Summer, Adelaide, 1917 The impeccably dressed Miss Kate Cocks might look more like a schoolmistress than a policewoman, but don't let that fool you. After only 13 months running the new women's police branch, she's a household name, and mothers in every suburb are given to cry 'Call Miss Cocks!' at the first sign of trouble.
No stranger to the dark side of Adelaide, Miss Cocks wrangles wayward husbands into repentance, sees through deceptive clairvoyants and rescues young women (whether they like it or not) with her five-foot cane and junior constable and jiu-jitsu expert Ethel Bromley at her side.
When shop assistant Dora Black is found dead on a city beach, Miss Cocks and Ethel are ordered to stay out of the investigation. It's not their job to play detective; it's their job to prevent immoral behaviour. But when Dora's workmate Ruby Campbell goes missing soon after, the women know something sinister is afoot, and determine to take matters into their own hands. After all, who knows Adelaide better than the indomitable Miss Cocks?
*In 1915, Fanny Kate Boadicea Cocks became the first policewoman in the British Empire employed on the same salary as men. This novel is a rich exploration of that little-known chapter of Australian history.*
