(1854 - 1914)
L. T. Meade was the pseudonym of Elizabeth Thomasina Meade Smith, a prolific writer of girls' stories. She was born in Bandon, County Cork, Ireland, daughter of Rev. R. T. Meade, of Nohoval, County Cork. She later moved to London, where she married Alfred Toulmin Smith in September, 1879. She began writing at 17 and produced over 300 books in her lifetime, being so prolific that not less than eleven new titles under her byline appeared in the first few years after her death. She was primarily known for her books for young people, of which the most famous was A World of Girls, published in 1886. However, she also wrote "sentimental" and "sensational" stories, religious stories, historical novels, adventure, romances, and mysteries, including several with male co-authors. The first of these was Dr. Clifford Halifax, with whom she first collaborated in 1893; their books numbered six. A year later she first teamed with Robert Eustace, and turned out eleven volumes with him. Her last co-author was Robert Douglas; they produced only one book, in 1897. The Eustace partnerships are notable for two female villains, Madame Sara (in The Sorceress of the Strand) and Madame Koluchy (the mastermind of a band of gangsters, in The Brotherhood of the Seven Kings). One of her most unusual titles is Dumps; A Plain Girl (1905). She was also the editor of a popular girls' magazine, Atalanta. She was a feminist and a member of the Pioneer Club.
A Girl of High Adventure
Read by Multiple Readers
Running Time:09:01:57 in 1 MP3 Audio CD
Genre(s): Children's Fiction
Marguerite St. Juste was Irish on her mother's side, who was born of the Desmonds of Desmondstown in the County Kerry. Marguerite's father was a French Comte, whose grandfather had been one of the victims of the guillotine. Both her parents are dead and she is being brought up by an aunt and uncle. She wants to find out about the rest of her family and her adventures take her to Ireland and France.
Chapter 01 The Child Who Won Hearts
Chapter 02 A Visit to Ireland
Chapter 03 An Irish Chieftain at Home
Chapter 04 Old Young People
Chapter 05 I'll Explain to Yourself
Chapter 06 M. Le Comte
Chapter 07 The Little Comtesse
Chapter 08 Brown Hats and Fans
Chapter 09 The English Girls at the School of La Princesse
Chapter 10 Thou Art Faithful and so are my Bees
Chapter 11 Thunder Storm
Chapter 12 Gem of the Ocean
Chapter 13 The Pines
Chapter 14 Starlight and Tilly
Chapter 15 I Cannot Talk Parley-vous
Chapter 16 The Fear of the Shillelagh
Chapter 17 If it Must Be, It Must
Chapter 18 The Green Hat
Chapter 19 The Cabinet de Beaute
Chapter 20 A Conspiracy
Chapter 21 The Palace of Truth
Chapter 22 It is Joyful to Behold Thee, My Pushkeen
Chapter 23 The Glorious Softness of Ireland
Chapter 24 A Pound a Day A Picture and a Wedding
A Master of Mysteries
Read by J. M. Smallheer
Running Time:4:17:13 in 1 MP3 Audio CD
Genre(s): Crime & Mystery Fiction
"It so happened that the circumstances of fate allowed me to follow my own bent in the choice of a profession. From my earliest youth the weird, the mysterious had an irresistible fascination for me. Having private means, I resolved to follow my unique inclinations, and I am now well known to all my friends as a professional exposer of ghosts, and one who can clear away the mysteries of most haunted houses....I propose in these pages to relate the histories of certain queer events, enveloped at first in mystery, and apparently dark with portent, but, nevertheless, when grappled with in the true spirit of science, capable of explanation." - from the Introduction to "A Master of Mysteries"
A World of Girls: The Story of a School
Read by Celine Major
Running Time:07:47:01 in 1 MP3 Audio CD
Genre(s):School
If you are a fan of Girl's School tales this one will definitely not disappoint. Filled with fantastic adventures of midnight feasts, gypsy sightings and naughty pranks, this charming story centers on two very opposite characters. Hester Thornton, very proud, mourning the recent loss of her mother and the separation of her beloved little sister is determined to hate the school to which her father has sent her. Annie Forest, a very pretty, rather wild yet kindhearted girl who has been a resident of the school the last 4 years is the school favorite in spite of her many pranks and scrapes. Miscommunication and envy causes a strong mutual dislike between them, and the addition of mean-spirited actions by a 3rd party leads to many exciting and dramatic events as well as touching moments.
The Adventures of a Man of Science
L. T. Meade and Clifford Halifax
Read by J. M. Smallheer
Running Time:06:35:19 in 1 MP3 Audio CD
Genre(s): Crime & Mystery Fiction
"We have taken down these stories from time to time as our friend. Paul Gilchrist, has related them to us. He is a man whose life study has been science in its most interesting forms—he is also a keen observer of human nature and a noted traveler. He has an unbounded sympathy for his kind, and it has been his lot to be consulted on many occasions by all sorts and conditions of men." - Meade & Halifax
Theses eight short stories were originally published in multiple issues of the Strand Magazine V12 (1896) and V13 (1897).
The Snake's Eye
Ought He to Marry Her
Lady Tregenna
The Sleeping Sickness
At the Steps of the Altar
The Panelled Bedroom
A Race with the Sun
The Man Who Smiled
The Brotherhood of the Seven Kings
L. T. Meade and Robert Eustace
Read by J. M. Smallheer
Running Time:7:50:07 in 1 MP3 Audio CD
Genre(s): Detective Fiction
"THAT a secret society, based upon the lines of similar institutions so notorious on the Continent during the last century, could ever have existed in the London of our day may seem impossible. Such a society, however, not only did exist, but through the instrumentality of a woman of unparalleled capacity and genius, obtained a firm footing. A century ago the Brotherhood of the Seven Kings was a name hardly whispered without horror and fear in Italy, and now, by the fascinations and influence of one woman, it began to accomplish fresh deeds of unparalleled daring and subtlety in London. By the wide extent of its scientific resources, and the impregnable secrecy of its organizations, it threatened to become a formidable menace to society, as well as a source of serious anxiety to the authorities of the law." (excerpt from The Brotherhood of the Seven Kings)
01 - Introduction and At the Edge of the Crater, Part 1
02 - At the Edge of the Crater, Part 2
03 - The Winged Assassin, Part 1
04 - The Winged Assassin, Part 2
05 - The Swing of the Pendulum, Part 1
06 - The Swing of the Pendulum, Part 2
07 - The Luck of Pitsey Hall, Part 1
08 - The Luck of Pitsey Hall, Part 2
09 - Twenty Degrees
10 - The Star-Shaped Marks, Part 1
11 - The Star-Shaped Marks, Part 2
12 - The Iron Circlet, Part 1
13 - The Iron Circlet, Part 2
14 - The Mystery of the Strong Room, Part 1
15 - The Mystery of the Strong Room, Part 2
16 - The Bloodhound, Part 1
17 - The Bloodhound, Part 2
18 - The Doom, Part 1
19 - The Doom, Part 2
The Girls of St. Wode's
Read by Multiple Readers
Running Time:08:33:08 in 1 MP3 Audio CD
Genre(s): General Fiction
This is a story about the life of a school girl. The story centers around the girls' college of St. Wode's, Wingfield. This is the place in all England where women who wish to distinguish themselves should go to receive training. The girls come from all classes of society, but the tale centers chiefly around the doings of the Gilroy girls and their benefactor, Mr. Parker.
The Heart of a Mystery
Read by J. M. Smallheer
Running Time:03:55:07 in 1 MP3 Audio CD
Genre(s): Crime & Mystery Fiction
The Heart of Mystery by L. T. Meade and Robert Eustace was published in 1901 in six installments in the Windsor Magazine, Vol. 14. The stories relate the adventures of a young Englishman summoned to the deathbed of an old friend in Paris who subsequently finds himself embroiled in a web of danger, espionage and intrigue.
01 - Mademoiselle Delacourt - Part 1
02 - Mademoiselle Delacourt - Part 2
03 - A Little Smoke - Part 1
04 - A Little Smoke - Part 2
05 - The Tiger's Claw - Part 1
06 - The Tiger's Claw - Part 2
07 - A Conjuring Trick - Part 1
08 - A Conjuring Trick - Part 2
09 - A Gallop with the Storm - Part 1
10 - A Gallop with the Storm - Part 2
11 - The Lost Square - Part 1
12 The Lost Square - Part 2
The Miss Florence Cusack Mysteries
L. T. Meade and Robert Eustace
Read by J. M. Smallheer
Running Time:02:13:43 in 1 MP3 Audio CD
Genre(s): Detective Fiction
Miss Florence Cusack was featured as an amateur detective who assists in solving crimes in five short stories authored by L. T. Meade and Robert Eustace that appeared in Harmsworth/London Magazine.
Mr. Bovey's Unexpected Will, 1899
The Arrest of Capt. Vandeleur, 1899
A Terrible Railway Ride, 1900
The Outside Ledge, 1901
Mrs. Reid's Terror, 1901
The Rebel of the School
Read by Elaine Webb
Running Time:11:06:23 in 1 MP3 Audio CD
Genre(s): Action & Adventure Fiction
Kathleen O'Hara is a young pretty girl sent to school in England from Ireland by her father to get a good education, but Kathleen has other ideas. She quickly become friends with the girls of the school who don't pay for their education and in turn these girls consider Kathleen to be their Queen. What trouble will Kathleen and her friends get into? And what will the school do with the naughty, "Rebel of the School?"
The Sorceress of the Strand
L. T. Meade and Robert Eustace
Read by J. M. Smallheer
Running Time:4:59:41 in 1 MP3 Audio CD
Genre(s): Crime & Mystery Fiction
From the moment Madame Sara arrived on the scene, she has taken London society by storm. Madame is both beautiful and mysterious, but it soon becomes clear to both Dixon Druce and his friend, police surgeon Eric Vandeleur, that there is something sinister about the woman and the goings on at her shop on the Strand. They soon become obsessed with proving her guilty of the many crimes that follow in her wake!