Three feet apart!

The Death of Dora Black: A Petticoat Police Mystery

Lainie Anderson

321 pages, Hachette Australia, published August 28, 2024

Glenelg, South Australia, January 1917, and the body of young woman Dora Blacks is recovered from underneath the jetty. The Police are convinced that this is a misadventure, a young woman despairing over a lost love. Miss Katie Cocks and her offsider Ethel Bromley believe that officer in charge is looking for an easy solution and overlooking that this could be murder.

Lainie Anderson has based her Petticoat Mystery series on the real life Miss Cocks who became the first policewoman in the British Empire to paid the same wage as a man, it did not mean equal treatment though. By blending history and fiction together, Anderson has crafted an entertaining mystery.

The central character is Miss Katie Cocks, who when entering the force was not a young woman and the role was more of a social worker, assisting women in trouble or morality enforcer, assisting women to not get into trouble. Anderson has tried to pay homage to the historical Miss Cocks but give depth and voice. It is a hard act to balance and Anderson for the majority of the novel succeeds. As Anderson has taken a quite formidable historical character and humanised her.

Ethel is the counterpoint to Miss Cocks. Whereas Miss Cocks understands and works within societal constraints, Ethel is all about smashing them apart. It is through Ethel’s questioning that you understand what these women had to face and why they continually must demonstrate their worth to the police force and the community.

There is one other character in this novel and that is the city of Adelaide and its surrounds, Anderson has painted a vivid image. You have a real strong sense of place and time.

For the first book in a series, Anderson has created a great launch pad.

For more on Lainie Anderson head over to the website