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Человек в рыжем парике
Frank Darrel, giovane autore di romanzi polizieschi, è poco abituato a lasciare libero campo alla fantasia; nelle sue descrizioni si tiene così aderente alla verità dei fatti che le sue opere sembrano dei rapporti di polizia stesi in forma letteraria. Darrel abita in quell'enorme vivaio umano che è Londra; lavora al mattino, dorme il pomeriggio e dalla mezzanotte alle cinque del mattino si dedica all'esplorazione dei bassifondi. Una notte, mentre si aggira nei dintorni di Drury Lane, incorre in un'avventura destinata a modificare il suo destino. Due cadaveri; accanto a ognuno di essi una misteriosa statuina egiziana che rappresenta una mummia... E Frank Darrel si trova proiettato dentro un romanzo poliziesco in cui l'intreccio è stabilito, momento per momento, dal caso.
229 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1899
8 people are currently reading
12 people want to read
About the author
Fergus Hume
874 books51 followersFergusson 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 25, 2018
The Red head Man Hume
The mystery was very good, the telling a little bit confusing which made it boring in place s.I will read another of his mystery s.
The mystery was very good, the telling a little bit confusing which made it boring in place s.I will read another of his mystery s.
January 7, 2022
Giallo classico leggero e piacevole ma senza colpi di genio
December 11, 2014
Insulso e banale, con dei protagonisti piatti e privi di qualsiasi spunto interessante, di una qualsiasi caratteristica che sia veramente utile ai fini del racconto. Lo scrittore che per�� non scrive mai, che non usa il suo talento ai fini della storia, ma �� semplicemente uno scrittore "perch�� s��". E un ispettore di polizia non geniale e non stupido, ma nella media. Messo l�� perch�� boh. Non mi aspettavo un nuovo Poirot o una nuova coppia Holmes-Watson, ma qualcosa di minimamente interessante almeno...
La trama �� confusionaria, poco convincente, anche se in qualche modo cattura lo stesso e si fa leggere fino alla fine. Ma ben lontani ai canoni quali siamo abituati dalle stelle del genere. Questa, al confronto, �� robetta.
La trama �� confusionaria, poco convincente, anche se in qualche modo cattura lo stesso e si fa leggere fino alla fine. Ma ben lontani ai canoni quali siamo abituati dalle stelle del genere. Questa, al confronto, �� robetta.
November 19, 2015
Fergus Hume Read-All 10 of 14x
3.4 stars
This one is very rare and I found it on a Library.
It is template detective novel. But it does not fail to amuse when solved.
The characters have a complex web of relations.
The main character is a novelist that asks to help in the investigation, I wonder if it was auto-biographycal.
Cast:
Darrel - Stephen King
Torry - Moe Howard
Vass - Arjay Smith
Blake - Scott Wolf
Leighbourne Sr - Helmut Bakaitis
Leighbourne Jr - Will Ferrell
Maria - Ariana Grande
Lygia - Cara Delevingne
3.4 stars
This one is very rare and I found it on a Library.
It is template detective novel. But it does not fail to amuse when solved.
The characters have a complex web of relations.
The main character is a novelist that asks to help in the investigation, I wonder if it was auto-biographycal.
Cast:
Darrel - Stephen King
Torry - Moe Howard
Vass - Arjay Smith
Blake - Scott Wolf
Leighbourne Sr - Helmut Bakaitis
Leighbourne Jr - Will Ferrell
Maria - Ariana Grande
Lygia - Cara Delevingne
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews