‘Private Inquiries is a must-read – a riveting mythbuster, with its revelations of the real histories of women PIs’
– Val McDermid
‘Intriguing and informative, Private Inquiries is a fascinating piece of detective work. ‘
– Martin Edwards
‘Davies is a great storyteller and this is a feast of true crime and women’s place in history. Fascinating and utterly riveting’
– Baroness Helena Kennedy of the Shaws KC
‘Private Inquiries tells the story of the leading British lights of this secretive trade. The real women were far from Miss Marple, instead they ran highly profitable businesses’
– Vanessa Thorpe, the Observer
ORDER PRIVATE INQUIRIES HERE
Female private eyes have long been a staple of popular culture – from plucky Victorian ladies to ‘busy body spinsters’ and fearless modern investigators.
But what about the real women detectives? What crimes did they solve? Where are their stories?
Dismissed as ‘Mrs’ Sherlock Holmes or amateurish Miss Marples, mocked as private dicks or honey trappers, they’ve been investigating crime since the mid 19th century – from theft, fraud and burglary, to missing persons, blackmail, drug dealing, robbery, marriage scams, ‘white slavery’, industrial espionage, and murder.
Female detectives have caught counterfeit coiners, adulterers, jewel thieves, imposters, conmen, poison pen writers, railway robbers, wizards, shoplifting syndicates, stamp cartels, racetrack gangs, romance scammers, and killers.
After more than a century of working undercover, it’s time to hear the real women’s stories, including
Victorian inquiry agent Antonia Moser
Baker Street sleuth Annette Kerner
Zena Scott-Archer president of the World Association of Detectives
Detective work has long been regarded as an unsuitable job for a woman, yet ‘feminine’ traits such as intuition, imagination and empathy, are also seen as necessary requirements for the job. Women are known for their ability to get information out of strangers; we create less suspicion and pose less of a threat than men. We are highly skilled observers, and known for our close attention to detail.
In the late 19th century and early 20th century, women like Antonia Moser, Kate Easton, Maud West, May Storey and Annette Kerner launched their own detective agencies and became celebrities at home and abroad. Zena Scott-Archer enjoyed a career that spanned nearly 50 years, and was the leading female investigator on the world stage.
Yet at the beginning of the 21st century, only eight percent of the roughly 5000 – 10,000 private detectives in Britain were female. Why aren’t there more women in the field today?
The idea behind the book
I’ve been fascinated by female detectives ever since I started researching Queens of the Underworld and the criminal activities of The Forty Elephants in the early 1900s. The all-female shoplifting gang created work for other women, as private detectives in department stores. Women were not yet allowed to join the police force, yet here were store detectives working undercover, apprehending offenders, and testifying as expert witnesses in court. They sounded like tough women.
I wondered who the store detectives were and what their lives were like. Then I wondered why I could name numerous fictional female sleuths – Miss Marple, Nancy Drew, Cordelia Grey, Charlie’s Angels, Jessica Fletcher, Lisbeth Salander, Precious Ramotswe – but not a single one in real life. I also wondered, what do private investigators actually do?
Training & Research
To get a better understanding of the job, I’ve completed a BTEC Level 3 Award for Professional Investigators, run by the Association of British Investigators (ABI). The private detective industry remains unregulated in the UK; anyone can set up as a private investigator, regardless of their skills or criminal record, without any form of license or qualification. According to the ABI, when licensing is introduced then the Level 3 is expected to become the industry standard.
I’ve also completed a Diploma in Private Investigation, through the UK Professional Investigators Network (UKPIN). The course provides a thorough explanation of areas such as process serving, which has formed a central part of a PI’s job ever since the 19th century Bow Street Runners.
To get an insight into the life of modern investigators, I’ve interviewed a range of current PIs – including a woman who solves cases of online ‘cat fishing’, a specialist in cold case homicides, a corporate investigator, and an expert in undercover work. What makes a good PI? What are the moral, ethical and legal dilemmas when it comes to investigation and surveillance?
Crusaders and charlatans, role models and rogues, pioneers and pretenders…
Mrs Jenkins
‘The first female detective’, employed by Charles Frederick Field, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Detective Department, in the late 1840s.
Mrs Grocott
‘Peephole servant’, a former cook hired to gather evidence in a high profile adultery trial in the 1850s
Elizabeth Joyes
‘I am perfectly certain of the thief’s identity’, Elizabeth worked undercover in railway waiting rooms in the 1850s.
Sarah Dunaway
‘A very intelligent woman,’ Sarah successfully investigated the theft of sugar from London’s West India Dock in the 1860s.
Margaret Saunders – Clubnose
‘Make me one of yourselves—a detective’, reportedly worked for Scotland Yard in the 1870s, infiltrating thieves’ dens dressed as a boy.
Ellen Lyons
‘I only go where a stylishly-dressed person is required’, Ellen worked for Private Inquiry Agent Henry Clarke in the 1880s.
Antonia Moser
‘A woman of the highest culture and refinement’. Antonia became a private detective in 1888, the year of the Whitechapel murders, when there was a new interest in female sleuths. In 1905 she launched her own business on the Strand.
Annie Betts
‘A stylish, aristocratic looking lady’, a former store detective, she investigated fortune tellers in the early 1900s.
Dorothy Tempest
’A smart, businesslike girl detective’, Dorothy was an actress, who also gathered evidence in divorce and occult cases.
Maud West
’Maud West’s life would enchant Agatha Christie’. Maud started her career as a detective in the early 1900s, becoming England’s most famous female sleuth.
Matilda Mitchell
’How did I become a lady detective?’ A former pantomime actor, Matilda became head of Selfridges Secret Service in 1912.
Kate Easton
‘London’s Leading Woman In Every Branch of Detective Work’. Kate was one of the leading sleuths of the early 1900s, based initially on Shaftesbury Avenue.
May Greenhalgh
‘It’s a grand job sleuthing’. May started her career in 1919, joining an agency run by a former Scotland Yard officer and then launching her own business.
May Storey
‘Sleuthing is a great career for girls’. The daughter of a Yorkshire coal miner, May ran the International Detective Agency.
Annette Kerner
‘Whenever I step into my consulting room in Baker Street, my spine tingles with excitement’. According to her own account, Annette was born to a wealthy English family and started her career as a spy in Switzerland in 1919.
Anne Summer
‘Of course I’m following you, you have been doing such interesting things’. Anne came to prominence in the 1960s and was known for investigating matrimonial cases. She carried a tiny tape recorder in her bra and used a target shooter to flush her targets into the open.
Zena Scott-Archer
‘In an emergency women are more determined, more calm and certainly less easily embarrassed than most men’. The daughter of a Flying Squad officer, Zena became the most successful private detective of her generation.
Zena Scott-Archer family collection
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Talks & events 2025:
March 5th, Portsmouth Book Festival, via Zoom, 6.30pm, tickets here.
April 10th, KYN Bickley care home, Bromley, London
May 29th, Salon for the City, The Horse Hospital, London WC1N, 7pm, tickets here.
October 2nd, The Broadstairs Victorians, Crampton Tower, Broadstairs
2024:
February 29th, 7pm, the London Library, SW1Y 4LG. Tickets here
March 19th, 7pm, Highgate Library (online). Tickets here
March 24th, 3pm, Conway Hall, WC1R 4RL. Tickets here
June 9th, Broadstairs Literary Festival, Yarrow Hotel, CT10 1PN. Tickets here
September 14th, International Agatha Christie Festival, Torquay, Devon. Tickets here.
September 27th, Chelsea History Festival, National Army Museum, London, 12pm. Tickets here.
October 2nd, Warwick History Festival, Warwick, 4.30pm. Tickets here.
October 12th, Maidstone LitFest, panel on women in history with Dr Helen Fry and Dr Jane Shankar, 1.30pm. Maidstone Museum. Tickets here.
November 16th, Medway River Lit, Kent, Historical Crime Fiction Masterclass, Strood Library, 1pm. Tickets here
November 16th, Medway River Lit, Kent, illustrated talk, Strood Library, 3pm, tickets here.
Fundraising event for Oasis Domestic Abuse Service, Kent
‘Caitlin’s own attempts to be a private detective herself are hugely enjoyable (and) serve to highlight just how hard a job this was, and continues to be’ – Dr Nell Darby, author of Sister Sleuths.
‘A fascinating blend of history and memoir, this true crime book pulls back the curtain on the real women investigators who cracked cases long before they became fictional icons’ – Book Bub
‘Every page teems with larger-than-life characters – women who broke the mould and the accepted rules to make their way in a traditional male world of private investigation. It is a story told with style and panache by an author who not only talks the talk but has walked the walk, training as an investigator herself’ – Daniel Smith, author of Scandal at Dolphin Square: A Notorious History
‘An intriguing account of real female detectives from Britain’s past’ – Chris Simms, editor, Crime Readers’ Association Case Files.
‘A longer history than I had realised and an absolutely fascinating one. If you’ve ever wondered about private detectives and the role of women in this sector, this is absolutely the book’ – Dr Miranda Melcher, New Books Network.
Warwick History Festival 2024
‘Throughout history, the PI role has been seen as a job for an unshaven male in a raincoat, yet plenty of women have taken advantage of their social invisibility to excel. Caitlin Davies finds herself drawn to the idea of testing herself as a sleuth and while working her way through aspects of detective craft, she applies her archive-sifting skills to build a picture of the history of women in the profession’ –Strong Words Magazine.
‘An absolutely fascinating book, amazing photographs and great documentation’ – Alexis Conran, Times Radio.
International Agatha Christie Festival 2024