THE ADVENTURES OF
MAUD WEST
Lady Detective
A remarkable true story by Susannah Stapleton OUT NOW
“The Adventures of Maud West, Lady Detective is delightfully well written, with both sympathy and empathy; it is jaunty, engaging and witty without being arch. A triumph.”
LITERARY REVIEW
LADY DETECTIVE
Publication JUNE 13th 2019
The Adventures of Maud West, Lady Detective: Secrets & Lies in the Golden Age of Crime
Maud West ran her detective agency in London for more than thirty years, having started sleuthing on behalf of society’s finest in 1905. Her exploits grabbed headlines throughout the world but, beneath the public persona, she was forced to hide vital aspects of her own identity in order to thrive in a class-obsessed and male-dominated world.
Interweaving tales from Maud West’s own ‘casebook’ with social history and extensive original research, Stapleton investigates the stories Maud West told about herself in a quest to uncover the truth.
With walk-on parts by Dr Crippen and Dorothy L. Sayers, Parisian gangsters and Continental blackmailers, The Adventures of Maud West, Lady Detective is both a portrait of a woman ahead of her time and a deliciously salacious glimpse into the underbelly of ‘good society’ during the first half of the twentieth century.
THE ADVENTURES OF MAUD WEST – LADY DETECTIVE
A remarkable true story by Susannah Stapleton
“The Adventures of Maud West, Lady Detective is delightfully well written, with both sympathy and empathy; it is jaunty, engaging and witty without being arch. A triumph.”
LITERARY REVIEW
LADY DETECTIVE
Publication JUNE 13th 2019
The Adventures of Maud West, Lady Detective: Secrets & Lies in the Golden Age of Crime
Maud West ran her detective agency in London for more than thirty years, having started sleuthing on behalf of society’s finest in 1905. Her exploits grabbed headlines throughout the world but, beneath the public persona, she was forced to hide vital aspects of her own identity in order to thrive in a class-obsessed and male-dominated world.
Interweaving tales from Maud West’s own ‘casebook’ with social history and extensive original research, Stapleton investigates the stories Maud West told about herself in a quest to uncover the truth.
With walk-on parts by Dr Crippen and Dorothy L. Sayers, Parisian gangsters and Continental blackmailers, The Adventures of Maud West, Lady Detective is both a portrait of a woman ahead of her time and a deliciously salacious glimpse into the underbelly of ‘good society’ during the first half of the twentieth century.
Reviews
“If you are susceptible to Miss Marple and Harriet Vane you must read The Adventures of Maud West. You will never know the difference between fact and fiction again.”
Jill Paton Walsh, author of the Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane mysteries
“Stapleton is a frank and funny writer […] She is skilful in mingling two strands of social history: the daily working life of a self-employed lady detective in the early 20th century chronicling the crimes solved; and the true life story of a complex woman who, as Stapleton puts it, “took the poor hand dealt to her at birth and transformed it into a life that would be the envy of millions.”
The Times
““The rollicking adventures of a real-life female sleuth… [an] erudite but hugely entertaining debut…”
The Spectator
“Terrific. A brilliant literary sleuth tracks down a real one, uncovering a flabbergasting hidden life along the way.”
Lissa Evans, author of Crooked Heart and Old Baggage
“The Adventures of Maud West, Lady Detective is delightfully well written, with both sympathy and empathy; it is jaunty, engaging and witty without being arch. A triumph.”
Literary Review
“A powerhouse of a book… The Adventures of Maud West, Lady Detective is, as one suspects Maud herself was, sweet, and wonderful company, and absolutely determined to discover the truth.”
Judith Flanders, author of The Invention of Murder and the Sam Clair Mysteries
“Maud West is a gloriously English eccentric – think Miranda Hart meets Margaret Rutherford – brought to vigorous life by present day sleuth Susannah Stapleton.”
Sean O’Connor, author of Handsome Brute
“Deliciously entertaining… Criminally good. I loved it”
Mel McGrath, author of Give Me the Child and The Guilty Party
Susannah Stapleton’s dogged sleuthing of Maud’s own complicated, messy, spunky life reveals the wider story of a little-explored sliver of life between the wars… I loved it.”
Kate Colquhoun, author of Mr Briggs’ Hat and Did She Kill Him?
About Susannah
Susannah Stapleton is a historical researcher and writer with over twenty years’ experience unravelling mysteries for museums, organizations and private individuals. She now lives in Shropshire with her husband and a doddery old cat, but her life wasn’t always so straightforward…
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