6 h 7 minAudiobook4 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if finding a missing person means discovering whom your heart has been looking for?
In a busy New York, people vanish, reasons stay hidden, and a bureau makes a business of finding the missing. At its centre stands a quiet, shrewd man whose work turns each search into a small adventure. In The Tracer of Lost Persons, Robert W. Chambers brings detective puzzles together with the uncertain business of knowing what you want.
The cases move through short, bright episodes, with danger and courtship sharing the page. A missing person may also be a lost love; a search may reveal a wish someone has yet to recognise. Chambers keeps the tone warm and teasing, making room for mystery without letting its dangers overwhelm the pleasure of following hearts and hidden identities.
What you’ll discover
- A bureau for the missing Enter a New York business where every disappearance gives someone a reason to search.
- A quiet, shrewd guide Meet the man who runs the bureau and follows the mysteries of vanished people.
- Each search, an adventure Follow separate cases that keep the story moving with hidden reasons and fresh questions.
- Love beneath the clues Discover how looking for someone can also mean recognising a long-hidden desire.
- Wit without the gloom Enjoy playful mysteries where danger leaves room for warmth, courtship, and a smile.
Who will love it
For readers who love early twentieth century popular fiction, gentle mysteries and romance with a smile, especially tales of missing people, mistaken identity and searches that bring people together.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A bureau that finds the missing
- Every search becomes a small adventure
- Love runs beneath the detection
- A light touch and a lasting appeal
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The Tracer of Lost Persons
by Robert W. Chambers · 1906
In a New York bureau, Mr. Keen traces vanished people as each search opens a mystery of identity and love.
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In short
The Tracer of Lost Persons is a book of detective and romantic adventure by the American writer Robert W. Chambers, published in 1906.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A bureau that finds the missing
The idea at the heart of the book is simple and appealing. In a busy modern city, people drop out of sight, and someone must be paid to bring them back. The Tracer of Lost Persons is that someone, a bureau in New York run by a man named Mr. Keen.
Mr. Keen is a patient, observant figure, more a calm thinker than a man of action. He works through clues, questions and good judgment, and he sends others out into the field. His office becomes the point where every story begins, because clients arrive there with a loss and a hope.
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What is The Tracer of Lost Persons about?
It is about a New York bureau that finds missing people, and the cases that come to it. The tales mix detection, adventure and romance, with a light and playful tone throughout.
Who wrote The Tracer of Lost Persons and when?
Robert W. Chambers, an American author, wrote it, and it appeared in 1906. He was then known as a popular writer of romances and adventure fiction.
Who is Mr. Keen?
Mr. Keen is the head of the bureau, a calm and observant man whose work is tracing people who have vanished. His office is where the stories begin.
The author
Robert W. Chambers
1865–1933 · American novelist and illustrator
Robert W. Chambers was an American writer whose 1895 collection The King in Yellow became a cornerstone of weird fiction, casting its influence over H.P. Lovecraft and generations of horror writers since. He was a successful popular novelist in his day, but this early work is what endures.
More by Robert W. Chambers
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