The Mystery of the Hansom Cab by Fergus Hume

Fergus Hume was born in New Zealand, but moved to Melbourne, Australia. He was determined to be a dramatist, but the managers of Melbourne theaters did not like his plays. So Hume decided to write a novel. He asked booksellers which novels sold best. Hume was told that the mystery novels of Emile Gaboriau were selling well so he bought all of these books, read them, and decided to write a mystery containing "a mystery, a murder, and a description of low life in Melbourne". In 1886, The Mystery of the Hansom Cab" was published and it became one of the best selling mystery novels of the 19th century. He went on to write other mysteries, but none was as popular as this one.

Late on one Thursday evening, a very drunken Oliver Whyte collapsed on the sidewalk. According to the cabman, a man in a light brown coat came along, hailed his cab, and put Whyte into it, and then the man walked away only to return and get into the cab with Whyte. Later, when the cab reached St. Kilda Road, the man in the brown coat got out, and gave the cab man an address to take Whyte to. When the cab man reached this address, he opened the door of his cab to let his passenger out, and found Whyte dead from cloroform poisoning.

Oliver Whyte and Brian Fitzgerald were rivals for the affections of Madge Frettlby, the daughter of a very wealthy Australian land owner. It was found that Brian Fitzgerald was the man in the brown coat who initially hailed the cab. Fitzgerald denied that he was the man who got into the cab with Whyte.

There are two detectives and several other people who are friends of Fitzgerald  investigating this sensational Melbourne murder.  The investigation does reach from the slums of the city to one of the wealthiest families in the city. It gives an interesting picture of what life was like in Melbourne in the late 1800's. The locations in the city are accurate and you can use Google maps to follow the action.

Hume is a good and very witty writer.  Despite its age, this book is well worth reading as both a classic of the early mystery novel, and for the story itself. It is available as an e-book.