Catherine Louisa Pirkis

Catherine Louisa Pirkis was born in London, the daughter of Lewis Stephens Lyne, an accountant and comptroller-general of Inland Revenue. In 1872, at the age of 33, Pirkis married Frederick Edward Pirkis, fleet-paymaster for the Royal Navy, and the couple moved often. They had a daughter (born 1874 in Surrey) and a son (born 1876 in Belgium). Pirkis wrote her first novel, *Disappeared from Her Home*, in 1877; the mystery novel portends her creation of the popular lady detective **Loveday …