Just So Stories

Hachette Australia

Sep 30, 2025 | 9780733652097 | RRP $32.99

Around this time last year, I reviewed the first Petticoat Police mystery after thoroughly relishing it, so I was extra keen to get my hands on this one. And it is no disappointment.

Equally engaging as the first, cleverly weaving in fact to the fictional aspects, with a little bit of jiggery-pokery mixing some of them up into a delicious and absolutely intriguing mystery, Lainie Anderson has, I hope, established what will be an ongoing series based on the real life of Kate Cocks, and the fictional life of Ethel Bromley, her offsider.

It is six months since Kate and Ethel solved the Dora Black murder case and despite the accolades, not a lot has changed for them. They still meet the trains and provide safety for young girls and women from the country, they counsel and support the many women and children who are struggling with their men away at the war (or the ones just unsatisfactory as far as being a responsible husband/father) and they, especially Kate, still patrol the city at night ensuring moral and social standards are upheld.

Staid Adelaide is having moments of levity and even bawdiness with the return of troops who have been away from home, family, pubs and girls for too long. Their high spirits are quite liable to turn to unpleasant ructions when not contained either by the law or their superiors.

Kate is inclined to think that the perpetrator of the rape of a 15-year-old girl is one of these men, but it’s difficult to prove with the victim almost catatonic, no witnesses and no evidence.

When the governor of the Art Gallery board is found murdered in his own gallery, beneath a painting that has caused scandal and uproar, Kate is left to deal with her already busy policing on her own, as Ethel is seconded to help with the murder investigation. This is not because she’s an extraordinary constable as much as the fact that she’s a member of the elite Adelaide upper echelons and has the inside running on many of its notable personages.

Mixed in with all of this are the personal insights into the two main characters. When Kate seeks help from a vagrant the night of the young girl’s attack, she is almost single-handedly responsible for his rehabilation. She even begins to think that there may be a possibility of a second chance at romance for her. Ethel, still very much in love with her doctor, is faced with a dilemma when he proposes to her.

Both murder and rape investigations are thwarted by stumbling blocks, and both require the doggedness and intuition of both these capable women. Along the way the reader, once again, is privy to some of Adelaide’s history and the array of characters, some known to us, some new, all of whom bring their own brand of richness to the narrative.

It was an enjoyable read and though I certainly pinpointed the rapist, the murderer actually took me quite by surprise! I am definitely looking forward to the next one – after all, historical fiction mashed with cosy murder mystery puts my two favourite genres together – winner winner!! This easily gets a 5 🖼️🖼️🖼️🖼️🖼️rating from me for readers either upper teens to adults.