The Mysterious Case of the Victorian Female Detective

A revelatory history of the women who brought Victorian criminals to account-and how they became a cultural sensation
Shortlisted for The Wolfson History Prize 2025
 
From Wilkie Collins to the adventures of Sherlock Holmes, the traditional image of the Victorian detective is male. Few people realise that women detectives successfully investigated Victorian Britain, working both with the police and for private agencies, which they sometimes managed themselves.
 
Sara Lodge recovers these forgotten women's lives. She also reveals the sensational role played by the fantasy female detective in Victorian melodrama and popular fiction, enthralling a public who relished the spectacle of a cross-dressing, fist-swinging heroine who got the better of love rats, burglars, and murderers alike.
 
How did the morally ambiguous work of real women detectives, sometimes paid to betray their fellow women, compare with the exploits of their fictional counterparts, who always save the day? Lodge's book takes us into the murky underworld of Victorian society on both sides of the Atlantic, revealing the female detective as both an unacknowledged labourer and a feminist icon.

Info autore

Sara Lodge is senior lecturer in Victorian literature and culture at the University of St Andrews. Her last book, Inventing Edward Lear, was described by Jenny Uglow as “by far the best thing I have ever read on Lear.”

Dettagli sul prodotto

• Autori: Sara Lodge, Lodge Sara
• Editore: Yale University Press Ltd
• Lingue: Inglese
• Formato: Tascabile
• Pubblicazione: 16.09.2025
• EAN: 9780300286601
• ISBN: 978-0-300-28660-1
• Pagine: 384
• Categorie: Saggistica; Scienze umane, arte, musica > Storia > Età moderna fino al 1918; Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900, True Crime, European History, Social & cultural history, HISTORY / Women, LITERARY CRITICISM / Subjects & Themes / Women, HISTORY / Europe / Great Britain / Victorian Era (1837-1901), c 1800 to c 1900, British & Irish history, United Kingdom, Great Britain, Literary studies: c 1800 to c 1900, Social and cultural history, Gender studies: women, Historical crime and mysteries, Gender studies: women and girls, 1837–1901 (Victorian period)