THE MYSTERY OF A HANSOM CAB (Thriller Classic)
A Victorian Murder Mystery of Colonial Melbourne, Class Anxiety, and Hidden ViceBy Fergus Hume
Length10h 9m
About this audiobook
Fergus Hume's The Mystery of a Hansom Cab (1886) opens with the discovery of a murdered gentleman in a Melbourne cab, then develops its central enigma through competing testimony, concealed identities, forensic clues, and the pressures of class and reputation. Combining the procedural momentum of detective fiction with the melodramatic entanglements of Victorian sensation literature, the novel moves between police investigation, legal inquiry, romance, and social observation. Its vividly rendered colonial setting is especially significant: Melbourne appears not as a peripheral backdrop but as a modern, rapidly expanding metropolis whose anonymity, mobility, and sharp inequalities make the crime possible. The book's carefully staged revelations and atmosphere of urban suspicion helped establish enduring conventions of the mystery thriller. Fergus Hume was born Fergusson Wright Hume in England and spent formative years in New Zealand before practicing law in Melbourne. His experience of the colonial city, its legal culture, and its varied social worlds clearly informs the novel's setting and conflicts. Hume reportedly wrote the book after encountering the popularity of detective fiction, while also responding to the sensational narrative traditions of the period. Although initially issued at the author's expense, the novel became an international bestseller, demonstrating both the appetite for crime fiction and the literary potential of Australian urban experience. This is an especially rewarding choice for readers interested in the origins of detective fiction, Victorian melodrama, and colonial modernity. Its brisk plotting, layered testimonies, and morally ambiguous social landscape make it more than a puzzle: it is a compelling study of how cities generate secrets and how narratives gradually convert uncertainty into knowledge. Readers who enjoy Wilkie Collins, early Sherlockian traditions, or historically situated thrillers will find Hume's classic both entertaining and culturally revealing.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 3.6 (3.6K)
Includes Goodreads, Amazon, LibraryThing, StoryGraph
GenreMystery and Thriller
Length10 hrs 9 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateMay 20, 2016
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1THE FILM OF FEAR (Detective Novel) (Annotated)
2Preface
3I. What the Argus Said
4II. The Evidence at the Inquest
5III. One Hundred Pounds Reward
Show all chaptersShow less
6IV. Mr. Gorby Makes a Start
7V. Mrs. Hamilton Unbosoms Herself
8VI. Mr. Gorby Makes Further Discoveries
9VII. The Wool King
10VIII. Brian Takes a Walk and a Drive
11IX. Mr. Gorby Is Satisfied at Last
12X. In the Queen's Name
13XI. Counsel for the Prisoner
14XII. She Was a True Woman
15XIII. Madge Makes a Discovery
16XIV. Another Richmond in the Field
17XV. A Woman of the People
18XVI. Missing
19XVII. The Trial
20XVIII. Sal Rawlins Tells All She Knows
21XIX. The Verdict of the Jury
22XX. The “Argus” Gives Its Opinion
23XXI. Three Months Afterwards
24XXII. A Daughter of Eve
25XXIII. Across the Walnuts and the Wine
26XXIV. Brian Receives a Letter
27XXV. What Dr. Chinston Said
28XXVI. Kilsip Has a Theory of His Own
29XXVII. Mother Guttersnipe Joins the Majority
30XXVIII. Mark Frettlby Has a Visitor
31XXIX. Mr. Calton's Curiosity Is Satisfied
32XXX. Nemesis
33XXXI. Hush-Money
34XXXII. De Mortuis Nil Nisi Bonum
35XXXIII. The Confession
36XXXIV. The Hands of Justice
37XXXV. “The Love That Lives”
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