The Bishop’s Secret

Description

Readers who love intriguing mystery stories that are not short of unexpected turns and come with a surprising end will surely not be disappointed by Fergus Hume’s The Bishop’s Secret.

The setting against which the plot of the novel unfolds is a small cathedral town in England, with characters that are typical of the era and of the place. Though many of the characters are stereotypes, there are some unprecedented ones that can be justly called prototypes. Among them is Mr. Baltic, the detective with a unique and ingenious way to handle the mystery he is faced with and the character whose actions make the plot turn out quite unusual, too. Hume excels in complex and realistic character portrayal, giving the reader the space to relate to them – you will get to love some of the characters, hate others and you will also get an ending that punishes evil and rewards goodness.

The Bishop’s Secret is among Hume’s lesser known works. He became famous after he published his first novel, The Mystery of Hansom Cab in 1886 that was an international bestseller and the story that gave Arthur Conan Doyle the idea of Sherlock Holmes. Hume was a very prolific author, writing mainly romance, short stories and mystery novels and he published more than 100 novels and novellas during his 30-year long literary career. However, it was not success as a novelist, but success as a playwright he was really seeking for – he actually started writing novels as an attempt to attract the interest of theater managers in his work. He wrote a number of plays, but none of them were put to stage during his life. One of his plays was favorably mentioned by Henry Irving, but he did not live to see the play on stage, as he died before it could be produced.
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