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 thirteen 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 sassy junior constable 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. But when Dora's workmate Ruby Campbell goes missing the women know something sinister is afoot and determine to take matters into their own hands.

Part of the A Petticoat Police Mystery series.