The Mystery of a Hansom Cab is a mystery fiction novel by the Australian writer Fergus Hume. The book was first published in Australia in 1886. Set in Melbourne, the story focuses on the investigation of a homicide involving a body discovered in a hansom cab, as well as an exploration into the social class divide in the city. The book was successful in Australia, selling 100,000 copies in the first two print runs. It was then published in Britain and the United States, and went on to sell over half a million copies worldwide, outselling the first of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes novels, A Study in Scarlet (1887).
The Mystery of a Hansom Cab received praise in works including A Companion to Crime Fiction, A History of the Book in Australia 1891–1945, and A History of Victoria, and was featured in the book Vintage Mystery and Detective Stories. A parody version was published in 1888, and film adaptations were produced in 1911, 1915 and 1925. The story was adapted into a BBC Radio serial in 1958, a stage play in 1990, a radio promotion in 1991 and a telemovie in 2012.
Author
Originally from Britain, Fergusson Wright Hume worked as a barrister's clerk in Melbourne, Australia, at the time of the book's first publication. He went on to become a prolific author, and wrote more than 130 novels in fiction subjects including adventure and science fiction.
Plot
The Mystery of a Hansom Cab takes place in Melbourne, Australia, and involves an investigation into a homicide, after a corpse is discovered in the early hours, in a hansom cab. Melbourne plays a significant role in the plot and, as the author describes, "Over all the great city hung a cloud of smoke like a pall." The killer's identity is not as significant a revelation in the story as are the roles of the influential and secretive Frettlby family, and their secret: they have a daughter living on the streets, and the woman everyone assumes is their daughter is illegitimate. The class divide between Melbourne's wealthy and less fortunate is addressed throughout the plot.
The protagonist in the novel is a policeman named Detective Gorby, who is given the task of solving the murder. As Hume describes the character's investigative skills, "He looked keenly round the room, and his estimate of the dead man's character was formed at once." The author commented in a later introduction, "All of the scenes in the book, especially the slums, are described from personal observation; and I passed a great many nights in Little Bourke Street, gathering material". At this time, the street was notorious as a place frequented by prostitutes and criminals.
Publication history
The Mystery of a Hansom Cab was first published in Melbourne in 1886 and in Britain in 1887 (the author self-published the first edition) and in the United States in 1888, by George Munro. Hume wrote an introduction to a revised edition published in 1898, and later publications have included those by the publishers Arno in 1976, and by Dover in 1982, and a new Australian edition with an introduction by Simon Caterson, in 1999 by The Text Publishing Company, which has been reprinted several times.
Reception
Sales
"A Concise History of Australia" notes that the book became an international bestseller. A Companion to Australian Literature since 1900 noted The Mystery of a Hansom Cab provided Australia with its first international bestseller. and Vintage Mystery and Detective Stories characterized the book as the best-selling detective novel of the 19th century. In Australia, the book sold 25,000 copies in its first print run, and 100,000 copies in its first two print runs. In Britain, in its first six months after publication, 300,000 copies were sold, and, in 1888, sales continued in thousands in Britain each week. According to A Gregarious Culture (2001), "sales of The Mystery of a Hansom Cab, published in 1886, would reach astronomical figures". Over 500,000 copies were sold in Britain, by the publishing company Jarrold. In the United States, an additional 500,000 copies were sold.