Private Inquiries: The Secret History of Female Sleuths

Caitlin Davies uncovers the lives and careers of female investigators from the 1850s to the present day.

About the event

The female private detective has been a staple of popular culture for over 150 years, from Victorian lady sleuths to ‘busy-body spinsters’ and gun-toting modern PIs. But what about the real-life women behind these fictional tales?

Female investigators are on the rise in the UK, and despite the industry’s sleazy reputation, nearly a third of new trainees are women. After a century of undercover work, it’s time to reveal the secrets of their trailblazing forebears.

Caitlin Davies traces the history of the UK’s female investigators, uncovering the truth about their lives and careers from the 1850s to the present day.

About the speaker

Caitlin Davies is a novelist, non-fiction writer, award-winning journalist and teacher. She is the author of six novels and seven non-fiction books, including ‘Bad Girls: The Rebels and Renegades of Holloway Prison’, nominated for the Orwell Prize for Political Writing (2019), and ‘Queens of the Underworld’, a history of professional female crooks. She lives in Kent and is a trained PI.