"The Author Shows Some Deftness in Handling the Threads of His Murder-Mystery Plot"

THE YELLOW HOLLY.
By Fergus Hume.
G. W. Dillingham.
1903. 359 pages. $1.25
Online HERE and HERE.

Two complete contemporary reviews:

Mr. Fergus Hume's name is delightfully suggestive of mysteries and hansom cabs, and he does not disappoint our expectations in Yellow Holly.

When we found ourselves introduced into a Bloomsbury boarding-house, we felt sure something startling was going to happen. Somebody clearly was to be murdered, though we could not guess that the victim would be [SPOILER DELETED], still less could we guess why [SPOILER DELETED], or who was the murderer. That, after all, was Mr. Hume's secret, and he managed to keep it up to the very last chapter.

Mr. Hume's ingenuity is marvellous, and he carries the reader along at such a pace that there is no time for the incredulous critic to look for weak points in the story. In fact, Mr. Hume outmanoeuvres the critic completely. — "Notes on New Books," THE BOOKMAN [UK] (December 1903; scroll to page 154)

Nothing could possibly be more yellow than the cover of this book—except its contents. It must be added that the author shows some deftness in handling the threads of his murder-mystery plot. His English might often be improved. — "Books of the Week," THE OUTLOOK (February 27, 1904; scroll to page 526)