Mrs. George (Elizabeth) Corbett was an English writer of mysteries and feminist literature, at one point as highly regarded as Conan Doyle. In 1890, Corbett published a collection of fifteen short stories titled Secrets of a Private Inquiry Office, in which a female detective named Dora plays a small part. She also apparently wrote a collection of stories titled Adventures of a Lady Detective, though no information is available about this work except that it is referred to in some advertisements for Corbett’s other books. In 1891, Corbett published a series of ten stories in the Leicester Chronicle titled Behind the Veil, or Revelations by a Lady Detective, which is subtitled Being Further Secrets of a Private Inquiry Office.* In this collection of stories, the “lady detective” is again Dora White, though she is not the narrator nor does she appear in every tale. What may be a different, later collection, ten stories from which appeared in the Leeds Mercury in 1892, appears to be called Experiences of a Lady Detective.^† These stories are narrated by Dora Bell, an agent of Bell & White Agency (suggesting that these were in fact written after Revelations), and an example follows. In 1894, a series of twelve stories appeared in the Adelaide Observer as The Adventures of Dora Bell, Detective,‡ and these stories are narrated by Dora.^§ The advertisements for these latter stories mention both Adventures and Revelations but not Experiences—could Revelations be merely a reprint of Adventures of a Lady Detective? To add to the confusion, the advertisements for neither Revelations nor Experiences mention any of the other collection titles. Corbett wrote more than two dozen stories about including her lady detective—perhaps more!

 

^* The ten stories were “Fair Deceiver,” “Miss Kelmersley’s Party and What Became of It,” “Breach of Promise,” “Birds of a Feather,” “Fool and His Money,” “The Begging Letter,” “Point of Honour,” “How We Stimulated Sim Kernahau’s Memory,” “Who Was the Heir?,” and “Between Two Stools.” The first appeared in the Saturday, October 31, 1891, issue, and the balance appeared on succeeding Saturdays.

^† The first story appeared on Saturday, April 2, 1892, and was “The Gracely Jewels,” followed on succeeding Saturdays by “Black Magic, or the Veiled Lady,” “Catching a Burglar,” “Kleptomaniac and Thief,” “Maimed for Life,” “The Forged Love Letter,” “The Stolen Child,” “Levying Blackmail,” “Mrs. Bouverie’s Will,” and “Number 203,421.”

^‡ The first story appeared on Saturday, April 14, 1894, and was “SW-E-E-EP,” followed on succeeding Saturdays by “Hoist on Her Own Petard,” “One of Dora’s Failures,” “Dora Turns the Tables,” “The Acquaintance Dodge,” “Broken Trust,” “Madame Duchesne’s Garden Party,” “Pattern of Virtue,” “Miss Rankin’s Rival,” “The Path to Fame,” “The Recluse of Hallow Hall,” and “The Mysterious Thief.”

^§ In chapter 7 of the Secrets volume, Bell expressly states that White’s niece Dora assists. However, in the 1892 series, Dora is clearly identified as “Dora Bell.” In a story in The Adventures of Dora Bell, Detective, Dora notes that White had sold out, and she identifies Mr. Bell (as she consistently refers to him) as her uncle. Thus, unless at some point Mr. Bell married Dora’s father’s sister, Corbett reinvented her lineage!