The Mysterious Case of the Victorian Female Detective

by Sara Lodge

A revelatory history of the women who brought Victorian criminals to account—and how they became a cultural sensation
 
From Wilkie Collins to the adventures of Sherlock Holmes, the traditional image of the Victorian detective is male. Few people realise that women detectives successfully investigated Victorian Britain, working both with the police and for private agencies, which they sometimes managed themselves.
 
Sara Lodge recovers these forgotten women’s lives. She also reveals the sensational role played by the fantasy female detective in Victorian melodrama and popular fiction, enthralling a public who relished the spectacle of a cross-dressing, fist-swinging heroine who got the better of love rats, burglars, and murderers alike.
 
How did the morally ambiguous work of real women detectives, sometimes paid to betray their fellow women, compare with the exploits of their fictional counterparts, who always save the day? Lodge’s book takes us into the murky underworld of Victorian society on both sides of the Atlantic, revealing the female detective as both an unacknowledged labourer and a feminist icon.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Mystery, Crime, Historical, Drama, Adventure

384 pages, Hardcover

First published November 5, 2024

Reviews

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was absolutely fascinating!

I have studied the Victorian Period extensively during my academic career, so this book instantly appealed to me based on that. I also wrote my thesis on Victorian female detective fiction, so this book really would have come in handy for me while I was working on it!

This book discusses fictional female detectives (Loveday Brooke, Dorcas Dene, etc) but also analyzes actual female detectives working in Great Britain at the time. It was interesting to see the comparison between how they were depicted in literature and on stage versus real life. This was especially evident in comparing how differently male versus female detectives approached the job. For example, women did a lot of undercover work because they appeared to be innocuous and nonthreatening. They also handled a lot of cases involving marital spats or looking for proof of infidelity.

Overall this was a very interesting look at the time period. I haven’t read a nonfiction about the Victorian period in ages, so it was a lot of fun to experience it again.

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fascinating! Sara Lodge has certainly done her detective research. I had no idea that women had played such a role, not just as private detectives and agents, but also as part of the police, in Victorian times. This book also shines a light on the history of women as seen through the law. It read like a novel in places, truly page-turning. I think anyone with an interest in crime, true crime, women's history, Victorian times, and detectives in general will love this book.

[Faïza · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Much of the work of the real female detective in the Victorian period was of this kind: intimate, patient, uncomfortable and fraught with moral ambiguity. The breathless pace of narrative fiction and the glamour of theatre were rare."

Behind its intriguing title, The Mysterious Case of the Victorian Female Detective is a captivating and very well-researched analysis of women sleuths in 19th-century Britain and America. Sara Lodge made it not only accessible but also entertaining—she knows how to play on words!—and the various illustrations she used enhance her investigation. By the time I finished the book, my perception of female detectives had completely changed.

Here are three things I liked most about this study. First, how it gives a voice to working-class female "searchers" and other women who helped the police for little to no money. I knew nothing about their essential work before but they should be given so much credit, especially when we consider the origins of female detection in a broader sense. Secondly, the way fictional and real lady detectives influenced each other as well as the public’s idea of them, through arts (stage plays, novels) and newspapers’ reports. I truly enjoyed this angle the author took, and it made me dream of travelling back in time to watch a live performance of The Lucky Shilling for myself! Last but not least, the emphasis on the real work those women often had to do. Despite shining a light on domestic violence and other cruelties within marriage (no matter the social class), it contributed to a patriarchal, capitalist, and anti-poor system. I realised they were usually far from the heroes we like to picture in detectives, though I can understand their desperation.

Thanks to NetGalley and Yale University Press for allowing me to read an advance copy of this wonderful work; it was a great first experience on the platform!

[Pippa Elliott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let’s play a word association game. What’s the first name you think of for “name a Victorian detective”? Hands up if Sherlock Holmes popped into your mind? He might be high in the public consciousness as a famous fictional detective, but in real life, an innocuous, overlooked woman was a far more likely type.
The author starts by giving us a fascinating insight into female ‘searchers’. These were the wives of policeman who held the unpaid role of searching people in custordy. They looked or ‘searched’ for evidence concealed on the person, but not just stolen goods, for they also recorded evidence of bruising and other signs of domestic abuse when a wife accused her husband of maltreatment.
This book is a fascinating read that reveals an aspect of the 19th century world little recognised today: that of the female detective. It was the stereotypical characteristics of women that suited them to the task of being a private investigator. Indeed, many private investigation agencies advertised for females, often to go undercover in lodging houses or as servants, to covertly observe comings and goings, and to seek out gossip.
The author reflects on different aspects of the social history of female detectives in the 19th century. For example, there was a fascination with female detectives in plays and novels. These were often bold characters who intruded on a male world, and thought nothing of cross-dressing to fit in. They delighted and perhaps titillated their audience, and made celebrities out of some of the actresses who portrayed them.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone with a passing interest in not only 19th century detectives and detecting, but how women were portrayed in plays, novels, and newspapers of the day. I love the idea that a band of resourceful women were able to make a living in a profession that from the 21st century we more strongly associate with Victorian men. But there again, it’s worth taking off those rose-tinted glasses to reflect that the female ‘searchers’ worked unpaid and held their role purely because they were married to a policeman!

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley for the free kindle book in exchange for my review! I would have never found this book without their app!

As someone who has always loved historical cozy mysteries, particularly those set in the Victorian and Regency period, I loved reading a book about the real female detectives during that time period. As with every non-fiction book, I am always concerned about author bias, but there wasn't any of that here (unless you count the 'woman should be able to work and get a divorce from violent partners' as bias). The entire book was just filled with information about descriptions of real cases and summaries of fictional novels and plays about written about female detectives written in the 1800s.

Although most of the fictional detectives we see are upper class women, in real life, most of them were working women. Some were actresses, and many were the wives of policemen. They would go investigate were the police couldn't, but they usually were not involved in murders. They performed searches on other women, helped gather evidence for divorces, and even helped close baby farms.

Of course, everything they did wasn't all that great. The pretty ones would ride trains and give the conductors a sob story about why they couldn't pay for the ride and get the men fired if they were nice enough to help out.

I loved learning that there used to be entire newspapers devoted to just sharing all the salacious details of people's divorces. That is what would save the small town newspaper. Gossip sheets about your neighbor's divorce. Tell it everyone in town wouldn't have a subscription. Sure, it would never work, what with lawsuits, but still.

I absolutely loved this book! Definitely would recommend it, not only to non-fiction lovers, but everyone who loves historical cozy mysteries. It will definitely show you a new side of all of your favorite novels (even though it doesn't reference any of them), as you learn about the real female detectives.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Thank you to Yale University Press for providing an eARC of the book.)

This was an informative and fascinating read. I enjoyed looking at the images of old newspaper articles, advertisements, portraits, and drawings that accompanied old printed stories. It was well-researched and provided insight into women's detective work in the Victorian Era, whether as independent investigators, detectives for agencies, or various roles for the police.

The book also contrasted the realities of female detectives with how they were portrayed in female detective stories during that era. Real female detectives were working-class women who sometimes faced harsh, even dangerous, environments when they worked undercover.

While the book provided great information, it repeated itself several times. Some sentences also felt disconnected, jumping from one topic to another and then going back.

[Dab · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really should’ve known better. This book has been published by an academic publisher, but the topic and the title lured me, and here we are.

If you’re a historical fiction writer or an academic interested in the subject, you will probably love this book. There are plenty of facts about both real and fictional female detectives from the era, and it’s a great source of information. I learned a lot, and I’m proud of myself. I will be a terrible show-off now because I earned that right.

It’s actually well written too, and I was enjoying it initially. It’s just that the amount of facts was overwhelming, and it all felt repetitive at some point, so three stars.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

——-


Countess of Harleigh, Audrey Sinclair and Gemma Tate, I’m reading this because of you 🫶

Thanks NetGalley and Yale University Press for the arc.

[Emma Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t think this book was meant to be read outside of academia, it’s a little dry and very exhaustive so very repetitive with long lists to make a single point.

It’s a very well-researched book about Victorian female detectives though, an era that invented the profession as a whole and which captured the imagination of mystery writers. Wives of policemen (mostly, almost all of these women had pre-existing ties to the police force) assisted them in various ways (mostly recovering stolen property, watching illegal activities until the police had enough evidence to make an arrest, etc). This book also touches on female criminals and their living conditions in jail (appalling stuff).

It’s an interesting read but I think it could have been a lot shorter. There’s a very extensive bibliography and copious notes if you’d like to read more on the subject.

My endless thanks to NetGalley and Yale University Press for this ARC!

[Alisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

A somewhat interesting look at the real history behind women employed in the 19th century as "detectives," which can mean several things within the fields of investigation and police work. With its length, it started to feel somewhat repetitive in making its main points. It's fairly academic in tone and provides a broad overview of the subject, with brief forays into the specific careers of real and fictional detectives. I wanted to like it more than I did, but it felt a bit dry to me.

Thanks to Netgalley and Yale University Press for this digital review copy.

[charlotte, · Rating 3 out of 5]

(2.5)

[Heather Moll · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book addresses both real life and fictional female detectives in the late 19th century. It reads a little like a doctoral thesis and intends to inform more than entertain. Women were involved in detecting in fiction and real life sooner than I realized. There was an interesting correlation matrimonial causes act of 1857 and the rise of private detectives that employed both men and women for “secret watching” to aid in the surprising number of women petitioners. They were also female “detective searchers” in police departments and by the 1890s women were running their own agencies.
If you have an interest in Victorian literature and culture, this is the book for you. If you’re just a lover of detective stories set in this era with female leads and aren’t an academic, some sections might drag.

3.5 I received an arc from NetGalley

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so interesting!! It combines history, literature, and entertainment together to teach the reader about Victorian female detectives. I learned so much and left with a new perspective on studying history and how you can gather information from many different sources. The author doesn’t just examine literal female detectives, but also female detectives in performance and literature. I wish I could witness a Victorian female detective play in person they seem so fun 😩

[Shelleyrae at Book'd Out · Rating 3 out of 5]

In The Mysterious Case of the Victorian Female Detective, Dr Sara Lodge draws on contemporaneous newspaper reports, court records, and census data to reveal the ways in which women operated as ‘detectives’ in Victorian society from as early as the 1840’s.

It’s an academic study of the subject, enlivened somewhat by vignettes of the women who took on roles with the constabulary, private inquiry agencies and newspapers. Lodge looks at who these women were, the type of work they did to earn the moniker of ‘detective’, and how they were viewed by society.

The author also traces the evolution of female detectives featured in books and theatre and their connection to their real life counterparts. She explores the idealised image of ‘lady detectives’ compared to the reality of the work, and how it both reflected and shaped their cultural impact .

I think The Mysterious Case of the Victorian Female Detective is probably too dry to be enjoyed by a casual reader, but should appeal to those with a specific interest in women’s history, Victorian society, or the portrayal of women in the arts.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

DNF @ 30%

As others have mentioned, this is a fairly academic read. Whilst it's full of well researched and well written facts, it could become somewhat repetitive and slightly overwhelming. I enjoyed how the author read between the lines of books and their stories and how they reflected society at the time. The author comes across as a strong and talented writer, it's just a shame it was a bit too academic, and sometimes the content felt a little over the place.

I feel this book is for people who are obsessed with the victorian period and would like to read about the many forgotten women in history who worked for the police. If it's just a passing interest, as it was for me, it might not hold your attention. I felt like delving into theatrical productions where female detectives were part of the story was somewhat unnecessary, albeit thorough. I'm more interested in real women who did real detective work.

Thank you to Netgalley for my advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

[Izzy E · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some absolutely fascinating stuff here - I'm a little sad that it wasn't out when I wrote my Master's thesis on villainous fictional ladies of the late 19th century, as it would probably have reshaped everything I wrote... At any rate I've got a lot of further reading to do now!

[Maggi LeDuc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super interesting. Took me on loads of side quests to google characters and women only briefly mentioned, which actually meant it took me longer to finish the book than if I'd just read it without getting so interested in the stories it told!

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating deep dive into the history of the Victorian female detective - in real-life and in fiction. Sara Lodge has researched extensively and it shows - while very accessible, this is thoroughly researched and verging on the academic. I really enjoyed learning about how women entered the detective spaces and how they were portrayed.

Thank you to Yale University Press and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is unquestionably interesting. Lodge digs into the history of women detectives between roughly 1840 and 1911, and while there are a few omissions (the works of Mrs. E.D.E.N. Southworth are notably absent), she paints a very clear, complete picture. The blending of fiction and history doesn't always work as well as it could, but on the whole I'd recommend this for mystery and 19th century fiction/history buffs.

[Caitlin]

DNF at 39%

The Mysterious Case of the Victorian Female Detective dives into the relatively unknown history of the women who worked as detectives during the Victorian age. Most folks are familiar with figures like Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock and Edgar Allan Poe's Dupin but Lodge points out the long history of the working class women and the literary heroines who did the same work, mostly thanklessly. As someone who isn't super familiar with the Victorian age, it's an interesting historical investigation.

Unfortunately, as I should have expected given the academic publisher, the writing style for this is quite dense and frequently repetitive. It's really better suited to those with an academic or deep personal interest in the subject. As someone who's mildly interested in the subject, I just didn't really have the patience for the repetition and dense writing style. Still, it has good information in there so if it is a subject you're deeply interested in, it's worth picking up.

Thanks to Yale University Press and NetGalley for early access to the book, opinions are my own.

[Orla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a genuinely interesting read, a little academic in places, but worth it to learn about these unsung heroines of early detective work.
Often wives, sisters, daughters, or girlfriends of policemen, able to operate above suspicion (but also getting up close with danger), they were crucial for surveillance and undercover work.
Learning about the many types of crime that were specific to that era was fascinating, as is thinking about what they have now evolved into.
Anyone who loves reading modern detective novels with women heroines will enjoy this one!

[Elaine · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Francesca Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Such a missed opportunity

[Sammi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started out strong but felt repetitive throughout which lost my interest along with way. I only finished it to say I finished it.

[Teri-K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who knew that so many women were functioning as detectives during the Victorian era? I'd assumed that it would be rare, but they worked for police departments as well as independently throughout that time. (Including one named Charlotte Pitt, who apparently solved a big diamond theft! Readers of historical mysteries will recognize that name.)

There seem to be three categories of nonfiction history books these days. The first has a few facts and lots of the author's opinion, with few if any references; not my favorite type, though they can make a decent overview of a topic. Second are well-researched books with copious endnotes supporting the author's assertions. I tend to love these the most. Third are the books with lots of facts behind them - all of which is on the page. Detail after detail can sometimes overwhelm, causing one to lose sight of the point being made if the author isn't careful. It can also bore the casual reader.

This book is in the third category. Especially in the first chapter I sometimes found myself skimming to get past so many details. Personally I would have appreciated an opening chapter that set the stage more than threw so many minor facts at me. But I have always been fascinated by the lives of middle and lower class women in history, so I didn't mind too much. However, the reader should be warned this book does not read like a popular overview of the topic, but is stuffed with details of names, places and events. That's not bad, just a little overwhelming at times.

There are all sorts of women here - some realized a crime was taking place and wanted to stop it, others found a cause to crusade for and began investigating. Many were married to police officers and helped their husbands by going places and talking to people the men couldn't. There were even women employed directly by the police. There's so much fascinating information here, I can only wish the book felt less packed and more arranged for the casual reader.

NB -Thank you to NetGalley and Yale University Press for allowing me a copy of this book for review.

[Darina · Rating 5 out of 5]

An intriguing peek at the life of Victorian society and Victorian women. How life has led the females to become detectives, what was their presence in the streets, on the stage and in the public life.

Exploring the UK and the USA, the author gives a detailed picture of the variety of roles women play, only one of them being a female detective.

Great read for all history enthusiasts and explorers of past times.

[kammie!!? · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley and Yale University Press for this arc. This did not influence my review.

This is a nonfiction book about the history of female detectives in the Victorian period. While some might find the style of this book a bit boring due to how research heavy it is, I personally really enjoyed it. This is definitely for someone who is actually interested in this topic.

Personally, I had very little knowledge on real Victorian detectives and only knew about it from my obsession with mystery novels as a child. In reality, it seems that being a detective in that era was not as glamorous or exciting as I thought.

First we learn about those in real life. These female detectives were not as sensational as the ones in the novels, and sometimes were cogs in the system which oppressed their sex. These were real working class women who caught petty crimes; mainly done by other low income women. In fact, they did it without proper payment or even credit. However, their contributions to the police force did indeed revolutionise the way women were portrayed in the arts.

We move on to the literary heroes of Victorian novels. These women are there for a purpose; female detectives served as a vehicle for “revenge” against e.g. domestic violence. They were characters still very much based on reality however contained elements that allowed them to be main character material. Female detectives were thus the way for the Victorian masses to express their frustrations with society. In many cases, this was a way to point out the lack of rights of married women and the abuse and mistreatment they suffered at the hands of the men in their lives. The book goes into great details about “domestic tyranny”. One could consider these as real feminist texts, as they did oppose the views of women being quiet and malleable. Many novels feature lower class women as detectives who showed themes of class and gender disparity.

Then goes into the theatrical. Melodramas and plays! These were much more interesting to me as this concept of a female detective turns dramatic. In thrillers and mysteries that featured these women, they were crass and gunslingers. They were crossdressers, actresses and helpers in an unjust society. In fact, this would be both inaccurate and accurate to real life female detectives.

While originally I thought this book would focus on British detectives, it also focused on American and Irish. In fact, some of the later content would be very American heavy and the impact of some of the (somewhat fabricated) female detectives had on detective fictions and feminist movements could be seen even across the pond.

I do not believe you need to be someone with previous knowledge on history or English literature. The book was not the easiest to follow but definitely not the hardest. The most knowledge one would need would be perhaps high school English literature due to the discussions on literary devices.

Overall an enlightening experience for me as I had not thought about the societal aspects of detective fiction or just women in general in detective fiction. One thing I would like to note though is the spoilers of multiple books and plays that one should be aware of. While it was an important part in understanding the bigger picture around the concept of a female detective, it was wholly unexpected. However I do not think it is a big deal.

[Shireen · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars

I believe the Victorian Age holds a certain fascination for most of us - many of the current social institutions we are used to today had their start during Queen Victoria's lengthy reign. This includes the formation of formal police departments (as well as various other forms of social organisations designed to help uplift and/or control the population at large but that is not the focus here). In this book the primary focus is the concept of the "Female Detective" a term that I think, quite frankly, most people would not associate with this time period, and for that they would be incorrect.

Author Sara Lodge brings considerable evidence to the table to show that the idea of women working for the police - or even getting justice on their own - was not unheard of and that women had actually been helping the police behind the scenes for quite some time to gather evidence, help secure convictions, give testimony at trials, etc. The female detective genre could even be considered quite a popular form of entertainment in the arenas of theatre, newspapers and other publications. There is so much research to go through here, so many examples of the public clamouring for stories of crime and justice (and in many cases the more lurid the better). Our rather morbid fascination with true crime is not new and you can trace some of its roots back to this age with stories of female empowerment through detection and policework. The Victorian Age was a time when most women had been struggling with terrible domestic situations having little to no power or autonomy; the Divorce Act of 1857 shone an especially harsh light onto what was really happening behind closed doors. I think a lot of these stories were a form of escapism for the general population, pulled from various headlines of the day to create powerful female fantasy figures that could uncover crimes men could not and empower themselves in ways that were not readily available to the average woman.

It's a fairly heavy read due to all the research and stories included therein, but overall it is a well written, densely packed account of the era's fascination with the curious notion of The Female Detective.

Thanks to NetGalley, author Sara Lodge, and Yale University Press for giving me free access to a digital ARC of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own and are provided here voluntarily.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sara Lodge, The Mysterious Case of the Victorian Female Detective, Yale University Press, November 2024.

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.

The combination of a history of the female detective as a working part of the police force during the Victorian era, and her depiction in fictional accounts of the time makes for a fascinating read. Questions that immediately come to mind, and are answered include – how active were the real women detectives? What were their roles? Did they capture criminals or leave that to the male detectives? Were they courageous and killed on duty? What was the attitude in the police force and wider society towards these women active on behalf of law enforcement? And then, moving on to consider how these women detectives and the cases they worked on in the real world were depicted in fiction, there are more questions. Did fiction portray women’s contributions in an exaggerated form or were they always seen as secondary to those of men? Were any fictional characters based on real women and their activities? What did fiction say about women detectives and how did this impact the audience for these novels?

Sara Lodge answers these questions in this stimulating read which blends so much information about the police force and women’s role in it, the depiction of women detectives in fiction and the social conditions which were so vividly described in print – fictional and factual. At the same time as being an academic work, with copious citations, an amazing bibliography and index, Lodge has produced a great read.

What a wonderful contribution this work would have been to my studies about women detectives in literature many years ago. I can only envy those for whom this is a text for such studies. In Lodge’s book such readers are given a wealth of information, great insights, and with fact and fiction woven together so invitingly it is also a tremendous read. For those, like me, who read the book only for pleasure and interest, the challenges it provides in so graphically describing the conditions under which the women detectives worked, their cases and the social conditions associated with their work enhance the reading. The Mysterious Case of the Victorian Female Detective remains an engaging read, but the solid grounding in the reality around the fiction, painful and enlightening though it is, completes the narrative.

[Simon Dobson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An popular distillation of a deep study of the literature and history of female detectives in fact and fiction. (Full disclosure: Lodge is a colleague of mine at St Andrews, although we've never met.)

The genesis of the book comes from Lodge reading two fictional accounts of lady detectives written in 1862: what suddenly brought this about? She discovers a rich seam of "dime" or "penny dreadful" novels that feature lady sleuths as protagonists, as well as – less well-known umtil now – an enormous number of plays that were performed to large audiences. A further search of newspaper archives reveals that private investigation agencies (which proliferated after the wider legalisation of divorce in the mid 19th century) often boasted of employing female detectives – the profession that overlaps considerably with that of actress, with both requiring creativity and confidence. (There is also considerable overlap with sex work.)

The most revealing observations in this book are the way it interprets the interactions of detectives with class, gender, and other social identities. While fictional lady detectives were middle class and solved complex middle-class crimes, in reality lady detectives were more typically working class and engaged in finding material to support a divorce or supporting the prosection of working-class crimes like fortune-telling. Many were wives of police officers, and were often mothers – or were presented as such in the press in order to make them more sympathetic. Some became quite well-known either through their own accomplishments or by being reported by (typically) male writers.

Many, both fictional and real, lived lives that sat outside the usually strict gender expectations, making them both useful examples for early suffragettes and aspirational figures for those who felt trapped in their positions. Some were clearly gay. But in good Victorian tradition the fictional female detectives frequently ended the book married (often to an intellectually outclassed husband), with the normal social order restored.

All in all this is an accessible presentation of work that's full of academic rigour and a deep knowledge of the literature, press, and vernacular of the time. It certainly a book that makes me want to read some of the authors mentioned, few of whom (with the exception of Wilkie Collins) have any modern visibility at all.

[Jayce Torben · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gave me chills. It’s exciting, moving, harrowing, entertaining, and enlightening. Sara Lodge carried out a fascinating, deep-dive investigation to find the female detectives who’d gone missing.

It’s a revealing book that celebrates the courage, intelligence, physicality, wit, social skills, resourcefulness–and in certain cases, acting abilities–of these early detectives.

I appreciated her empathy for victims, and that she exposes the context of women's legal and financial status in regard to being prey to men.

Lodge shows that in contrast with their privileged fictional counterparts, these early detectives were largely working class. Tasks such as searching female prisoners and going undercover to expose petty criminals fell to women, with or without pay.

Some of the early roles of women in police stations evolved into paid, yet still largely unacknowledged jobs. Fortunately, Lodge is tenacious and diligent. She unearthed a wealth of contemporary newspaper accounts that give telling glimpses of early female detectives, ranging from women catching criminals on their own and women suffering injuries while performing their duties, to women presenting results of their undercover surveillance in court. 

With the rise of divorce and private agencies, women became essential for gathering information in places men could not easily go.

There's a connection between the employment of female detectives in London and the ‘Jack the Ripper’ murders.

This delightfully readable exploration of women as detectives is centered in London, with some material from other places. It includes often uneasy yet fascinated responses to female detectives expressed in newspapers, periodicals, literature, and theater.

The illustrations and photos enhance the colorful narrative. Influential actresses in trouser roles as 'lady detectives' embodied the true-to-life gender-presentation fluidity used by women on both sides of the law. Some actresses became detectives.

I highly recommend Sara Lodge's groundbreaking book. It's an excellent choice for aficionados of history, London, gender studies, women's studies, literature, social sciences, and for general readers alike.

Thank you, Yale University Press, for the digital review copy via NetGalley for consideration. These are solely my own opinions.