- This edition available as an e-book on Amazon
- ASIN : B0CX9LRBCB
- Publisher : Hachette Australia (August 28, 2024)
- Print length : 321 pages
- Petticoat Police Mystery #1
Synopsis (Amazon)
Summer, Adelaide, 1917. The impeccably dressed Miss Kate Cocks might look more like a schoolmistress than a policewoman, but don't let that fool you. She's a household name, wrangling wayward husbands into repentance, seeing through deceptive clairvoyants, and rescuing young women (whether they like it or not) with the help of a five-foot cane and her sassy junior constable, Ethel Bromley.
When shop assistant Dora Black is found dead on a city beach, Miss Cocks and Ethel are ordered to stay out of the investigation and leave it to the men. But when Dora's workmate goes missing soon after, the women suspect something sinister, and determine to take matters into their own hands. After all, who knows Adelaide better than the indomitable Miss Cocks?
*In 1915, Fanny Kate Boadicea Cocks became the first policewoman in the British Empire employed on the same salary as men. This novel is a rich exploration of that little-known chapter of Australian history.*
My Take
From all accounts Kate Cocks was a remarkable woman. This book, fictionalised history set in Adelaide mid way through World War 1, brings her to life and gives readers a chance to appreciate her achievements. If you live in Adelaide there are landmarks you will recognise, and some that have disappeared from our landscape.
The novel is essentially a police procedural, very readable, with credible scenarios.
My rating: 4.4
About the Author
In early 2024 I completed a PhD with the University of South Australia, exploring the life of South Australia's Kate Cocks. In 1915 she became the first policewoman in the British Empire employed on the same salary and with the same powers of arrest as men. Here's a piece I wrote about her legacy for The Conversation. As part of my PhD I have also written a historical murder mystery inspired by Kate's extraordinary life and some of the cracking cases she solved. The Death of Dora Black will be released by Hachette Australia in August 2024.
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