10 h 2 minAudiobook12 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Two men enter a cab on a foggy Melbourne night. When it stops, one is dead.
In Fergus Hume’s The Mystery of a Hansom Cab, a killing draws the police from empty streets into wealthy drawing rooms. The victim is Oliver Whyte, a recent arrival from England. Evidence points to Brian Fitzgerald, a young gentleman whose troubling silence puts his future with Madge Frettlby at risk.
Madge stands by her fiancé as the town turns against him. Mr. Calton, a calm, watchful barrister, doubts the police case and begins his own search. His inquiries lead beyond the polished Frettlby house into Melbourne’s poor lanes, where clues expose the distance between respectable appearances and carefully guarded lives.
What you’ll discover
- A city behind the fog Follow the investigation through grand houses, crowded back lanes, and the dark rooms of Melbourne.
- Silence under suspicion Watch Brian Fitzgerald face a murder charge while withholding an account of his own movements.
- Loyalty against public judgment Meet Madge Frettlby, who stands beside the man she loves when others turn away.
- Competing paths to truth Compare Gorby’s confident haste with Kilsip’s patient methods and Calton’s doubts about the evidence.
- The burden of old secrets Explore how old wrongs, promises, and shame press against the surface of respectable lives.
Who will love it
For readers who love a classic whodunit, a fog-bound city and a plot built from secrets and clues. It also suits anyone curious about early Australian fiction.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A dead man in a fog-bound cab
- The police search for a name
- Wealth and manners in the Frettlby house
- An arrest that shocks the town
- A barrister takes up the case
- Down into the poor lanes of the city
- Secrets, respectability and the weight of the past
- Melbourne as a character in its own right
- How the mystery is built and why it sold
Who’s who
- Brian FitzgeraldA young gentleman engaged to Madge Frettlby, he is arrested for the murder and keeps a troubling silence about his own movements.
- Madge FrettlbyThe loving daughter of a rich Melbourne man, she stands by her fiance when the town turns against him.
- Mark FrettlbyA wealthy, respected Melbourne figure whose comfortable house becomes tied to the murder in ways he would prefer to hide.
- Mr. CaltonA calm, clever barrister who takes up the defence and investigates on his own because he doubts the police have the truth.
- Detective GorbyA confident police detective who leaps quickly to a theory and wants the case closed on his terms.
- Detective KilsipA steadier officer who works the case by patient method and sees the limits of Gorby's haste.
- Oliver WhyteThe dead man in the cab, a recent arrival from England whose past holds the roots of the crime.
- Kitty MarchurstMadge's lively friend, who moves through the same social circle and sees more than she says.
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- Audiobook
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- 15-minute summary
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Das Geheimnis der Hansom-Kutsche
by Fergus Hume · 1886
A dead man in a Melbourne cab draws a barrister into a murder case where respectable people guard their secrets.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 9
A dead man in a fog-bound cab
The novel opens late on a foggy night in Melbourne. A hansom cab, the light two-wheeled carriage that served as the taxi of its day, is hailed in the street. The driver is told to take two passengers on. One is a tall gentleman. The other seems to be a drunk man, helped inside by his friend.
The tall man gets out before the journey ends and walks away. The drunk man stays in his seat and does not move. The cabman thinks nothing of it at first. Passengers who have had too much to drink are common enough in his trade.
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What is The Mystery of a Hansom Cab about?
It is a murder mystery set in Melbourne. A man is found dead in a cab, a young gentleman is arrested, and a barrister tries to uncover the real cause behind the crime.
When was The Mystery of a Hansom Cab written?
Fergus Hume wrote it in Melbourne and had it printed there in 1886. A London edition followed in 1887 and made it widely popular. It is fiction, not a true story, though it uses real city settings.
What is a hansom cab?
A hansom cab is a light, two-wheeled horse-drawn carriage with the driver seated high at the back. In Victorian cities it worked like a taxi, which makes it a fitting place for a crime in the book.
The author
Fergus Hume
1859–1932 · English mystery novelist
Fergus Hume (1859–1932) was a British novelist born in England. He grew up in Dunedin, New Zealand, and moved to Melbourne, Australia, in 1885. He published The Mystery of a Hansom Cab in 1886. He returned to England in 1888 and continued writing crime novels, including The Green Mummy.
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