The Green Mummy by Fergus Hume

Mr. Fergus Hume, who won a well-deserved popularity with "The Mystery of a Hansom Cab," has here produced a mystery story of a very different kind, though one which will not, we think, disappoint his admirers. The plot revolves around a Peruvian mummy of singular appearance — wrapped in cloth of a jade-green colour — which disappears from the study of a learned professor, and the murder of his assistant soon after. The reader is kept guessing until the very end, and the solution, when it comes, is both surprising and satisfactory. The characters are drawn with more than the usual skill of the mystery novelist, and the archaeological setting gives the story an unusual flavour.

Mr. Fergus Hume has been a prolific producer of detective fiction, and in "The Green Mummy" he shows that his powers are by no means exhausted. The story is ingeniously constructed, the interest is well sustained, and the mystery is a genuine puzzle. The characters — the eccentric Professor Braddock, the impetuous Archie Hope, the lovely and spirited Lucy Kendal — are drawn with a liveliness that is refreshing. The book is not, perhaps, so striking as the author's famous first novel, but it is a thoroughly competent and entertaining piece of work.

I wanted to like this because I enjoyed The Mystery of a Hansom Cab but this one is rough. The characters are all stereotypes, the "romance" is creepy, and the racial stuff is honestly hard to read. The mystery itself is actually decent but its buried under so much problematic content. Id skip this one unless youre a completionist or studying period attitudes.

This is a classic "product of its time" situation. The mystery itself is actually quite good — a mummy goes missing and a dead body shows up in its place. The plot twists are fun. BUT theres some really cringey racist stuff that I had to skip over. A character called Cockatoo is... not great. If you can look past that theres an enjoyable mystery here.

Look its not great literature but its a fun mystery. Fergus Hume was no Conan Doyle but he knew how to spin a yarn. The green mummy angle is unique and the solution suprised me. Cockatoo is a major problem character obviously but if you read with modern eyes its intresting to see how far weve come. 3 stars — entertaining but flawed.