The Black Bag Left on a Doorstep | Catherine Louisa Pirkis | A Bitesized Audiobook
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- Опубліковано 4 січ 2022
- When thieves steal some valuable jewellery from a country house, the police suspect an inside job and focus their investigation on the servants. 'Lady Detective' Loveday Brooke is asked to investigate, but for some reason she seems more interested in the mystery of a black bag abandoned on an elderly lady's doorstep...
A new recording of a classic public domain text. Read by Simon Stanhope for Bitesized Audio.
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Catherine Louisa Pirkis (1839-1910), often credited as C. L. Pirkis, was born Catherine Louisa Lyne to a middle class family in London. She became a prominent author of detective and mystery fiction in the final quarter of the 19th century, publishing 14 novels between 1877 and 1894, after which she gave up writing in order to focus on campaigning for animal rights. She co-founded, with her husband Frederick Edward Pirkis and some like-minded friends, the British National Canine Defence League, which still exists today under the name 'The Dogs Trust'. As a writer she is best remembered for her last published work, 'The Experiences of Loveday Brooke, Lady Detective', a series of adventures featuring the eponymous sleuth, almost certainly the first professional female detective in fiction, and the first to be created by a female author. An insight into contemporary attitudes to the revolutionary nature of the character may be seen in an 1893 review in the Glasgow Herald, which, after praising Brooke's insights and detective skill, added "We are just afraid Miss Brooke is too clever in catching criminals ever to catch a husband." Almost inevitably "Miss Brooke" became known as "The female Sherlock Holmes"; she certainly shared Holmes' eye for detail and ability to see past the obvious solution to find the truth behind the crime. Pirkis died after a long illness in October 1910, just two days before her husband also died; they were survived by their two children.
'The Black Bag Left on a Doorstep' was the first story to feature Loveday Brooke. It first appeared in January 1893, when it was printed in the February 1893 issue of the Ludgate Monthly magazine; the complete series was subsequently published in book form by Hutchinson in 1894 under the title 'The Experiences of Loveday Brooke, Lady Detective'.
Recording © Bitesized Audio 2022. - Розваги
I have to listen to a story, or two, or three, before going to sleep. Your stories are a perfect size, plus, your vioce is amazing, thank you!🙂
The activity of recitation is a lost art. For example, my dad, born in 1920, could recite Kipling's entire "Gunga Din," which came in handy when he was in the US Army Air Force at a British base in North Africa during WW2. The English and the Ghurkas loved it.
I'm sure they did! Thanks for sharing Tom
My Mom could recite a lot of poetry.
This is one of my favorite mystery series! Please upload more Loveday Brooke stories 🙂
Simon, your voice and story choices are just perfect 👌
I am so addicted to this author and in particular “Loveday Brook” the amazing detective and what a great name! If this was released today it would no doubt be a tv series! Thank you so much for this Simon! Spectacular job as usual! 🌟 I shall listen again in 6 months or so but I promise no more comments!
Dear Maria, thank you so much for your messages - and please don't promise no more comments, I would miss them! In fact, you sent me a long comment yesterday on another story which I wanted to reply to, and now I can't find it. Did you delete it? I just wanted to let you know that I really appreciated your kind words and I'm grateful for you to take the time to listen and share your thoughts on the stories and on your life experiences generally. I should add that I was especially appreciative of what you said about my Irish accent! I had a less kind comment about it from another listener recently who took offence and made clear their displeasure at my attempts, so your words on that subject were particularly welcome! All best wishes, Simon
The best of the Lady Detectives, (in my opinion) strange how it was never televised?!
Another wonderful Loveday Brooke story, expertly narrated of course. Thank you so much for this most excellent offering. I do enjoy Mrs Pirkis's writing, she was a trailblazer in so many ways, including away from her writing desk. You sound much more yourself again, if one may make so bold, which is itself a blessing indeed.
Thank you Yvonne, kind of you to say so. I still had a bit of a cold when I recorded this, but hoping it's on its way out at last now... More from Mrs. Pirkis in the pipeline!
@@BitesizedAudio Oh, marvellous - I shall look forward to it! Very glad to know that you are on the mend.
Old works about "lady detectives" are always so much fun, and always a little odd! Thank you as alwaysfor a lovely and compelling reading. A true pleasure just listening to you say the words. And a whole hour, too. THANKS!
There is a bundle of joy in the black bag! Thank you very much, as always!
Oh, what a wonderful story! Loveday truly is a great detective. Thankyou for reading it.
Thank you - Catherine Pirkis was a wonderful writer!
Glad to have found this site, as I enjoy short stories. The narration is excellent!
And a Loveday Brooke mystery left on our doorsteps.
As usual - you make the story come alive and move along smartly.
Thanks!
When Loveday Brooke explains it all to her boss Simon's voice sounds just like Mr. Peabody telling Sherman the moral of the story.
Another amazing Audiobook, thank you for all you’re doing Simon, you’ve helped me through a lot, going through a hard family time at the moment, and I’ve came back to listen to your fantastic videos, hope you have a great day
Sorry to hear you're going through a tough time, I hope things improve soon. Thanks for your support, all best wishes
As always a super story and narrator .
Thank you Eileen
Thank you for all your wonderful work.
I love listening/reading stories from male authors but it's exciting that you narrate so many adventures from female writers.
Thanks Rachel. Yes, there's a rich selection of stories by female authors of this period, far too many of whom seem to have been unjustly forgotten or overlooked. I enjoy unearthing them!
@@BitesizedAudio Thank you. 🌹
Thank you so much for this service! I enjoy your reading so so much
Thank you Margaret, appreciated!
Thoroughly enjoyable! Thank you very much.
I do really enjoy listening to you especially because you use…dare I say(!?!) what my Grandmother (who raised me) called “The Queen’s English” to great effect. Of course, it’s how these old stories are written.But I’m sure the authors would be thrilled to hear you reading them! ♥️♥️♥️
Kind of you to say so, thank you!
Wonderful story, excellent narration.
This story is the first of a short series featuring Loveday Brooke, one of several "rivals to Sherlock Holmes" who featured in British periodicals in the 1890s and early 1900s. She is almost certainly the first professional female detective in English fiction, and the first to be created by a female author. You may like to hear some of Loveday Brooke's other adventures available on this channel:
The Redhill Sisterhood: ua-cam.com/video/A6fRPhnRZFs/v-deo.html
Drawn Daggers: ua-cam.com/video/8TdTQ91B-Jc/v-deo.html
The Ghost of Fountain Lane: ua-cam.com/video/GuFZUobcs6E/v-deo.html
(I hope to record the rest of the series in due course)
Thank you very much indeed 🙏♥️😘🖐
Brooks would no doubt join the Ladies' Anti-Suffrage League, actively promoted before 1914 by Hilaire Belloc and other lovers of Judaeo-Christian justice.
@@peterchaloner2877 I would join them, too!
Great idea!!
Wow and thank you !
Yes, you provide
unbelievably great content.
The narration is 💥
Thank you Simon. As always your reading is a true treasure. I hope you had good holidays and your new year is getting off to a sweet start. Bless you always.
Thanks Patricia. Best wishes for 2022
Give the lady a raise!! These are just great!
Another good reading of a very enjoyable tale 💐
Omg!!! Not even started to listen but ... ❤️❤️♥️
A brilliant story with a most satisfactory ending and so well read also.
Narrator and story both excellent.
Absolutely magnificent! Love it! This has to be one of my favourites so far! I was interrupted last night by visitors, so I have just finished listening and I am full of admiration for your various accents and amazing narration and choice of author! I’ve noticed that sometimes female authors choose male Heroes, I mean regarding this period, it’s nice to see an exception! Thanks again and I really do hope to hear a lot more from you during the year! As the male detective says, absolutely capital!
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
So glad to know you enjoyed it Maria. Rest assured, there are still a few more featuring this character which I aim to record! Lovely to hear from you: Happy New Year, I hope you had a good Christmas
Hello Maria. We are travelling the same wonderful road of fine narrators. 🤍💐😊
@@auntyJanette wow! It’s great to see you here! You described yourself as old but you do not look old you look absolutely beautiful and glamorous! I love synchronicity is great to see you and hear from you! Love the picture!☮️💜☯️
@@auntyJanette and there is another sequel available already to this story! I love the author and narrator!🧚♀️🌹🧚♀️
@@mariameere5807 agreed! Simon is a wonderful story teller. 🥂
Haha about the photo.
It was taken about 5 years ago and it’s been downhill from there lol. My daughter had on her phone and just sent it to me a week or so ago. Shame faced vanity made me misrepresent me for a week or two. Thank you for your compliment. 🤗
I think, were we in the same location we would be good friends. We certainly enjoy the same plays and stories. Definitely a kind act from the universe. 💐💐
Thanks to you Simon too.
Yay! Perfect for an overcast cold day this New Year! Many thanks!
Glad to help! Thanks grimmtt!
Thank you again Simon.
Unusual to have a bright young detective as the heroine and most satisfying. Always a calming pleasure to listen to you. Thank you.
She beats Sherlock Holmes hollow! 😉. I love all these lady sleuths you’re introducing from the victorian/edwardian era! Great fun. And of course, your readings are a big part of what makes them so enjoyable. Thank you Mr. Stanhope!
So glad to know you enjoy them! Thank you for your kind words
What a lovely story and beautifully narrated. Thank you so much. Please find more of this author. It's a lovely treat.
You're welcome Belinda. Certainly more to come. This is the third story I've read by this author, in case you've not heard the others they're available on this playlist: ua-cam.com/play/PLi95qAoufCZKziCYPPNgXcx1Uk40ulkJL.html
And I'll add future readings to this playlist when I do them
Wonderfully entertaining. Thank you, Simon.
Very well done as always! Ty Simon! 👍🏼👏😘
Thank you so much for these bite size stories. I love listening to your voice!
Your sharing your talents is a light to us all. Thank you
A detective story. Thank you !! I'll be looking forward to listening to this one tonight. Thank you again!
Very clever. Thank you for sharing this story. It was good fun to listen to.
I do enjoy Loveday’s amazing powers of observation and deduction. Is she kin to Sherlock? Unknown sibling?
A great story and wonderful reading! Thank you!
Another splendid reading! Thank you sir!
Excellent and what a wonderful narrator you are!! Thank you
Excellent story. you are a credit to the genre.
Thank you 👍
Another enjoyable listen.
Top notch !
Awesome! Thanks for doing these!
My pleasure, thanks for your support Scout Rifle!
Thank you for another superb performance, Simon. This author is new to me and I enjoyed the story very much. You do all the stories justice. Thank you so much for your dedication and hard work. Best wishes.
Thanks for your comment C M. If you like this author/story, you may enjoy some of the others in the series which I've recorded, available here: ua-cam.com/play/PLi95qAoufCZKziCYPPNgXcx1Uk40ulkJL.html
I'm hoping to do more of them before too long, and will add them to the playlist as and when I can.
Great stories and Wonderful narration! Thanks
Thank you!
Thank You so much! I enjoyed this immensely 😊
Glad to know that! Thank you for listening
I should save this for bedtime. But I'm a rebel. Lol
hahaha I'm a rockabilly rebel lol
Strike while the iron is hot! Thanks for listening Nancy
@@BitesizedAudio are you the narrator??
@j❤
Mn3ohnnyrockabilly4962
@@djhonza1939yes he is, Mr. Simon Stanhope!
Excellent!
Thank you so much, just about my favourite Loveday Brook👍♥️
Your the only channel that shows them, really enjoyable stories.😀♥️
Happy New Year, Simon. Greetings and best wishes from Australia. I love your choices.
I haven't gotten a blasted thing done this weekend, and it's all your fault! 😆😆💖
Really enjoyed this one ☺️ are there more? Your narration Simon, as always is superb. 👏🏻
Thanks Felene, glad to know that. Yes, there are more: I've now done three of her stories and there are four left to do at some point. I've created a Loveday Brooke playlist if you'd like to listen to the others: ua-cam.com/play/PLi95qAoufCZKziCYPPNgXcx1Uk40ulkJL.html
I'll add to this playlist as and when I get round to recording the rest of the series!
Thank you for playlist 👍
A delightful reading of this first story to feature Loveday Brooke - thank you very much! I wonder if there were really female detectives in agencies like Ebenezer Dyer's, then (or did C.L. Pirkis invent that, too)? And if Dorothy L. Sayers was a C.L. Pirkis fan, with Wimsey's 'Cattery' as a sort of appreciative nod to Dyer's agency? Thanks to Wikipedia, I now know that Mrs. Pirkis was partly of Cornish descent and that Loveday is a real given name, which became especially connected with Cornwall and women (though Loveday Enyinnaya Okechukwu is a successful football/soccer player today!). It seems an especially good name for a private detective, given its derivation from "a day, in Medieval England, assigned to arbitrate between parties and resolve legal differences under arbitration rather than common law"! Also interesting is that the "literature with which she had provided herself in order to beguile the tedium of her journey was a small volume bound in paper boards, and entitled, 'The Reciter's Treasury'" as Ernest Guy Pertwee produced several books starting with that title - of Scenes and Poems, of Prose and Drama, of Verse (I wonder if he was relate to the famous writing and acting Pertwees?). Interesting, too, is the Wikipedia article, "The Ludgate Monthly" and it details of famous authors who also contributed to it and related publications, including Arthur Conan Doyle. With him in mind, it's fun to see Ebenezer Dyer in a deerstalker in one of the illustrations to this story!
Interesting insights, thank you. Yes, I was struck to note that that image of Mr Dyer wearing his deerstalker - and indeed sitting in a train carriage with Loveday - accompanied this story when it first appeared in January 1893. The celebrated drawing by Sidney Paget showing Holmes in his deerstalker sitting opposite Watson in a train carriage accompanied 'Silver Blaze' when it was first printed in The Strand Magazine, just a month earlier, in December 1892... co-incidence? Surely not...
Nice one to kick start the new year. The story was well narrated. Nice to read about a woman detective in this period of time and on top of that the character is quite well defined. Had an inkling who the culprit was and therefore enjoy her thought process to arrive to the conclusion. Hope to hear more from our lady detective.
Thanks Sarah. Yes, there'll certainly be more. I also hope to cover some of the other female detectives of the era before too much longer
"It's capital! From first to last!" indeed. And I was quite partial to the length. An hour in your company is an hour well spent. ❤
Kind of you to say so, thank you Bob!
Enjoyed it, of course.
Thanks!
Thank you so much!
Wonderfully read, sir. I greatly enjoy your selections.
Glad to know that, thank you David
Great story. I can't help wondering why the disguise worked. I won't be more specific because I want to avoid spoilers, but although I might have been fooled, I am exceptionally bad at remembering faces. Surely not everyone was as bad as I am.
I have to confess I had the same thought. Trying not to give spoilers, but perhaps it's one of those occasions where the context and the costume are sufficient to overcome such obstacles... and the person concerned would also be putting on a performance of course
Thank you
most satisfactory!
You sound as if you feel better, which is excellent. I am glad of that.
An hour of solitude, a superb narration of a fine story, made a wonderful end to one of "those" days.
Thank you, Simon.
Glad to help! Thanks Tammy
Very nice
listening from the ukwales 2022❤️
Nice one have not heard this one before thnks
Simon ole chap, another great reading and not a moment too soon!! Much appreciated, especially in dreary January! I love being introduced to these authors and learning more about them. You, my friend from across the pond, bring culture, great literature and your fantastic acting and warm baritone voice to the web and for that, I am truly thankful! Happy New Year! Your channel is a treasure!
Thank you @sugarfalls1, glad to know you enjoyed it. I'm currently working on some more stories to get us all through these challenging months (in the northern hemisphere anyway)!
@@BitesizedAudioThat is definitely something to look forward to! Especially since my birthday is in blustery Feb., I'm considering one of your new stories as an early b-day present for myself! Here's to good stories and more tea! Keep those vocal chords well hydrated! Stay healthy, Simon!!
I was so looking forward to your upload! You never disappoint!
Happy to hear that! Thank you Irene
This reading is wonderful, as well as the story! Funny to think, though, that lines that took days to remember and only were because of the detective's background experience would nowadays be discovered the source of with a simple inquiry on a search engine 😅 what little grey cells we must be losing.
Oh well done Sir, in picking another superb story by author
Catherine Louisa Pirkis
I do indeed admire the indomitable lady detective,
Miss Loveday Brooks & always picture a much younger version of actress Geraldine Mckewan,
She of the impeccable vowels, the amused sly corner of the eye glances, would have made the most suitable person to play
Loveday.
I wish someone would make a series of plays dramatising the adventures of Loveday Brooks & her Sherlockian deducements
However i cannot think of a suitable thespian to carry the role of Miss Brooks the way
Geraldine McKewan could.
Today's youngish actors do not inspire me much but that is probably because ive turned into my grandmother these days & things arent what they were in my day.
Im being a tad unfair but it matters not because i have you to narrate Miss Brooks & her crime cases with the exact diction & thus allowing me to imagine im watching Miss McKewan in her role of Loveday
To my hearts content.
Are there anymore Loveday Brooks stories to be narrated?
Thank you sincerely for this wonderful story !
Thank you @Itallia 3,6,9 Yes indeed, there are just seven stories featuring Loveday Brooke, so I have four left to record...
Happy New Year! Hope you have a great one!
Hi Simon what a great way to commence 2022. I left a post in the reply section to "The Kit Bag" just before Christmas and maybe you did not get it. As always wishing you and your nearest and dearest happiness,peace and health for 2022 and beyond and continued success in all your endeavours.
Hello John, how lovely to hear from you, I hope you're keeping well. Thank you so much for your reply on the Kit-Bag, for some reason I don't always receive notifications about replies to comments, they come through sometimes but not always. Anyway, I'm very glad to know you're still enjoying the stories. I remember your fondness for Le Fanu (I trust you saw that I uploaded 'Schalken the Painter' recently?) and pleased to know that Aungier Street met with your approval! I truly appreciate your support and kind words. I've lots more lined up for this year - my list never seems to get any shorter - and hope I'm able to include some of your requests amongst them! All best wishes for 2022. Simon
Fantastic Simon. I enjoyed this one very much. I loved the description of our Loveday Brooke. I couldn't help but think... if this character was brought to life in a movie how on earth would they cast her from that description?🤔😆
I know! Gloriously vague, wasn't it? 😂
Yes indeed, actually I had exactly the same thought! (Though I suspect the casting would be decided by box office considerations rather than fidelity to the character description....)
@@BitesizedAudio That's true.
Doggie and I found this story very satisfying; we are quite fans of Loveday Brooke.
Marvellous! She's quite a character. I'm hoping to read some more of her adventures before too long....
I wish Catherine Pirkis had written more Loveday Brooke stories.
Ooh, loved this, thank you! Certainly looking forward to more ♥️♥️
Thanks talia bee, more in the pipeline...
Splendid!
Thank you for yet another excellent story and narration. Always a treat. 🙏
A handbaaaag?! lol 😀
Hope you and yours have a fabulous 2022 🙂
Thank you. Same to you!
where do you find these stories you read? love this one. :) 🌷🌿🌼🌱🌷
Thanks Alexa. I mostly found them through trawling the archives of the old magazines, some harder to find than others... usually I follow up a clue of one story and then that leads to others by the same author or contemporaries... I see you've been catching up on the recent uploads today, thanks as always for listening. A new (well, old) ghost story coming up tomorrow....
Simon I have some questions after reading your sketch about Miss Brooke. Was she really the first lady detective in fiction? I just listened to a collection of radio dramas including Lady Violet Strange. She was the creation of American writer Anna Katherine Green, who was the 'pioneer' of detective fiction. Have you recorded any of her work? I saw short summarizes on 'A intangible clue' and 'the golden slipper' and they look interesting.
That's a very interesting question, thank you for asking. I've not recorded any Anna Katharine Green stories (to date), although she's on my radar... I've been restricting myself to British and Irish authors of the era, as there's so much material, but I'll keep it in mind as another series to develop. Green actually created two female detectives, I think, possibly more (I'm not familiar with much of her work by any means!). In addition to Violet Strange (the "girl detective") she also created "the spinster detective" Amelia Butterworth, although I think she was first introduced as a sidekick to Green's first (male) detective, Ebenezer Gryce of the New York Met.
As to whether Loveday Brooke was the first female detective in fiction... I can't be definitive about that because there may be an earlier series/character which I've not come across yet, but so far she's the earliest I know of for certain. The adventures of Violet Strange, as far as I'm aware, first appeared in 1914 (published in book form 1915). Amelia Butterworth first appeared earlier, in 1897 (I think!), but Loveday Brooke made her debut in 1893 so she still appears to be first in the field. But I'll keep digging...
@@BitesizedAudio Thank you Simon. You are always greatly appreciated. 👏
Interesting Rs.
Excellent... Thank you!
Bedtime looking forward to this 👍😍
As par usual, your splendous story choice for reading at this new year is splendid. We listeners delight as if double cream melts in our mouthes, on a freshly baked tea biscuit and a smashing of strawberries stick to the roof of one’s mouth- IT’s YUMMY! I, a bit of delightfully gay society plunged into, veils of the woven cultural fabric of yester-yarns knitting a lovely & cozy throw over our propped up mod 21st century hooves on the auto-man’s ottoman. It’s SO NICE TO SLOW DOWN into a time that spaced out in Grace & wage gaps, but pinned cloth much closer to it’s raw material source. (I guess that is to say, although fully modern & forward thinking in current time, I enjoy the plunge into the depths of thoughtful storytelling with a pinch of nostalgia- for there are good things to learn & carry forward into the present from the past such that our future might actualize itself grounded in our shared humanity & connection to this earth.
I know it seems I’m wandering in my praise, but it is sometimes lonely out here for some of us, & your channel is especially one of my favorites, as your selections, your research, reading, and your TIMING is a great comfort to the inner child desiring a bedtime/afternoon story.
Plus, not to be so maudlin, the excitement that there is more to come from this author who is wonderfully skilled at making a plain Jane arch her back in honor of her genius (for we already know she stands up straight) and keeping our attention on a dashing ride into mystery & fulfillment of the plot, solution of the problem- Yay.
So, it is once again that I leave a comment to let you know how much I enjoy your channel.
My offering is simply this for now, though I hope to send out to you your received monetary wishes at some point to thank you as well deserved. You bring light Victorian charm to my ears. The language is a buffet, the politeness less calculated and thoughtful, social graces and places seamed into one’s education thereby civility makes a suit rather tailored to a perfectly charming line...and I believe it true that there is nothing better than a good line to quote. 🌬📖🔥🧤🧣🧦🕵🏻♀️🕵🏻♂️👍🏼👏🏼
Thank you so much Evelan, I'm touched by your comments. All best wishes to you
I realise that "lovers" as used here would be understood as something more akin to admirers/suitors/hopefuls, but still, everyone's assumption that our pretty young French maid had great handfuls of them was quite funny - and perhaps uncharitable!
So glad you are re $'d now!
Can you do these stories in black screen
Simon I here you found my black bag!! How did you get it home it had 30.000 Pounds in it. LMAO Now that's a heavy bag in bolth figures!!
😁 If I do find a black bag with £30,000 in it, I'll be sure to let you know.... eventually! Thanks PB
@@BitesizedAudio remember you spend the money 1st - and put IOU'S back LMAO
I'm excited to see I have something to listen to from your beautiful voice thank you for sharing your gift
Thank you for your lovely comment!
Spoiler.
.
.
.
.
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And just how did the accomplices get to the window? All tied up so neatly except for that
[Spoiler]
It's been a while since I read this so I may not recall all the details, but didn't the accomplice who got into the house (on the pretext of needing to speak to the rector) sneak in there and open the window for them, while he was briefly left unattended in the entrance hall?
💙📚🎙💙
Entrancing: the authoritative, peremptory yet charming mode of address. Exactly as one would wish to be addressed, were one's quotidian interlocutors not such dullards.
"peremptory yet charming", I rather like that... Thank you Peter, glad to know you enjoyed the story
X
Y ?
🤓
👍👍👍👍👍
Rodney Ingnatious Piebold.
Rupert Ichabod Pettimore.
Russell Ivan Parlance.
Were they indeed rest in peace, or perhaps his initials? Or maybe a title?
Resident Incredulous Priest.
Ha. Just my strange imagination. Food for thought.
she thought
was is it a blue day
or one black
that early Monday morning
with life's trash...
Sorry could not listen, didnt like the voice. Sounds like a computer.
Thanks