The Mystery of a Hansom Cab Book

I would have known nothing about this novel and its author had it not been for listening to an interview with the author of this book. The interview left me intrigued. At the time I was about to spend a weekend in Melbourne, so downloading the work, which is well and truly in the public domain, seemed like a good idea.

The fact that it took me quite a few weeks to read, even though it's a relatively short work is an indication that I found it less than compelling. However, there wasn't a time when I considered abandoning it. The backstory of the author, the fact that the novel was a 19th century bestseller that out sold Conan Doyle's first work and its setting in a city I know all made me push through.

As the title suggests, this is a whodunnit. There's a murder, a police officer or two, a falsely accused hero, a loyal heroine and some shady characters from the Melbourne underworld. It has the requisite number of red herrings, some rather stilted dialogue and a resolution that can't really be worked out from clues in the narrative.

Crime fiction fans with an interest in the beginnings of the genre will be more interested in this work than others. It's not really something for the casual reader.