Missing! & A Princess's Vengeance

Patreon — ad-free, early access, bonus content (tiers from $2.99/month) A double bill tonight, and our longest case of the fortnight: two complete mysteries for Miss Loveday Brooke, the quiet, plainly dressed professional of the Lynch Court agency. MISSING! Five hundred pounds reward. A young woman has walked out of her father's park at ten in the morning and simply not come back — and by the time the handbill reaches the Lynch Court office, she has been gone ten days. Loveday goes down to Langford Hall and finds a household in which almost everybody has a reason to want the truth kept quiet. A PRINCESS'S VENGEANCE The second case is darker. A girl who is young, pretty, friendless and a foreigner has disappeared as completely as if the earth had opened to receive her — and two whole days were allowed to pass before anyone troubled to call the police. Scotland Yard has as good as dropped it. What Loveday finds is a household where a great deal of kindness is being performed in public, and something quite different in private. Two vanished women, two very different explanations. Billed in her day as "the female Sherlock Holmes," Loveday Brooke is nothing like him — no theatrics, no lecture at the end, just a woman nobody thinks to watch, watching everybody. FOR LISTENERS These are complete, unabridged readings of Missing! and A Princess's Vengeance by Catherine Louisa Pirkis, collected in The Experiences of Loveday Brooke, Lady Detective (1894) and now in the public domain. Every word is the author's own. Part of The Midnight Archive: three nights of classics every week, alongside four original Nocturnal Tales mysteries. YOU CHOOSE WHAT'S NEXT The Archive is deep — more Loveday Brooke? Sherlock Holmes? Father Brown? Lady Molly? Violet Strange? Raffles? Max Carrados? Vote in the poll attached to this episode, or tell us in the comments which classic you want to hear by lamplight. QUESTION FOR THE COMMENTS At the end, a certain gentleman draws on his gloves, recovers his easy manner, and asks that people understand he acted only out of kindness to a friendless foreigner. Pirkis lets him have his exit line — and makes quite sure we know what it's worth. Which of tonight's two cases stayed with you? GET THE EBOOK — $3.99 Patreon — included with Writing Table & Archive Society, or one-time purchase Gumroad — EPUB + PDF included SUPPORT & LISTENING OPTIONS Patreon — ad-free, early access, bonus content Rumble — free, supports us with ad revenue Buy Me a Coffee — one-time support Spotify — follow the show Apple Podcasts CREDITS Stories by Catherine Louisa Pirkis (public domain). Narrated and produced by Nocturnal Tales. TAGS / KEYWORDS c l pirkis audiobook, loveday brooke audiobook, missing audiobook story, a princess's vengeance audiobook, lady detective victorian, female detective audiobook, lynch court agency, missing woman mystery, victorian mystery audiobook, double bill mystery, classic detective story audiobook, public domain audiobook, unabridged classic mystery