Private Inquiries: The Secret History of Female Sleuths

Female private eyes have long been a staple of popular culture – from plucky Victorian ladies to ‘busy body spinsters’ and fearless modern investigators. But what about the real women detectives? What crimes did they solve? Where are their stories?

In Private Inquiries, 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. Women such as Victorian private inquiry agent Antonia Moser, the first woman to open her own agency in Covent Garden, Annette Kerner, who ran the Mayfair Detective Agency on Baker Street in the 1940s, and Liverpool sleuth Zena Scott-Archer, the first woman president of the World Association of Detectives.

Caitlin also follows in the footsteps of her subjects, undertaking a professional qualification to become a Private Investigator, and meeting modern PIs to disentangle fact from fiction.

Female investigators are on the rise in the UK – and despite the industry’s macho reputation, nearly a third of new trainees are women

Caitlin Davies is a novelist, non-fiction writer and award-winning journalist. Her recent books focus on women in the justice system, as criminals, prisoners and detectives. Bad Girls: The Rebels and Renegades of Holloway Pr*son was nominated for the Orwell Prize for Political Writing (2019).

Caitlin is Writer in Residence at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, as a Royal Literary Fund Fellow. She lives in Kent and is a trained Professional Investigator. https://www.caitlindavies.co.uk/

Booking essential as places are limited.

Timings: doors open at 18:15 and entry before then will be refused. The talk begins at 18:30 and lasts approximately 75 minutes, including a Q&A with the audience. This will be followed by a book signing.

Conditions of entry: this event is recommended for anyone over the age of 16 years.

Tickets: there are two ways to attend this event, in person at Bow Street Museum, or online via a live stream (using Zoom).

Prices to attend at the Museum: £15 standard/ £10 student