My choice this week was apparently a little hard for Santa to find last year (at least in hard copy--which is what I want, no e-books for me). So we're going put it on the list again and see if Santa's magic can find a copy for this Christmas....I have long wanted to get my hands on Fergus Hume's 1893 mystery story The Mystery of a Hansom Cab. It's been on my list of gotta-haves almost as long as I've liked mysteries (and that's a long time!). Here's the synopsis: On the twenty-seventh day of July at the hour of twenty minutes to two o'clock in the morning a hansom cab drove up to the police station in Grey Street St. Kilda and the driver made the startling statement that his cab contained the body of a man who he had reason to believe had been murdered.
Oh, I hope you get it this year! Totally understand what you mean about having a physical copy, I'm not big on e-books either.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like the plot of Ngaio Marsh's DEATH IN A WHITE TIE, in which a body is found in the back of a cab. The cabdriver having just pulled up in front of a police station.
ReplyDeleteSo, take away the hansom cab and replace with motor vehicle cab and you have quite a coincidence.
Dashiell Hammett says:
"The best detective story I have ever read."
Maybe you can read DEATH IN WHITE TIE and it might be as good. :)