The Indomitable Miss Cocks

(Paperback)

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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.*

Author Bio

Lainie Anderson is a writer whose 35-year career in journalism and public relations includes 17 years as a columnist with Adelaide's Sunday Mail, as well as stints at Melbourne's Herald Sun, London's The Times and the South Australian Tourism Commission. After being awarded the Churchill Fellowship, Lainie published her debut novel Long Flight Home in 2019. In 2024, Lainie completed a PhD with the University of South Australia, researching the life of Kate Cocks, the inspiration behind The Indomitable Miss Cocks. Lainie is a board member of Reconciliation South Australia, an ambassador with the Hutt Street Centre, sits on the executive committee of the History Council of South Australia and the selection committee of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust. She is a History Guardian for the History Trust of South Australia and was announced as the 2023 Emerging Historian of the Year by the History Council of South Australia. She lives in the Adelaide Hills with her husband Max.