8 h 52 minAudiobook4 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
A murder, respectable faces, and a fan linked to China: what hides behind the appearance of innocence?
In The Mandarin's Fan, Fergus Hume brings together a murder, a circle of respectable people, and an object that seems to carry a dark meaning. The fan anchors an old-fashioned detective puzzle, where appearances invite trust and hidden secrets give the reader reasons to doubt.
Hume builds his crime fiction through careful clues, false trails, and sudden suspicion. Here, the mystery draws on a social world where families guard their names and scandal threatens what they value. The fan adds fear and fascination to a puzzle that asks for patience rather than a rush to judgment.
What you’ll discover
- An object worth watching Follow a fan linked to China as it anchors the mystery's sense of danger.
- Respectability under suspicion Look past respectable appearances and consider what a guarded reputation might conceal.
- Clues that invite patience Enjoy a careful puzzle built from clues, false trails, and reasons to doubt.
- Fear around a relic Explore the fascination and unease surrounding an object that seems to carry dark meaning.
- Secrets beneath social appearances Enter a world where protecting a family name can make scandal feel especially dangerous.
Who will love it
For readers who love puzzles, gaslit streets and drawing-room suspicion, and anyone curious about Hume beyond his best-known title.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A single object can anchor a whole mystery
- Respectable homes can hide dangerous secrets
- The plot works by clues, doubts and patience
- A foreign relic stirs fear and fascination
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- 15-minute summary
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- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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L’Éventail du mandarin
by Fergus Hume· 1905
A fan linked to China draws respectable people into a murder mystery where secrets put reputations at stake.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 4
A single object can anchor a whole mystery
Victorian detective fiction often begins with a thing. A letter, a jewel, a weapon or a curio sits at the center, and every character has some reason to want it, fear it or hide it. The title of this novel tells you where to look. A mandarin was an official of imperial China, and a fan from such a world suggests rank, craft and distance from English life.
For the author, an object like this does useful work. It gives the reader something solid to follow while the people around it say less than they know. Each time it is mentioned, the reader asks who handled it, who saw it and who is lying about it.
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Who wrote The Mandarin's Fan?
The Mandarin's Fan was written by Fergus Hume, a novelist who spent his career writing detective and mystery fiction. He is best remembered for his first big success, The Mystery of a Hansom Cab.
What kind of book is The Mandarin's Fan?
It is a Victorian mystery novel. Readers of this type meet a crime, a set of suspects, hidden secrets and a puzzle solved through clues, with a Chinese relic at the center of the tale.
Is The Mandarin's Fan hard to read?
Not usually. Hume writes in a brisk, plain style for his time. Keeping track of clues and suspects is part of the fun.
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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