Blockbuster!
Fergus Hume and the Mystery of a Hansom Cab
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- $19.99
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
Before there was Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, there was Fergus Hume’s The Mystery of a Hansom Cab—the biggest, and fastest-selling, detective novel of the 1800s, and Australia’s first literary blockbuster.
Fergus Hume was an aspiring playwright when he moved from Dunedin to Melbourne in 1885. He wrote The Mystery of a Hansom Cab with the humble hope of bringing his name to the attention of theatre managers. The book sold out its first run almost instantly and it became a runaway word-of-mouth phenomenon—but its author sold the copyright for a mere fifty pounds, missing out on a potential fortune.
Blockbuster! is the engrossing story of a book that would help define the genre of crime fiction, and a portrait of a great city in full bloom. Rigorously researched and full of arresting detail, this captivating book is a must-read for all fans of true crime, history and crime fiction alike.
Lucy Sussex was born in New Zealand. She has edited four anthologies, including She’s Fantastical, shortlisted for the World Fantasy Award. Her award-winning fiction includes books for younger readers and the novel The Scarlet Rider. Lucy has five short-story collections, including My Lady Tongue, A Tour Guide in Utopia, Absolute Uncertainty and Matilda Told Such Dreadful Lies. Lucy Sussex's latest book is Blockbuster! Fergus Hume and The Mystery of a Hansom Cab. She lives in Melbourne.
‘An absorbing, at times fascinating companion to The Mystery of a Hansom Cab.’ Age
‘Told with wit and lightly worn scholarship…Sussex has written a fine, thoroughly engaging and multifaceted history. Generously, she has shared her fun with the rest of us.’ Australian
‘The book is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of crime fiction or Australian literature, but is highly recommended even if you’re not: Sussex is a superb story-teller and leavens this fascinating account with dry wit. It deserves to be a blockbuster.’ Tara Sharp
‘Sussex skillfully assembles the known information about a very private man and his times, and reveals a Victorian world whose machinations and mysteries are equal to those of his most famous fiction.’ Stuff NZ
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"Fergus whom?" one might well ask before meeting this prolific author in Sussex's capacious account, set at the birth of a genre that still entertains and engages readers today: the crime novel. Hume produced more than 130 books between 1886 and 1906, the first of which, The Mystery of a Hansom Cab, was the 19th century's bestselling thriller. However, having sold the international rights for 50, he derived little financial benefit from the book's success. Sussex follows Hume from his birth in England in 1859 through his childhood in New Zealand, where his father was a mental institution superintendent; his move to Australia in 1885; and his return, in 1888, to England, where he died in 1932. She provides a rich picture of Victorian life and a revealing account of late 19th-century publishing practices. She also captures a snapshot of the mystery genre as it existed before Hume's contemporary competitor, Arthur Conan Doyle, completely eclipsed him and inspired legions of imitators. Who now cares about Fergus Hume? Sussex's fascinating book reveals why all crime fiction readers should.
