The Opal Serpent

Fergusson Wright Hume, known as Fergus Hume (1859-1932) was an English novelist whose family emigrated to New Zealnd when he was three. Shortly after graduation in Otago he left for Melbourne. He began writing plays, but found it impossible to persuade the managers of the Melbourne theatres to accept or even read them. Finding that the novels of Emile Gaboriau were then very popular in Melbourne, he obtained and read a set of them and determined to write a novel of a similar kind. The result was the self-published novel 'The Mystery of a Hansom Cab' (1886), which became a great success. After the success of his first novel and the publication of another he returned to England in 1888. He resided in the Essex countryside for thirty years, eventually producing over 100 novels and short stories. He was a capable writer of mystery stories, and may be looked upon as one of the precursors of the many writers of detective stories whose work was so popular in the twentieth century. His other works include 'Madame Midas' (1888), 'The Silent House in Pimlico' (1899), 'The Bishop's Secret' (1900), 'Secret Passage' (1905), 'The Green Mummy' (1908), and 'Red Money' (1912).