Revelations of a Lady Detective

by William Stephens Hayward

In nineteenth-century London, middle-class women did not engage in what were seen as “unladylike activities.” There were many jobs that a woman simply could not be expected to do because they were viewed as unsuitable for finer female sensibilities. The idea of a woman being involved in the murkiness of criminal detection must have seemed a radical and adventurous one in Victorian times: women simply did not do that sort of thing. And yet, in 1864, to the delight of men and women alike, two male authors published novels starring a female detective.           William Stephens Hayward published Revelations of a Lady Detective just six months after Andrew Forrester’s The Female Detective (republished by the British Library in 2012), making Hayward’s the second novel ever published to feature a female detective. Hayward’s heroine, Mrs. Paschal, is a very different character from her predecessor, Forrester’s G. For a start, Mrs. Paschal is shown smoking on the front cover—an activity considered very modern and daring for women, even in the late nineteenth century. She is a widow, left close to financial ruin by the death of her husband, and supports herself through her detective work. This much racier female detective is however equally inventive, intuitive, and insightful, and with a Colt revolver in hand she works her way through a variety of cases involving theft, murder, and kidnapping.           This very rare novel will be welcomed by all fans of Victorian crime fiction.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Classics, Victorian, 19th Century, Crime

316 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 1864

Reviews

[Nancy Oakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have no problem at all recommending this book, which was just plain fun.

Our heroine in this book, Miss Paschal, finds herself not only in the thick of a number of strange cases, but also faces certain death at one point. Here we are treated (yes, treated) to ten of Miss Paschal's undercover experiences, ranging from a countess who somehow has no income but is fabulously wealthy to a secret society that meets at an old mill and practices the old tradition of vendetta to the story of a wealthy woman who is afraid that a conniving woman is slowly sinking her hooks into her son's fortune. While Paschal is the first to admit that her cases are solved mainly by "accident" or by "chance," the fun is in watching her insinuate herself into various environments where she has ample opportunity to figure out what's going on before taking steps to bring the criminals to some sort of justice.

I've written more about this one and its same-year (1864) counterpart The Female Detective by Andrew Forrester at my reading journal here:

http://www.crimesegments.com/2017/11/...,

but I found to be Hayward's book better written, easier to read, and bottom line, more entertaining. Favorite story here: "The Nun, The Will, and the Abbess," but then again, I love gothic-ish stories set in convents. The book won't be everyone's cuppa but it is definitely mine.

[Gillian Kevern · Rating 3 out of 5]

The mysteries consist of absolutely no twists or surprises whatsoever, and very little detection. In fact, Mrs. Paschal's technique relies on the fact that most of the criminals she pursues are totally blind-sided by the fact that she's a woman.

Basically:

Colonel Warner: Here's a case. It's either A or B.
Mrs. Paschal: I think it's A. I will prove that it's A by renting a room/pretending to be a maid/following him.
A: Yeah, so basically I did it.
Mrs. Paschal: Arrest him!
A: A female detective!?

[Mél ☽ · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is important to note this book's cultural and literary significance in challenging the social context and allowing women to be part of the male-dominated world of crime.

This was a fun and easy read.


I would recommend the book to anyone who is interested in crime works or the way the genre has developed.

[Jane Connor · Rating 2 out of 5]

In nineteenth-century London, middle-class women did not engage in what were seen as “unladylike activities.” There were many jobs that a woman simply could not be expected to do because they were viewed as unsuitable for finer female sensibilities. The idea of a woman being involved in the murkiness of criminal detection must have seemed a radical and adventurous one in Victorian times: women simply did not do that sort of thing. And yet, in 1864, to the delight of men and women alike, two male authors published novels starring a female detective. William Stephens Hayward published Revelations of a Lady Detective just six months after Andrew Forrester’s The Female Detective (republished by the British Library in 2012), making Hayward’s the second novel ever published to feature a female detective. Hayward’s heroine, Mrs. Paschal, is a very different character from her predecessor, Forrester’s G. For a start, Mrs. Paschal is shown smoking on the front cover—an activity considered very modern and daring for women, even in the late nineteenth century. She is a widow, left close to financial ruin by the death of her husband, and supports herself through her detective work. This much racier female detective is however equally inventive, intuitive, and insightful, and with a Colt revolver in hand she works her way through a variety of cases involving theft, murder, and kidnapping. This very rare novel will be welcomed by all fans of Victorian crime fiction.
(less)

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book immediately after reading The Female Detective, which is the first book featuring a female detective and was published just a few months before this one. But this book is definitely the better of the two. Everything about it is better from the characterization (especially of the suspects) to the plotting. Some differences are that this book is composed of short stories while the female detective includes 2 novellas and about 5 short stories. Revelations of a Lady Detective also has much more refined word choice, which honestly made it more appropriately descriptive. And every story had some charm to it, mostly based around the characters. You can probably see the denoument a mile away in these stories, but the descriptions of the characters and their motivation is what keeps these stories interesting. This collection also portrays the protagonist as a freelance detective, hired by the police whenever necessary, which is more realistic since women didn't officially join the British police force for another 50 or so years after the publication of this book. If you enjoy Victorian detective fiction, this is a must read for the contextual significance and for the fun of it.

[Robert Hepple · Rating 4 out of 5]

First published in 1864, 'Revelations of a Lady Detective' is a collection of 10 short stories featuring Mrs Paschal, a private detective regularly employed by the London police. I quite enjoyed these simple-minded tales, although their naivety gave them unintended appeal. It has always bothered me that there are so many tales that rely on the police force being so dim/incompetent that they have to seek help from amateur detectives on a regular basis to get cases solved, and these are a prime group of examples. Tales about 'Lady Detectives' have come a long way since 1864...

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a lot of detecting as we would think of it today. In several of the stories the 'detection' revolves around the woman being able to get a place of work as a servant with the suspected parties and therefore being able to find out things that otherwise wouldn't be discovered. A bit harder to accomplish among the type of people that don't have servants - then or now! Nonetheless enjoyable.

[Archie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I understand the historical importance of these stories but from a modern perspective, it is not good. These are written pre-Sherlock Holmes and the way modern detective stories are written as based on Doyle's format. There is no deduction or clues in these stories. Its just Mrs Paschal decides who the criminal is and follows them until they either confess or commit another crime in front of her.

[Evelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although the resolution of the story is fairly clear from the outset for any avid mystery reader, these stories are nevertheless a delightful example of the 19th century origin of the mystery story. The heroine, Mrs. Paschal, is a worthy ancestor of Mary Russell who appears in Laurie King's reboot of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries.

[Azmylle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was so intrigued with the synopsis at the back pertaining the lady detective from the 1800.
Nevertheless I was thrown away with disappointment when I finally figured out that it is a collection of short stories, for which I have no joy or interests towards those.
I feel completely neutral about this. Neither hate nor loved it.

[Wendy Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved these short stories from another age.

[Mentatreader · Rating 3 out of 5]

An early set of short stories centering around the same Lady Detective who acts both for the police and handles private cases which the police refer to her being beyond their remit.

Again, as with the novel The Female Detective, not much detecting being done. The stories are better considered as thrillers. Some if the writing has the tone of penny thrillers but then the vocabulary runs from thieves' slang to classify reference. The characters are sketchily drawn. Some of the actions and behavior seems implausible for a woman at that time.

I would not recommend except as an early mystery example which includes a female detective.

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: Mrs. Paschal must have been a surprise to Victorians. She's racy, and intuitive through a series of thefts, murders, and kidnappings.