Review of The Crimson Cryptogram; A Detective Story (1900)

28 Aug 2019 - Courtney Floyd

Published in The Atheneum (4 Aug. 1900)

[Review began in The Vanishing of Tera]

‘The long arm of coincidence was startlingly apparent,’ declares Mr. Fergus Hume in one of his familiar ‘mysterious murder’ stories, entitled The Crimson Cryptogram (Long). The long arm of coincidence is also apparent when we compare the cryptogram used in this story with one used in ‘The Vanishing of Tera,’ which we have noticed above. In ‘The Vanishing of Tera’ the cryptogram is explained at greater length and in more detail; but there can be no question of the identity of the system, which is exceedinly easy and simple and one familiar to many people, and even to children. There is nothing remarkable in the story of ‘The Crimson Cryptogram.’ The mystery is solved when suspicion of murder has been cast on everyone but the right person. The writer in ingenious and careful, and there are no mistakes or inconsistencies; but the question must soon arise, How long can these mysterious murders be made interest? Detectives as such are played out; amateurs are in fashion just now; but they do not add to the interest of the stories, although they are in love with injured ladies suspected of murder or of complicity.