Join us for an afternoon of intrigue, great conversation and delicious refreshments as we discover more about the author’s latest book, “Private Inquiries: The Secret History of Female Sleuths”.

Sunday 9th June 2024 at 3pm

The Yarrow Hotel, Broadstairs

Our annual literary event this year features the Orwell Book Prize-nominee, Caitlin Davies.

Caitlin will be in conversation with Denise Martin-Harker from BroadstairsLit at the beautiful Yarrow Hotel. Join us for a glass of Pimm’s as we hear more about the fascinating world of female PIs and why women make such excellent investigators.

Tickets are £17.50 and include a glass of Pimm’s, a Q&A and book signing. The event will include a raffle, we would be grateful if you could bring some cash to enter.

All funds raised will fund our vital work supporting adults and children in our community. We are grateful to Spurling Cannon for once again sponsoring the event.

About the book

A history of the UK’s real-life female detectives – from mid-Victorian era to present day

From Victorian lady sleuths to ‘busy-body spinsters’ and gun-toting modern PIs, the female private detective has been a staple of popular culture for over 150 years. But what about the real women behind these stories – where are their accounts now and what crimes did they solve?

In Private Inquiries, Caitlin Davies traces the history of the UK’s female investigators, even undertaking a professional qualification to become a Private Investigator herself and follows in the footsteps of women such as

• Antonia Moser – the first woman to open her own PI agency
• Annette Kerner – who ran the Mayfair Detective Agency on Baker Street in the 1940s
• Liverpool sleuth Zena Scott-Archer – who became the first woman president of the World Association of Detectives

Following on from the popular “Queens of the Underworld: A Journey into the Lives of Female Crooks”, the latest book has received great reviews:

Davies is a great storyteller and this is a feast of true crime and women’s place in history. Fascinating and utterly riveting

Baroness Helena Kennedy of the Shaws KC

Private Inquiries is a must-read – a riveting mythbuster, with its revelations of the real histories of women PIs

Val McDermid

About the author

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.

Any questions?

If you would like any more information, please contact fundraise@oasisdaservice.org.

We look forward to welcoming you to the event!