6 h 7 minAudiobook6 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
You will love this book if you enjoy witty romances, old New York clubs and hansom cabs, ciphers and puzzles, and a clever matchmaker who plans every meeting with the care of a stage manager.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A bored rich man needs a reason to live
- A strange bargain with the Tracer of Lost Persons
- Form K and the girl who writes down his answers
- Keen has a plan, and a private sorrow behind it
- A soldier haunted by a ghost and a seal
- A cipher on a windowpane gives a lady's name
- A bachelor who meddles in love
- The other people in the waiting room
- The machinery behind Keen's knowledge
- What the stories add up to and how they are told
Who’s who
- Jack GatewoodA rich, idle New York clubman who hires a detective firm to find the woman of his dreams.
- Miss SoutherlandA graceful young stenographer at Keen and Company who is soon sent to ride in Central Park as an agent.
- Westrel KeenThe courtly Tracer of Lost Persons, who reads faces, commands a web of agents and quietly plans his clients' happiness.
- Tommy KernsGatewood's witty friend, who starts the whole affair and then insists that he himself will never marry.
- Captain Kenneth HarrenAn army officer home from Manila who is haunted by a vision of a girl he saw once on Fifth Avenue.
- John Templeton BurkeA restless young adventurer who comes to Keen to find two thieves who took something precious from him in Egypt.
- Victor CardenA shy painter famous for the Carden Girl, who must marry within two days to win a legacy.
- Dr. Rosalind HollisA young physician devoted to charity, who wants to study the rare Lamour's Disease and has no time for men.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 6 h 7 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 6 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then USD 0.14 a day in your first year on the yearly plan and USD 0.27 a day after, or USD 0.66 a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear The Tracer of Lost Persons in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
The Tracer of Lost Persons
by Robert W. Chambers · 1906
A bored New Yorker pays a detective firm to find the woman he has never met, and the hunt begins.
Easy read5–10 hours to read25 languages
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then USD 0.14 a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
Would you hire a detective to find a woman you have only imagined? Robert W.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A bored rich man needs a reason to live
Jack Gatewood is thirty-three, rich and idle. He keeps rooms at the Lenox Club and has no profession. Before breakfast he scolds his valet Henry and complains about the club. Somewhere, he insists, lives the one woman made for him.
His friend Tommy Kerns offers a strange cure. He has seen a sign for Keen and Company, Tracers of Lost Persons. Why not hire them to find his ideal? Kerns wants his friend to care about someone besides himself.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
USD 580 in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
USD 170FREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
USD 120FREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
USD 60FREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
USD 60FREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
USD 170FREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about The Tracer of Lost Persons
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is The Tracer of Lost Persons about?
It follows a New York detective firm run by Westrel Keen, who finds missing people and also brings lonely clients together with the partners they need. Five linked cases mix comedy, romance, ciphers and a ghost story.
Who is Mr. Keen in The Tracer of Lost Persons?
Westrel Keen is the courtly, silver haired manager of Keen and Company. He reads faces, commands a huge network of agents and quietly arranges happy meetings. He also carries a private sorrow about a lost childhood friend.
What is the Seal of Solomon in the book?
It is a symbol that haunts Captain Harren in his visions. Its crossed and dotted lines work as a number cipher, and Keen and Harren use it to decode a message scratched on a windowpane.
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
All 11 booksMore like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
