Episode 14: The Misfortunes of Melbourne
Perry and David talk about:
Follow-up | Listening to our own episodes | Getting our facts wrong | Perry's views on diversity in the SF field | Do the awards truly indicate quality? | Other awards in the field
They also interview researcher Dr. Lucy Sussex about:
Discovering Mary Fortune | Ellen Davitt | 'Force and Fraud' - Australia's first murder mystery | Mary Fortune's reputation | Anticipates the police procedural | Police looked down on | French writer Émile Gaboriau | Australian interest in true crime | Wilkie Collins and 'The Moonstone' | Fascination with Australian settings | Mary Braddon | Ellen Wood | Marcus Clarke and 'His Natural Life' | 'The Mystery of a Hansom Cab' | 'Blockbuster' | Fergus Hume | Melbourne the centre of theatre | Nailed colonial Victoria | Unusual structure of the novel | Victoria's Chinese detective | Concept of The Great Detective | Crime novels as commentary on society | Marvellous Melbourne - only for some | 'Blockbuster' story of a publishing phenomenon | Frederick Trischler | Print run of 5,000 | Hume sells copyright for £50 | Kicks off interest in crime fiction | Interest in Australia | Pirated in the United States | Literature a dicey business | Theatrical versions | Hume goes to England | Was Hume gay? | Oscar Wilde | Blackmail? | Theosophy | Spiritualism - Doyle, Houdini | Hume's connections in England | Haddon Chambers | Lucy's further research | Anne Perry | Further research
Click here for more detail and links.
Image: section of the cover of The Mystery of a Hansom Cab by Fergus Hume.
