Secret Sleuths

Secret Sleuths

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The female detective who caught a Lady
Alice Dufour's job was to catch shoplifters - whatever background they came from
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Dr Nell Darby
The Brighton shootings
In 1920s Sussex, a hat maker's shop was the site of a fatal tragedy. Could a private detective make sense of it all?
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Dr Nell Darby
1
The judge who was fed up of sleuths
In the 1920s, one judge resented the business put his way by private detectives
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Dr Nell Darby
Sam, the wounded 'tec
One Staffordshire man had a lifelong love of detecting - and nothing would stop him
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Dr Nell Darby

July 2025

Townsend, a detective and a thief
Edwin Townsend used his job for nefarious ends in Victorian Birmingham
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Dr Nell Darby
The lunatic detective
One man, who claimed to be a private detective, was obsessed with Queen Victoria
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Dr Nell Darby
1
Fighting in the Clyde
A strike by seamen led to bad temper by two unions - and the involvement of a Scottish private detective...
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Dr Nell Darby
Arthur and his two lovers
In the East Midlands, Arthur Radford was busy both in his work and love lives
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Dr Nell Darby

June 2025

Death in the Bow Street cells
Why did a Victorian private detective kill himself after being arrested?
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Dr Nell Darby
1
Detectives of the same name
How were two detectives named Nelson related, if at all? In fact, who even WAS one of them?
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Dr Nell Darby
The Kidderminster election scandal
One private detective brought about a by-election in the 1870s, thanks to his investigative work
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Dr Nell Darby
The West Ham Disappearances
One private detective saw the disappearance of two girls from east London as an opportunity to promote his business...
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Dr Nell Darby
© 2025 Dr Nell Darby
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