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An ancient mummy arrives in England, and scholarly curiosity gives way to murder, theft, and suspicion.
In The Green Mummy by Fergus Hume, Professor Braddock wants an ancient Peruvian mummy to acquire and study. Archaeology absorbs him, leaving little room for ordinary concerns. But violence surrounds the mummy’s journey: his assistant, Sidney Bolton, is murdered, and the prized object disappears.
Braddock’s daughter Lucy and the artist Archie Hope have their own future to consider. Around them, the mystery grows through competing interests, explanations, and the gaps between words and actions. The missing mummy connects this English circle to Peru, while its value reaches beyond anything a scholar can measure.
What you’ll discover
- A scholar absorbed Meet Professor Braddock, whose passion for archaeology leaves ordinary household concerns far behind.
- A curious stolen object Follow a missing Peruvian mummy that draws a whole circle of people into suspicion.
- Words against actions Look for the telling gaps between what people explain and what their conduct suggests.
- Romance amid suspicion Follow Lucy and Archie Hope as their personal hopes share space with a murder mystery.
- Human motives beneath mystery Explore ambition, attachment, and concealment behind a title that hints at something uncanny.
Who will love it
This is for readers who enjoy Victorian and Edwardian mysteries, quarrelsome scholars, amateur sleuths, village gossip, and a puzzle full of jewels, disguises and red herrings.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A marriage bargain buys a mummy
- Braddock always wants another treasure
- The purchase arrives as a corpse
- A witness leaves the mystery open
- The missing mummy holds a fortune
- Each discovery points toward another suspect
- Money puts love up for sale
- Appearances turn uncertainty into accusation
- Follow who benefits from each clue
Who’s who
- Lucy KendalA spirited young woman who refuses to be bought or sold and insists on marrying the painter she loves.
- Archibald HopeA landscape painter on a modest income who loves Lucy and slowly turns amateur detective as the mystery deepens.
- Professor BraddockLucy's stepfather, a short-tempered Egyptologist who wants the green mummy and money for a lost tomb above all else.
- Sir Frank RandomA cheerful baronet and artillery captain, rejected by Lucy and now in love with a Peruvian lady.
- Mrs. JasherA stylish, scheming widow in a pink cottage who wants a husband, a title and a secure place in society.
- Don Pedro de GayangosA proud Peruvian gentleman who claims royal Inca blood and wants the stolen mummy of his ancestor back.
- Captain Hiram HerveyThe sharp-tongued American skipper of The Diver, who sells his help to whoever will pay.
- CockatooThe Professor's devoted, yellow-haired servant, who guards the museum and fears no one but his master.
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The Green Mummy
by Fergus Hume · 1908
A packing case arrives at Gartley holding an assistant choked to death instead of a green Inca mummy.
Medium level5–10 hours to read20 languages
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“Brag is a good dog, Don Pedro, but Holdfast is a better one.”
In short
What do you do when the crate you open holds a dead man instead of a treasure? That is the shock waiting for Professor Braddock in the village of Gartley, on the marshes of the Thames, when a packing case arrives from the river port of Pierside.
The Green Mummy at a glance
- Reading time
- About 5 h 45 min4 h 35 min fast, 6 h 50 min slow
- Length
- 81,800 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1908by Fergus Hume
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A thousand pounds buys a stepfather's consent
The story opens on a bright September lane near Gartley. Lucy Kendal teases her fiancé, the young painter Archie Hope, that he has bought her. He insists he paid only for her stepfather's agreement to their engagement. That stepfather is Professor Braddock, an Egyptologist who is always short of money.
Braddock wants a mummy in green bandages, offered for sale in Malta for one thousand pounds. He believes it is an Inca king. Archie sells some investments and hands over the sum. In return the Professor allows the engagement and sends his assistant, Sidney Bolton, to Malta on a tramp steamer called The Diver. Braddock would rather Lucy married the rich baronet Sir Frank Random, but she will have none of it.
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Details
- First published
- 1908
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 6 h 30 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Hume, Fergus. The Green Mummy. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-green-mummy.
Hume, F. (2026). The green mummy. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-green-mummy (Original work published 1908)
Hume, Fergus. The Green Mummy. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-green-mummy.
@book{hume2026green,
author = {Hume, Fergus},
title = {The Green Mummy},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-green-mummy},
note = {First published 1908}
}
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What is The Green Mummy about?
It follows a young painter, his fiancée and her eccentric Egyptologist stepfather. A mummy bought for nine hundred pounds goes missing, a murdered man is found in its place, and a hunt begins for a killer and some hidden jewels.
Who is Inca Caxas?
Inca Caxas is the royal figure said to be the last Inca of Peru. His embalmed body, wrapped in green wool, is the mummy at the center of the story, and a Peruvian family claims him as an ancestor.
Who wrote The Green Mummy and when?
Fergus Hume wrote it. He was a prolific mystery author who died in 1932. The story is a work of fiction in the style of Victorian and Edwardian crime tales, set in a Thames marsh village.
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.
“Brag is a good dog, Don Pedro, but Holdfast is a better one.”
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