Zusammenfassung
Zusammenfassung von Die Opalene Schlange
Für wen es gedacht ist
Readers who like a Victorian-style crime puzzle with a warm love story, a gallery of lively characters, and a detective who works by careful questions, disguises and good humour.
Worum es in diesem Buch geht
The Opal Serpent is a mystery novel by Fergus Hume, who also wrote The Mystery of a Hansom Cab. It is set in the London of the early 1900s and mixes a murder case with a love story and a good deal of comedy. You get a young writer with no money, a frightened pawnbroker, a loud and loyal maid, and a jeweled brooch that seems to carry a curse.
The book begins with Paul Beecot, a country gentleman's son who leaves home to make his name as an author. He lives in a Bloomsbury attic and falls in love with Sylvia, the shy daughter of a one-eyed secondhand bookseller in Gwynne Street. When Paul tries to pawn an old family brooch shaped like a serpent, the bookseller faints at the sight of it. Soon a death follows that is cruel enough to shock the whole city.
You follow clues, false trails and uncertain friendships as a cheerful detective named Hurd works the case. The story moves between a shabby garret, a dark cellar, a laundry in the suburbs and a country inn. Let us begin with the young man, his father and the attic that starts it all.
In dieser Zusammenfassung
- 1A son leaves for LondonFree
- 2An old friend and a serpent brooch
- 3Gwynne Street and its secrets
- 4A hospital bed and a closed shop
- 5A night of murder
- 6A name, a will and a claim
- 7A detective, a dinner and a dead lady
- 8Inn, captain and cheating
- 9Tray, Pash and Mrs. Krill cornered
- 10What the story is about and how it is told
Punkt 1 von 10
A son leaves for London
Simon Beecot is a small-minded country gentleman at Wargrove in Essex. He spends his days snarling at his tired wife and snapping at his son Paul. Paul is twenty-five and wants to be a writer, which his father counts as a crime. When Paul announces that he will go to London, his father threatens to cut him from his will and refuses him money.
Paul is calm about it. He has fifty pounds saved from short stories, and he leaves the next morning. His mother faints, and his father swears at the empty air. Mr. Beecot privately thinks he has been hard on the boy, but pride keeps him from calling Paul back.
In London Paul rents a Bloomsbury attic he calls Poverty Castle. He writes on every subject and visits publishers with mixed luck. He also watches the street, filling notebooks with the drama of the poor.
The book opens this way to show Paul's spirit and his stubborn honesty. These two traits will be tested again and again. It also introduces the father, a bully who loves money, who will return whenever Paul's fortunes change.
The comic tone is set early. The narrator mocks the idle gentry and cheers the young man who wants to work.
That’s 1 of 10 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Questions about Die Opalene Schlange
What is The Opal Serpent about?
It follows the poor young author Paul Beecot, whose family brooch in the shape of a serpent links him to the murder of a London pawnbroker. A detective traces the crime back to an older death at a country inn.
Who is Billy Hurd?
Hurd is the Treasury detective in charge of the Gwynne Street case. He wears many disguises, including a workman and a French count, and works with his sister, the actress Aurora Qian.
What does the opal serpent mean in the book?
It is an Indian brooch set with opals and diamonds. Characters call it unlucky, and it links a death at an inn in the past to the murder of the bookseller in London.
Who wrote The Opal Serpent and what kind of book is it?
Fergus Hume wrote it. It is a mystery novel set in the London of the early 1900s, blending detection, romance and comedy, with short chapters that each end on a hook.
Is The Opal Serpent easy to read?
Yes, in the sense that the chapters are short, the plot moves briskly, and the talkative maid Deborah Junk brings humour to every scene. The clues are laid out clearly for readers who like to guess.