The Silent House By Fergus Hume

by Fergus Hume

Fergusson Wright (Fergus) Hume (1859-1932), novelist, was born on 8 July 1859 in England, the second son of James Hume. The family migrated to New Zealand where the father helped to found Ashburn Hall in Dunedin. Fergus was educated at Otago Boys' High School, continued his literary and legal studies at the University of Otago and was articled to the attorney-general, Robert Stout. Soon after his admission to the Bar in 1885 Hume left for Melbourne where he became managing clerk for the solicitor, E. S. Raphael. In The Silent House in Pimlico, which was published in 1899, our protagonist is the briefless, though not clueless, young lawyer Lucian Denzil, who stumbles into a mysterious murder case when he finds that an old man, who lives in an old house in his neighbourhood, has been gruesomely killed with a stiletto. The Silent A mystery about a "locked door" murder committed in a house that has a reputation for being haunted. In the first half of the book, the murderer appears to be easy to figure out. The second half of the book, however, is filled with plot twists and mistaken identities and thus complicates the mystery much more.

217 pages, Paperback

Published August 30, 2023

About the author

Fergusson Wright Hume (1859–1932), New Zealand lawyer and prolific author particularly renowned for his debut novel, the international best-seller The Mystery of a Hansom Cab (1886).

Hume was born at Powick, Worcestershire, England, son of Glaswegian Dr. James Collin Hume, a steward at the Worcestershire Pauper Lunatic Asylum and his wife Mary Ferguson.

While Fergus was a very young child, in 1863 the Humes emigrated to New Zealand where James founded the first private mental hospital and Dunedin College. Young Fergus attended the Otago Boys' High School then went on to study law at Otago University. He followed up with articling in the attorney-general's office, called to the New Zealand bar in 1885.

In 1885 Hume moved to Melbourne. While he worked as a solicitors clerk he was bent on becoming a dramatist; but having only written a few short stories he was a virtual unknown. So as to gain the attentions of the theatre directors he asked a local bookseller what style of book he sold most. Emile Gaboriau's detective works were very popular and so Hume bought them all and studied them intently, thus turning his pen to writing his own style of crime novel and mystery.

Hume spent much time in Little Bourke Street to gather material and his first effort was The Mystery of a Hansom Cab (1886), a worthy contibution to the genre. It is full of literary references and quotations; finely crafted complex characters and their sometimes ambiguous seeming interrelationships with the other suspects, deepening the whodunit angle. It is somewhat of an exposé of the then extremes in Melbourne society, which caused some controversy for a time. Hume had it published privately after it had been downright rudely rejected by a number of publishers. "Having completed the book, I tried to get it published, but everyone to whom I offered it refused even to look at the manuscript on the grounds that no Colonial could write anything worth reading." He had sold the publishing rights for £50, but still retained the dramatic rights which he soon profited from by the long Australian and London theatre runs.

Except for short trips to France, Switzerland and Italy, in 1888 Hume settled and stayed in Essex, England where he would remain for the rest of his life. Although he was born, and lived the latter part of his life, in England, he thought of himself as 'a colonial' and identified as a New Zealander, having spent all of his formative years from preschool through to adulthood there. Hume died of cardiac failure at his home on 11 July 1932.

Reviews

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I decided for my late October/early November read on this 1899 thriller set in London. Lucian Denzil, a young barrister, lives in a boarding house across from a well-known "haunted" house. When he meets the inhabitant, and when that inhabitant is found involuntarily deceased on Christmas Day, Lucian is on the case. I am sure when this was written, it was shocking and suspenseful, but sadly time and the proliferation of mysteries makes it somewhat predictable. It does, however, give insight into customs, manners, and living arrangements of the time, so I enjoyed the historical aspect of it. the overly ridiculous American's character - not so much.

[living1000lives · Rating 2 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️

It was good for a late 1800’s novel, but forgettable for a modern day reader.

Genres & Tropes:
Historical Fiction
Mild Thriller
Mystery
Crime

Summary:
Lucian Denzil, a young lawyer who stumbles into a mysterious murder case when he finds that an old man, who lives in an old house in his neighbourhood, has been gruesomely killed with a stiletto. A "locked door" murder committed in a house that has a reputation for being haunted.

Comparable Stories:
Sherlock Holmes

Quotes From Book:
“As the twig is bent, so will the tree grow.”