The Secret Passage

Fergus Hume (Fergusson Wright Hume)Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.0
Word count
482K words
Chapters
49

Tags

English Originals Mystery and Suspense Locked RoomSuspense ThrillerCase PuzzlesInheritance PlotComplex HumanityPsychological TacticsCriminal PsychologyDetective FictionVictorian EraEnglish Manor

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Secret Passage by Fergus HumeAuthor: Hume, Fergus, 1859-1932,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Oct 1, 2003

Editor's review

The Secret Passage is a full-length detective novel by Fergus Hume. Hume excels at plotting, using enclosed spaces, doubts about identity, and layer upon layer of reversal to drive the story; this book builds its suspense around a secret passage and belongs to the classic detective novel mold: dense clues, brisk pace, and a tightly closed ending. Its reading value lies in the genre's pleasure of puzzle-solving—readers can follow the narrator in sifting characters and piecing together evidence, experiencing the narrative charm of late nineteenth-century popular fiction. At the same time, as a public-domain ebook in the original English, it is suitable as a transitional text for reading detective fiction in the original: the gripping plot offsets the frustration of unfamiliar words. A caveat: in such works characterization is relatively subordinated to plot, and literary quality is not their strength; if you seek psychological depth or social critique, it may feel thin. Read it in the spirit of following the case; little background preparation is needed beforehand.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. Read the first few chapters to sort out relationships; jot down characters and clues.
  2. Proceed chapter by chapter; pause at each chapter's end and guess what comes next.
  3. Skip unfamiliar words at first, prioritizing plot continuity and reading speed.
  4. After finishing, review the key clues and test your reasoning against the author's design.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49

FAQ

Is this book in Chinese or English? This is an English public-domain ebook released by Project Gutenberg; the text is in the original English with no Chinese translation. Chinese readers need some English reading ability, or should use dictionary tools to assist.
Can I read this directly without having read the author's other works? Yes. This is a standalone full-length story that does not depend on prior works. Hume's detective novels are mainly plot-driven; starting directly with this book will not hinder understanding, and no prior familiarity with the characters is needed.
Is it hard to read, and is it suitable for English learners? The language is in the style of late nineteenth-century popular fiction, with sentences somewhat longer than modern English, but the strong plot momentum makes it easy to keep going. It is suitable as transitional material for reading originals; focus on understanding the plot rather than checking every word.
Why is it suggested not to look up unfamiliar words too often? The pleasure of detective fiction comes from sustained suspense; frequent pauses to check words interrupt the rhythm and weaken the reasoning experience. Finish a chapter first, then look back at key words that affect understanding—that is more efficient.

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About the author

Fergus Hume (Fergusson Wright Hume) Author · English · 1859–1932

Fergus Hume (1859–1932) was a British novelist. Born in England, he moved with his family to New Zealand as a child, studied at the University of Otago and qualified as a lawyer. In 1885 he went to Melbourne, and the following year he published The Mystery of a Hansom Cab at his own expense, achieving instant fame; the book is regarded as a bestselling classic in the history of detective fiction. In 1888 Hume returned to England to settle, and thereafter devoted himself to detective and suspense fiction, producing more than a hundred works in his lifetime, of which 66 are held in this collection, including The Silent House, The Gentleman Who Vanished and The Spider. He died in Essex in 1932.