The Secret Passage - Tapa blanda

"That painstakingly ingenious person, Fergus Hume, has devised another of his hide-and-seek, jack-o'-lantern murder mysteries. It begins with a queer and rich old woman found stabbed to death in her chair and not a clue to the murderer. Then so many clues turn up that even the story-book detective is bewildered. Then nearly everybody turns out to be somebody else under an alias, and all the clues lead nowhere..." -The New York Times

"Fully as interesting as his former books, and keeps one guessing to the end. The story begins with the murder of an old lady, with no apparent cause for the crime, and in unraveling the mystery the author is very clever in hiding the real criminal. A pleasing romance runs through the book, which adds to the interest." -The Albany Evening Journal

CONTENTS I. THE COTTAGE II. THE CRIME III. A MYSTERIOUS DEATH IV. DETAILS V. LORD CARANBY'S ROMANCE VI. A PERPLEXING CASE VII. THE DETECTIVE VIII. THE COURSE OF TRUE LOVE IX. ANOTHER MYSTERY X. THE PARLOR-MAID'S STORY XI. ON THE TRACK XII. JENNINGS ASKS QUESTIONS XIII. JULIET AT BAY, XIV. MRS. OCTAGON EXPLAINS XV. A DANGEROUS ADMISSION XVI. JULIET'S STORY XVII. JULIET'S STORY CONTINUED XVIII. THE UNEXPECTED HAPPENS XIX. SUSAN'S DISCOVERY XX. BASIL XXI. AN EXPERIMENT XXII. THE SECRET ENTRANCE XXIII. A SCAMP'S HISTORY XXIV. REVENGE XXV. NEMESIS XXVI. CUTHBERT'S ENEMY

Fergus Hume was born Fergusson Wright Hume July 8 1859 in England. At the age of 3 his family immigrated to New Zealand where he grew up and was educated, being admitted to the bar in 1885. He moved to Melbourne Australia where he tried unsuccessfully to be a playwright. Switching to mystery novels he wrote The Mystery of the Hansom Cab which became the best selling mystery novel of the 19th Century. Returning to England in 1888 he wrote more than 100 short stories and novels including The Silent House, The Secret Passage and Red Money. He continued writing into the 30's dying on July 12. 1932.