in ... The Green Mummy.

Hume (1859-1932) was a prolific English novelist. Born in England, his family emigrated to New Zealand when he was three and it was here he was educated and admitted to the bar in 1885. Shortly after he relocated to Melbourne, Australia where he worked as a barrister's clerk and began writing plays without success. He then turned to mystery fiction and his first self-published work The Mystery of a Hansom Cab became the best-selling novel of the genre in the Victorian era. Hume returned to England in 1888 and went on to produce over 100 novels and stories. This novel was first published in 1906.

Excellent murder mystery. On September 9, 1905, the NY Times Saturday Review of Books described this book as follows: "That painstakingly ingenious person, Fergus Hume, has devised another of his hide-and-seek, jack-o'-lantern murder mysteries. It begins with a queer and rich old woman found stabbed to death in her chair and not a clue to the murderer. Then so many clues turn up that even the story-book detective is bewildered. Then nearly everybody turns out to be somebody else under an alias, and all the clues lead nowhere..."

Hume (1859-1932) was a prolific English novelist. Born in England, his family emigrated to New Zealand when he was three and it was here he was educated and admitted to the bar in 1885. Shortly after he relocated to Melbourne, Australia where he worked as a barrister's clerk and began writing plays without success. He then turned to mystery fiction and his first self-published work The Mystery of a Hansom Cab became the best-selling novel of the genre in the Victorian era. Hume returned to England in 1888 and went on to produce over 100 novels and stories. This work was first published in England in 1897 under the title The Devil-Stick and is reprinted from the American edition of 1898.

This early work by Fergus Hume was originally published in 1900 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. 'The Lady from Nowhere' is a tale of murder by this famous mystery novelist. Fergusson Wright Hume was born on 8th July 1859 in England, the second son of Dr. James Hume. The family migrated to New Zealand where Fergus was enrolled at Otago Boys' High School, and later continued his legal and literary studies at the University of Otago. Hume returned to England in 1888 where he resided in London for a few years until moving to the Essex countryside. There he published over 100 novels, mainly in the mystery fiction genre, though none had the success of his debut work."

Hume (1859-1932) was a prolific English novelist. Born in England, his family emigrated to New Zealand when he was three and it was here he was educated and admitted to the bar in 1885. Shortly after he relocated to Melbourne, Australia where he worked as a barrister's clerk and began writing plays without success. He then turned to mystery fiction and his first self-published work The Mystery of a Hansom Cab became the best-selling novel of the genre in the Victorian era. Hume returned to England in 1888 and went on to produce over 100 novels and stories. This work was first published in 1903.

Hume (1859-1932) was a prolific English novelist. Born in England, his family emigrated to New Zealand when he was three and it was here he was educated and admitted to the bar in 1885. Shortly after he relocated to Melbourne, Australia where he worked as a barrister's clerk and began writing plays without success. He then turned to mystery fiction and his first self-published work The Mystery of a Hansom Cab became the best-selling novel of the genre in the Victorian era. Hume returned to England in 1888 and went on to produce over 100 novels and stories. One of his earlier works, this novel was first published in 1889.

Hume was born in England, the second son of James Hume. When he was three the family emigrated to Dunedin, New Zealand, where he was educated at Otago Boys' High School and studied law at the University of Otago. He was admitted to the New Zealand bar in 1885. Shortly after graduation Hume relocated to Melbourne, Australia, where he obtained a job as a barristers' clerk. He began writing plays, but found it impossible to persuade the managers of Melbourne theatres to accept or even to read them. This is one of Fergus Hume's better works. This is a Green Bird Publication of a quality soft cover.

Hume (1859-1932) was a prolific English novelist. Born in England, his family emigrated to New Zealand when he was three and it was here he was educated and admitted to the bar in 1885. Shortly after he relocated to Melbourne, Australia where he worked as a barrister's clerk and began writing plays without success. He then turned to mystery fiction and his first self-published work The Mystery of a Hansom Cab became the best-selling novel of the genre in the Victorian era. Hume returned to England in 1888 and went on to produce over 100 novels and stories. This sequel to Madame Midas (1888) was first published in 1890 and is also known as 'Tracked by Fate.'