"The mystery of a Hansom cab" is an 1886 crime novel by New Zealander writer  Fergus, often considered to be one of the most famous crime classics of the  Victorian era. Set in 1880s Melbourne, the novel tells the story of a man  murdered mysteriously whilst alone in the back of a Hansom cab. Inspired by the  works, famous at the time throughout the English-speaking world of Gaboriau and  Boisgobey, Fergus Hume created a great novel from the original Le crime de  l'Omnibus. A must-read classic!

The mystery of a Hansom cab

Fergus Hume was renowned as the bestselling mystery writer of Victorian times after his first book, The Mystery of a Hansom Cab, broke all records. In 1901 he returned to form with this ingenious tale, selected to represent Hume's prolific output by Collins' Detective Club panel in 1930.

 Cicero Gramp was, according to himself, a 'professor of elocution and eloquence' - to anyone else he was no more than an engaging and extremely craft vagabond. Hence it was that he found himself awakened from his sleep in the corner of the churchyard, the cheapest available lodging, by men's voices at an hour past midnight. Two dark figures silhouetted for an instant against the white mausoleum where lay the body of the millionaire Richard Marlow. Then the turning of a key in the iron door of the vault. Silence. Two figures moving back into the night carrying a sinister burden - what Gramp guessed was the body of Marlow. But when a search was made in the vault, Marlow's coffin was found shut, and not empty: only the body in it was not Marlow's but that of another man - murdered! And that is only the first puzzle in The Millionaire Mystery .

The Millionaire Mystery

Angleterre, début du siècle dernier. D'après la légende, le fantôme d'un ancien prieur hante le manoir de Tudor Grange. Lorsque l'explorateur Harold Youle vient rendre visite à sa vieille amie Barbara Ainsleigh, qui réside dans cette ancienne demeure, il ignore qu'il est sur le point d'entamer une nouvelle carrière : celle de détective. En effet, dès le lendemain de son arrivée, un meurtre est commis, et la police s'avère très vite impuissante à résoudre l'énigme. Harold décide alors de mener l'enquête... et s'aperçoit que tout le monde avait intérêt à faire disparaître la victime ! Qui est donc le coupable ? Gilbert Ainsleigh, le mari morphinomane de Barbara, qui pourrait bien mener une double vie ? Le Dr Parsons, au passé empli de zones d'ombres ? Le rusé Tackle, petit valet d'écurie dévoré d'ambition ? Barnacles, le vieux marin bourru qui semble taire bien des secrets, ou encore la très belle et très jalouse Mme Bradry, l'ancienne reine du théâtre londonien ?.... à moins qu'il ne s'agisse bel et bien de l'Ombre mystérieuse ?

L'Ombre mystérieuse

"What IS your name?" "Susan Grant, Miss Loach." "Call me ma'am. I am Miss Loach only to my equals. Your age?" "Twenty-five, ma'am." "Do you know your work as parlor-maid thoroughly?" "Yes, ma'am. I was two years in one place and six months in another, ma'am. Here are my characters from both places, ma'am." As the girl spoke she laid two papers before the sharp old lady who questioned her. But Miss Loach did not look at them immediately. She examined the applicant with such close attention that a faint color tinted the girl's cheeks and she dropped her eyes. But, in her turn, by stealthy glances, Susan Grant tactfully managed to acquaint herself with the looks of her possible mistress. The thoughts of each woman ran as follows: Miss Loach to herself. "Humph! Plain-looking, sallow skin, rather fine eyes and a slack mouth. Not badly dressed for a servant, and displays some taste. She might turn my old dresses at a pinch. Sad expression, as though she had something on her mind. Honest-looking, but I think a trifle inquisitive, seeing how she examined the room and is stealing glances at me. Talks sufficiently, but in a low voice. Fairly intelligent, but not too much so. Might be secretive. Humph!" The thoughts of Susan Grant. "Handsome old lady, probably nearly sixty. Funny dress for ten o'clock in the morning. She must be rich, to wear purple silk and old lace and lovely rings at this hour. A hard mouth, thin nose, very white hair and very black eyebrows. Got a temper I should say, and is likely to prove an exacting mistress. But I want a quiet home, and the salary is good. I'll try it, if she'll take me."

The Secret Passage

She did not put the sacramental phrase on her cards, as no invitations were sent out. These were delivered verbally by boarders desirous of seeing their friends present on Friday evening. Mrs. Jersey dignified her gatherings with the name of "At Homes, " but in truth the term was too majestic for the very mild entertainment she provided weekly. It was really a scratch party of nobodies, and they assembled as usual in the drawing-room on this especial evening, to play and not to work. Mrs. Taine laid aside her eternal knitting; Miss Bull dispensed with her game of "Patience;" Mr. Granger sang his one song of the early Victorian Epoch--sometimes twice when singers were scarce; and Mr. Harmer wore his antiquated dress-suit. On these festive occasions it was tacitly understood that all were to be more or less "dressy, " as Mrs. Jersey put it, and her appearance in "the diamonds" signalized the need of unusual adornment. These jewels were the smallest and most inferior of stones; but diamonds they undeniably were, and the boarders alluded to them as they would have done to the Kohinoor.

The Yellow Holly

Un soir, Malcolm Royston, conducteur de fiacre à Melbourne, découvre qu'il transporte le corps d'un homme qui a manifestement été assassiné. Hormis un étui à cigarettes en cuir de Russie et le mouchoir de soie qui a servi à chloroformer la victime, aucun papier ni signe distinctif ne permettent de l'identifier. Samuel Gorby, détective de la police de Melbourne, va mener une enquête pleine de surprises, qui l'entraînera dans les beaux quartiers de la ville comme dans ses bas-fonds les plus sordides. Publié en 1886, le mystère du Hansom Cab est l'une des œuvres les plus célèbres de la littérature policière. Premier roman criminel à accéder au statut de best-seller, il surpassa en ventes les aventures de Sherlock Holmes. " le mystère du Hansom Cab, derrière d'apparentes facilités, est avant tout le roman des tensions sociales contemporaines et l'on sera surpris ici du dénouement d'une incroyable immoralité... "

Le Mystère du Hansom Cab

" Un crime a été commis par un assassin inconnu, à proximité des rues principales de la grande cité, et est entouré d'un impénétrable mystère... " L'action se passe à Melbourne, où, un soir, un conducteur de fiacre découvre qu'il transporte le corps sans vie d'un homme de la haute société. Alors commence une enquête pleine de surprises qui entraîne le lecteur dans les beaux quartiers de l'élégante cité australienne, mais aussi dans ses recoins les plus sordides. Le Mystère du Hansom cab fut le roman criminel le plus populaire du XIXe siècle, surpassant les ventes des aventures de Sherlock Holmes et même de La femme en blanc de Wilkie Collins. Best-seller en Angleterre et aux Etats-Unis, ce roman a été écrit et publié - avec un succès relatif - en Australie en 1886. L'édition de ce célèbre roman mystérieux - entièrement révisée pour l'occasion - est complétée par une parodie datant de 1888.

Le Mystère Du Hansom Cab

The following report appeared in the Argus newspaper of Saturday, the 28th July, 18- "Truth is said to be stranger than fiction, and certainly the extraordinary murder which took place in Melbourne on Thursday night, or rather Friday morning, goes a long way towards verifying this saying. A crime has been committed by an unknown assassin, within a short distance of the principal streets of this great city, and is surrounded by an inpenetrable mystery. Indeed, from the nature of the crime itself, the place where it was committed, and the fact that the assassin has escaped without leaving a trace behind him, it would seem as though the case itself had been taken bodily from one of Gaboreau's novels, and that his famous detective Lecoq alone would be able to unravel it.

The mystery of a Hansom cab

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