The Historical Lady Detectives introduces us to two lady detectives. The first long story, "The Disappearing Mr Fox," is about Victorian novelist, Mrs Hogarth. The second long story, "Bicycles, Bloomers and Blackmail," is about Edwardian, Dulcie Starkadder who sets up a detective agency.

When Victorian novelist, Mrs Hogarth receives a letter from a Mr Bartholomew asking her to investigate mysterious goings on and a tenant disappearing into thin air at his rental cottage in Filey, North Yorkshire, she is taken aback as he seems to have mixed her up with her fictional detective, Mara Dee. However, when her niece Belinda is jilted by her fiancée and is devastated, it seems like a way to escape from the prying tongues of the village that they live in. It then occurs to Mrs Hogarth that she would be putting her reputation as a crime writer on the line if she can’t solve Mr Bartholomew’s problems. As birds appear in rooms, strange noises are heard in the night and a black book with names in it is discovered, Mrs Hogarth realizes that true crime is quite not so easy to solve as the books she writes.

In "Bicycles, Bloomers and Blackmail," Dulcie Starkadder finds herself in dire straits financially, she has a son to support and also she has her dear companion Jane’s wages to find. After answering a mysterious newspaper advertisement to try to get some money, Dulcie and Jane find themselves entangled in a blackmail case that involves Penny Farthing bicycles, bloomers and suffragettes. Nothing is what it seems as Dulcie and Jane learn that becoming lady detectives is like learning to ride a Penny Farthing bicycle..