Jailbird Detective
(2018)(The first book in the Elvira Slate Investigations series)
A novel by Helen Jacey
'In Elvira Slate, Helen Jacey has created a slick '40s sleuth that could inspire the toughest 21st Century feminist.'
Celia Walden, US Editor-at-Large, The Daily Telegraph
A gangster's moll trades Holloway Prison with Hollywood, to become a private detective. Can she get away with it?
Jailbird Detective is a crime thriller set in the 1940s featuring edgy female protagonist and female sleuth Elvira Slate, a former criminal and gangster's moll.
When she is released from jail on VE Day, Jemima Day wants payback from her ex-mobster fiance who she believes set her up. But when his accomplices threaten her life, Jemima flees England for Los Angeles. Her plans for a new life are ruined when Lauder, a shady cop busts her. Jemima is given a stark choice - face the hangman in England or become his secret undercover girl with a new phony identity Elvira Slate.
It's not quite the life she had in mind, but at least she's still alive. On one of her errands, Elvira discovers a murder; she is shocked when the law turns a blind eye. Her conscience forces her to secretly investigate. On her quest, she moves between Hollywood's underworld and high society, using a range of disguises and skills acquired from her earlier criminal life. Knowing what it's like to be judged, she can read both motives and men like no other.
As she closes in on the truth, danger threatens her chance for a new life. Can Elvira find justice for the innocents and redemption for herself?
Jailbird Detective is feminist crime noir and the first in the Elvira Slate Investigations crime detective series. It follows one woman's odyssey of reinvention and self-determination to become the most unlikely 1940s female detective.
Fans of 1940s noir, complex female protagonists, feminist fiction and vintage fashion will love this dark and thrilling debut thriller.
***
'A fresh, fast-moving and atmospheric take on Forties Noir with a tough street-wise female detective Philip Marlowe would have been proud to work with.'
Stephen Wyatt, Writer, Classic Chandler, BBC Radio 4
'Elvira Slate emerges as the new heroine of LA noir.'
Terence Bailey, Author, The Sara Jones Cycles
'Helen Jacey's Jailbird Detective will grab you by the throat with its first few pages and pin you to the wall until you've drunk every last word. Jacey has created a criminally compelling character I'd follow anywhere - at a safe distance.'
Jennifer Steil, Author, The Ambassador's Wife
'If like me you wanted Forties noir films to stop following the male gumshoe and follow the fascinating sassy dames and brassy broads then this book is for you.'
Kay Stonham, Writer, Bad Salsa Radio 4
'a wonderful and surprising spin on crime noir novels. Jacey hits the nail on the head with period accuracy combined with feminist grit.'
Laura Butcher, The Vintage Woman Magazine
Genre: Mystery
Celia Walden, US Editor-at-Large, The Daily Telegraph
A gangster's moll trades Holloway Prison with Hollywood, to become a private detective. Can she get away with it?
Jailbird Detective is a crime thriller set in the 1940s featuring edgy female protagonist and female sleuth Elvira Slate, a former criminal and gangster's moll.
When she is released from jail on VE Day, Jemima Day wants payback from her ex-mobster fiance who she believes set her up. But when his accomplices threaten her life, Jemima flees England for Los Angeles. Her plans for a new life are ruined when Lauder, a shady cop busts her. Jemima is given a stark choice - face the hangman in England or become his secret undercover girl with a new phony identity Elvira Slate.
It's not quite the life she had in mind, but at least she's still alive. On one of her errands, Elvira discovers a murder; she is shocked when the law turns a blind eye. Her conscience forces her to secretly investigate. On her quest, she moves between Hollywood's underworld and high society, using a range of disguises and skills acquired from her earlier criminal life. Knowing what it's like to be judged, she can read both motives and men like no other.
As she closes in on the truth, danger threatens her chance for a new life. Can Elvira find justice for the innocents and redemption for herself?
Jailbird Detective is feminist crime noir and the first in the Elvira Slate Investigations crime detective series. It follows one woman's odyssey of reinvention and self-determination to become the most unlikely 1940s female detective.
Fans of 1940s noir, complex female protagonists, feminist fiction and vintage fashion will love this dark and thrilling debut thriller.
***
'A fresh, fast-moving and atmospheric take on Forties Noir with a tough street-wise female detective Philip Marlowe would have been proud to work with.'
Stephen Wyatt, Writer, Classic Chandler, BBC Radio 4
'Elvira Slate emerges as the new heroine of LA noir.'
Terence Bailey, Author, The Sara Jones Cycles
'Helen Jacey's Jailbird Detective will grab you by the throat with its first few pages and pin you to the wall until you've drunk every last word. Jacey has created a criminally compelling character I'd follow anywhere - at a safe distance.'
Jennifer Steil, Author, The Ambassador's Wife
'If like me you wanted Forties noir films to stop following the male gumshoe and follow the fascinating sassy dames and brassy broads then this book is for you.'
Kay Stonham, Writer, Bad Salsa Radio 4
'a wonderful and surprising spin on crime noir novels. Jacey hits the nail on the head with period accuracy combined with feminist grit.'
Laura Butcher, The Vintage Woman Magazine
Genre: Mystery
Used availability for Helen Jacey's Jailbird Detective