What do you think?
Rate this book
Weary of routine cases, private investigator and ex-policewoman Anna Lee jumps at the chance to investigate the automobile death of fledgling movie director Deirdre Jackson
235 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
38 people are currently reading
433 people want to read
About the author
Liza Cody
90 books33 followersLiza Cody (real name Liza Nassim) is an English crime fiction writer.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
March 10, 2019
Loved the writing (very detailed), hated the pacing (quite slow and deliberate). The female private investigator, Anna Lee, is awesome and very, very British. You WILL need a British dictionary if you don't know the language. My favorite chapter is 29, which takes place in a dentist office and is even more rewarding than the conclusion of the mystery.
June 9, 2024
Things change when people react against what's gone before. Post-Poirot, Agatha Christie decided that a quiet country introvert would solve crimes, after that Chandler wanted the detective novel to be American and violent and dark. Liz Cody reacts against this by setting her first novel in freezing England with the first professional female private detective, but she is not a ball-bustin' wise-crackin' hard-drinkin' gal; Anna Lee is a quiet observant listener, good at getting information by letting people talk, not by cracking skulls. She works for a detective firm – she's not a lone wolf behind frosted glass windows. It's a business, focus on bringing in the cash, not about a noble fellow, neither tarnished nor afraid, going down mean streets (unless you count Canonbury Park Road, described as a dusty backwater of peeling houses).
Anna lives in an ordinary flat in an *cough* ordinary part of London: Holland Park Avenue – the area has yet to be colonised by bankers. The book was written in 1980, so it feels more like the '70s. Thatcher isn’t mentioned, but unions and power cuts are. People talk about snack bars and kitchenettes, dolly birds and instant coffee. The plot revolves around illegal piracy of 16mm film because not even Betamax has been invented yet (telephone answering machines are still a novelty).
The plot is straight forward, there are no twists, the murderer doesn't turn out to be the bent copper or father figure. Anna is plodding and methodical and so is the book; she gets her guy and it turns out that it was the man she suspected all along.
Anna lives in an ordinary flat in an *cough* ordinary part of London: Holland Park Avenue – the area has yet to be colonised by bankers. The book was written in 1980, so it feels more like the '70s. Thatcher isn’t mentioned, but unions and power cuts are. People talk about snack bars and kitchenettes, dolly birds and instant coffee. The plot revolves around illegal piracy of 16mm film because not even Betamax has been invented yet (telephone answering machines are still a novelty).
The plot is straight forward, there are no twists, the murderer doesn't turn out to be the bent copper or father figure. Anna is plodding and methodical and so is the book; she gets her guy and it turns out that it was the man she suspected all along.
May 30, 2025
Anna Lee is an ex-police officer, who now works for (and is bottom of the pecking order at) Brierly Security, a private investigations firm. When the bereaved parents of Deirdre Jackson demand an explanation for the car accident that killed their daughter, Anna is assigned the case. But what seems a dead-end task is anything but. As Anna moves through London's freezing back streets and uncovers the seedy film world where Deirdre worked, she realises that the girl's lonely death had been the only possible finale to a life fringed by fraud, failure and violence.
I’ve had this in my library for years (I own the 1991 reprint, but bought it secondhand later) and never quite got round to it before, but I’m really glad I now have. Originally published in 1980, this is ‘of it’s time’ in some ways, but not particularly so you’d notice and Anna is an excellent character (unusually, for a PI novel, it’s told in 3rd person, though always from her vp) who has drive, doubts and takes her lumps too. On the other hand, as it’s contemporous, it’s intriguing to see a London on the cusp of the 80s, along with old cars and the glorious use of film societies which, I imagine, are now pretty much extinct (or done online). Cody’s writing style is wonderfully clipped, to make it a combination of US style PI - short choppy sentences - with a very British sensibility. With a well rounded supporting cast, good pace and excellent use of location (with an added plus of very evocative weather), this is a cracking read and I would highly recommend it.
I’ve had this in my library for years (I own the 1991 reprint, but bought it secondhand later) and never quite got round to it before, but I’m really glad I now have. Originally published in 1980, this is ‘of it’s time’ in some ways, but not particularly so you’d notice and Anna is an excellent character (unusually, for a PI novel, it’s told in 3rd person, though always from her vp) who has drive, doubts and takes her lumps too. On the other hand, as it’s contemporous, it’s intriguing to see a London on the cusp of the 80s, along with old cars and the glorious use of film societies which, I imagine, are now pretty much extinct (or done online). Cody’s writing style is wonderfully clipped, to make it a combination of US style PI - short choppy sentences - with a very British sensibility. With a well rounded supporting cast, good pace and excellent use of location (with an added plus of very evocative weather), this is a cracking read and I would highly recommend it.
May 12, 2018
Anna Lee, who works for a private security firm, is hired to investigate the apparent accidental death of a young woman. She starts to untangle evidence of crime in the movie business. This book was the winner of the annual John Creasey Award for Britain's Best First Mystery Novel. An interesting read.
May mystery challenge
May mystery challenge
February 2, 2018
London Lady Detective of the 80s
Picked up this book after learning Lisa Cody's Anna Lee was a precursor to Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone. The London private inquiry agent is as independent and feisty, but not quite as quirky. The background characters stand out and I want to get to know them better. The plot is smart, and the story well paced, yet only mildly satisfying. I will definitely move on to the next book in the series.
Picked up this book after learning Lisa Cody's Anna Lee was a precursor to Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone. The London private inquiry agent is as independent and feisty, but not quite as quirky. The background characters stand out and I want to get to know them better. The plot is smart, and the story well paced, yet only mildly satisfying. I will definitely move on to the next book in the series.
July 5, 2023
I believe that with her books featuring Anna Lee, Liza Cody was in the vanguard of the upsurge of crime novels featuring assertive and independent female private detectives. It certainly proved to be a rich seam, yielding such enduring characters as Sara Paretsky’s V I Warshawski, Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone, Michelle Spring’s Laura Principal. Sadly, although initially very popular, even to the extent of a television series featuring Imogen Stubbs as Anna, the books seem to have faded from the reading public’s attention.
I am fairly sure that I read this blood about thirty years ago, prompted to do so by having seen the television series, although it didn’t evoke many memories (to be fair, that would have been thirty years ago, and I have read more than three thousand other books since). Coming to it again I found it enjoyable, but it has not aged well. Anna Lee is a great character – far from flawless, but very empathetic. The plot is rather turgid, and revolves around film piracy which was a serious enough problem in the early 1990s, even before the proliferation of illegal copying spawned by the explosion if home computing and the internet.
This was an enjoyable trip back into the past, although I don’t think I will be delving any further into this particular archive.
I am fairly sure that I read this blood about thirty years ago, prompted to do so by having seen the television series, although it didn’t evoke many memories (to be fair, that would have been thirty years ago, and I have read more than three thousand other books since). Coming to it again I found it enjoyable, but it has not aged well. Anna Lee is a great character – far from flawless, but very empathetic. The plot is rather turgid, and revolves around film piracy which was a serious enough problem in the early 1990s, even before the proliferation of illegal copying spawned by the explosion if home computing and the internet.
This was an enjoyable trip back into the past, although I don’t think I will be delving any further into this particular archive.
June 17, 2024
1978 - UK, London
fist published 1980
The storm had blown itself out during the night, leaving the morning sky pale and laundered. The roofs were glistening, and Anna, looking down, could see part of the garden. She held a mug of fiercely hot and strong coffee. The grass was unkempt and speckled with weeds and fallen leaves from the plane tree by the end wall. It was an ordinary London house just north of Holland Park Avenue. A few minutes later she took her coat and bag from the hook on the door and left the flat. Downstairs Bea Price was also leaving for work, and while Selwyn was easing a damp Guardian from the letter-box she stooped and lifted two dripping milk bottles from the doorstep.
Stellenweise etwas langatmig aber gerade dadurch auch irgendwie authentisch, denn Detektivarbeit braucht mit Sicherheit langen Atem. Und damals, Ende der 70er, Anfang der 80er, war ohnehin alles viel langsamer ... als man noch ein Telefon suchen und Filme entwickeln lassen musste ... meine Güte, es scheint ein Jahrhundert her zu sein. Das Buch ist ganz sicher kein spannender Thriller: es ist ziemlich bald klar, was abgeht. Aber ich mochte es - interessante sympathische Charaktere, nostalgischer Ausflug in meine jugendlichste Jugend... bin gespannt auf den nächsten Teil.
fist published 1980
The storm had blown itself out during the night, leaving the morning sky pale and laundered. The roofs were glistening, and Anna, looking down, could see part of the garden. She held a mug of fiercely hot and strong coffee. The grass was unkempt and speckled with weeds and fallen leaves from the plane tree by the end wall. It was an ordinary London house just north of Holland Park Avenue. A few minutes later she took her coat and bag from the hook on the door and left the flat. Downstairs Bea Price was also leaving for work, and while Selwyn was easing a damp Guardian from the letter-box she stooped and lifted two dripping milk bottles from the doorstep.
Stellenweise etwas langatmig aber gerade dadurch auch irgendwie authentisch, denn Detektivarbeit braucht mit Sicherheit langen Atem. Und damals, Ende der 70er, Anfang der 80er, war ohnehin alles viel langsamer ... als man noch ein Telefon suchen und Filme entwickeln lassen musste ... meine Güte, es scheint ein Jahrhundert her zu sein. Das Buch ist ganz sicher kein spannender Thriller: es ist ziemlich bald klar, was abgeht. Aber ich mochte es - interessante sympathische Charaktere, nostalgischer Ausflug in meine jugendlichste Jugend... bin gespannt auf den nächsten Teil.
May 26, 2025
Anna Lee dives into the rather sad last days of a Dierdre Jackson who walked away from her family five years before to try her luck for a film career in London. The investigation is instigated by her distraught parents following a verdict of accidental death by police.
Her body was found in a crumpled vehicle that crashed into a pole along an icy road near Heathrow Airport. Impossible, her father says, she had driven race cars; she had too much experience for that stretch of road to not be able to handle it; she also would not have without a seat belt. It was murder, the parents believe.
Lee's boss holds out little hope for more details, but Anna believes she can at least find out what her life was like, who her friends are, during her last five years. Instead she finds Dierdre was herself a puzzle, known but not well, by those she roomed or worked with.
And along the way, Anna finds signs that indeed, Dierdre may have been caught up in something that perhaps led to her death.
Dupe was an John Creasey Award winner for Liza Cody who would go on to write more books about private investigator Anna Lee, as well as another mystery series and stand-alone novels.
Her body was found in a crumpled vehicle that crashed into a pole along an icy road near Heathrow Airport. Impossible, her father says, she had driven race cars; she had too much experience for that stretch of road to not be able to handle it; she also would not have without a seat belt. It was murder, the parents believe.
Lee's boss holds out little hope for more details, but Anna believes she can at least find out what her life was like, who her friends are, during her last five years. Instead she finds Dierdre was herself a puzzle, known but not well, by those she roomed or worked with.
And along the way, Anna finds signs that indeed, Dierdre may have been caught up in something that perhaps led to her death.
Dupe was an John Creasey Award winner for Liza Cody who would go on to write more books about private investigator Anna Lee, as well as another mystery series and stand-alone novels.
February 17, 2022
Yes, the story is somewhat slow paced. But that’s what makes it work so well. It’s actually a believable story. No glamour, garden variety thugs, no sex, violence, yes, but not of the gratuitous, kinky variety. Before Kinsey Millhone, before V . I. Warshawski, Anna Lee was hard at work as a female private detective. And a good one at that.
March 8, 2022
Read about this book in the ny times (January 29 2022). A lovely discovery. Written in the 80’s - a bit dated. A very British read with lots of slang (after living in the Uk for over 20 years I am finally able to understand the non-understandable) . Loved the lead character - independent, smart, savvy, witty, takes no crap from anyone - my kind of lady. Fun read
September 7, 2017
An interesting, fast-moving detective story. Well-written, with a compelling main character (a female detective), that has the normal small quirks and oddities that will keep this kind of novel interesting. A fast, fun read.
March 11, 2018
Kind of an awkward read. I though it would improve but, in my opinion did not. Read on plane to Europe or would not have finished!
Read
September 15, 2022Likable.
January 26, 2023
Leitura fácil e tranquila. Não achei muito cativante.
June 30, 2025
3 1/2. Love the lead character.
November 10, 2022
A bit dated but we’ll written.
September 13, 2023
I feel bad saying I don't like this but I don't. Not sure I would go on to the second in the series. Is that fair though? I have read a lot of Ruth Rendells...
I was inspired to try this one out because the author came out just before Sue Grafton and Sara Paretsky's respective firsts.
It's not bad -- it's actually quite well done, and full of little delightful moments of insight. But too turgid.
I was inspired to try this one out because the author came out just before Sue Grafton and Sara Paretsky's respective firsts.
It's not bad -- it's actually quite well done, and full of little delightful moments of insight. But too turgid.
February 28, 2020
I only want to read books by women with female protagonist
This was kind of boring and unsatisfying. I’m not sure if I would read Liza Cody again. Wish it had more everything.
This was kind of boring and unsatisfying. I’m not sure if I would read Liza Cody again. Wish it had more everything.
March 23, 2013
I gave up after the first 50 pages. Alright, and I read the ending, just to see if I missed anything by skipping this novel. I didn't.
I'm not sure what was worse: the tons of descriptions nobody needs, the either over- or underwritten characters (every minor character in this book gets so many characteristics it borders on caricature while the main characters are so flat they could as well be made from cardboard) or the clumsy writing style. Or perhaps it was the fact that the plot never got moving.
A young woman dies in a car accident and perhaps it wasn't an accident at all. Cue for the private investigator to find out what really happenend. The problem with this novel is that I didn't want to know because Cody never managed to get my attention or to create any interest for the characters or the story-line. This is not a good premise for a detective story.
In a word: boring.
I'm not sure what was worse: the tons of descriptions nobody needs, the either over- or underwritten characters (every minor character in this book gets so many characteristics it borders on caricature while the main characters are so flat they could as well be made from cardboard) or the clumsy writing style. Or perhaps it was the fact that the plot never got moving.
A young woman dies in a car accident and perhaps it wasn't an accident at all. Cue for the private investigator to find out what really happenend. The problem with this novel is that I didn't want to know because Cody never managed to get my attention or to create any interest for the characters or the story-line. This is not a good premise for a detective story.
In a word: boring.
September 3, 2016
Quite dated, but ahead of it's time in depicting a plucky young female investigator. Apparently written in 1978 and published a few years later.
pp. 71 "...He had a shiny new digital quartz watch which he looked at ostentatiously."
Written before the widespread use of VHS and Beta VCR's, much of the plot revolves around the business of black market 16mm films and the use of projectors. Despite that dated feel, it is very readable and the heroine a truly likable character. unfortunately, only 6 books in this series were written. Due to disappointing television adaptations, the author decided not to supply new material to be adapted for the small screen. A shame really.
pp. 71 "...He had a shiny new digital quartz watch which he looked at ostentatiously."
Written before the widespread use of VHS and Beta VCR's, much of the plot revolves around the business of black market 16mm films and the use of projectors. Despite that dated feel, it is very readable and the heroine a truly likable character. unfortunately, only 6 books in this series were written. Due to disappointing television adaptations, the author decided not to supply new material to be adapted for the small screen. A shame really.
October 7, 2010
Anna Lee is a young woman, low on the totem pole at the private eye agency at which she works. She gets all the scut work.
She is assigned the investigation of a young woman's death in a one car accident. The woman's parents don't believe it an accident, despite police claims, because their daughter was an excellent driver, driving in rallies, and the road was straight and flat. She knew how to handle herself on icy roads.
Anna's boss just wanted a fast resolution, a paycheck, but as Anna got inot it, things started to turn up that leads to the London film industry and something more.
She is assigned the investigation of a young woman's death in a one car accident. The woman's parents don't believe it an accident, despite police claims, because their daughter was an excellent driver, driving in rallies, and the road was straight and flat. She knew how to handle herself on icy roads.
Anna's boss just wanted a fast resolution, a paycheck, but as Anna got inot it, things started to turn up that leads to the London film industry and something more.
February 7, 2014
PROTAGONIST: Anna Lee, PI
SETTING: London
SERIES: #1 of 6
RATING: 3.25
WHY: Anna Lee is a PI with an investigative firm who has been assigned to investigate the death of Dierdre Jackson in a car accident. Dee was a highly experienced driver, and her parents do not believe that she could have died as described. Anna is an inventive investigator who is able to get people to confide in her. She does feel constrained by the firm she works for. A little bit over complicated, but on the whole, a good first effort.
SETTING: London
SERIES: #1 of 6
RATING: 3.25
WHY: Anna Lee is a PI with an investigative firm who has been assigned to investigate the death of Dierdre Jackson in a car accident. Dee was a highly experienced driver, and her parents do not believe that she could have died as described. Anna is an inventive investigator who is able to get people to confide in her. She does feel constrained by the firm she works for. A little bit over complicated, but on the whole, a good first effort.
August 23, 2007
Cataloging my books in LibraryThing has gotten me started rereading some stuff from the back of my shelves. Cody's Anna Lee is a great heroine, tough, unsentimental, dogged in the face of the sexism and classism of Thatcher's Britain. Even minor characters come alive on the page.
August 28, 2010
First in a series featuring Anna Lee, set in London. Anna is a former police officer, not a private investigator. I have read one stand-alone book by this author years ago, and really enjoyed it (Rift), and will read more in this series.
October 24, 2007
Could not get passed page 38.
February 26, 2008
Great contemporary British mystery with a gutsy no-nonsense heroine who faces sexism and the good ole' boys mentality with intelligence and hard work.
December 29, 2014
A good mystery debut, which won Britain's fist mystery novel award, when it came out.
August 28, 2016
Skipped half. Don't have interest in next one.
Want to read
February 17, 2019Synopsis: Anna's jobs have been dead end for women, Brierly Security too. Then came the Jackson case; she is retained to ask some questions.
March 31, 2017
I enjoyed this, although I will say that it is a bit disheartening to read a book that was published in 1980 in which the discussions of copyright (mis)management and (mis)treatment of women in the workplace feel equally relevant and up-to-date, not that that's Liza Cody's fault. Anna Lee feels like a real person, and I like that while you do get a sense of her personality and life outside of work, there is still a lot about her that remains undiscussed and unexplored. It lays a lot of groundwork for future issues in the series. I did feel like her world seemed a little too circumscribed (her only friends besides the one that she makes in the course of the novel appear to be her two neighbors) so I'd be interested to see whether her sphere expands at all in future installments. This book has also been made into a TV series, so I look forward to watching that soon.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews