Mystery of a Hansom Cab by Fergus Hume
Mystery Of A Hansom Cab is one of the absolute worst mystery books I have ever read. It has no sense of mystery whatsoever. Firstly it reveals the killer and most of the parts of the story which would otherwise make it a mystery. Essentially it destroys the critical parts of a mystery in the first few chapters. When the author decided to reveal the plot in the beginning of the book I was outraged.
The setting is Melbourne in the 1800’s which is good for me as I can relate to some of the areas(scenes). The themes are: Murder, subterfuge. It is a little cliché for my liking, with many men in dark coats, alley ways and obvious plot lines. The chapter names are ridiculous with titles such as: “Mr Gorby makes a discovery”, “Mr Gorby makes a start” etc.
Although I am a fan of the mystery genre I was sadly disappointed with Fergus Hume’s Mystery of a Hansom Cab. I believe that Hume was trying to create a sense of mystery but he failed epically. The scenes are not well developed and the characters are very plain.
Over-all Hume’s Mystery of a Hansom Cab was a poor excuse for a mystery.
Review by Jinkinz
