Sister Sleuths: Female Detectives in Britain (Trailblazing Women)

Written by Nell Darby
Review by Trish MacEnulty

Crime historian Nell Darby has pulled together a wonderful resource for anyone interested in the history of female detectives. Although the title specifies “female detectives in Britain,” the author also acknowledges the role of American females in advancing the profession, especially Kate Warne, the first female Pinkerton detective, who happened to save the life of Abraham Lincoln.

The history begins in the mid-19th century with an emphasis on the 1880s and 1890s. The Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857 created a need for “those working in private inquiry work” to prove adultery, neglect, and abuse so that petitioners could receive a divorce. Tracking down errant spouses and exposing infidelity provided the bread-and-butter cases for private detectives both male and female. The stories of a variety of women detectives, or “lady detectives” as they were called, at the time are explored and used to substantiate the author’s claims that women were active in private investigations, police work, and as store detectives. Female detectives came from all classes and backgrounds, but many of them, it turns out, were former actresses. The detective like the actress “had to take on different roles and personas.” Another profession that added to the ranks of female detectives was that of spiritualist, the ability to read other people and to fool them being a useful tool.

The book is well-researched and provides numerous examples of women who either dabbled in investigation or made it their life’s work. Darby also include works of fiction that have given us a better (if romanticized) idea of the work of these women. Discovering these earlier titles could be useful for further research. This book should be on the shelf of anyone writing historical crime fiction of the 19th or 20th centuries.