Zena traces snowflakes down the window of Scott’s Detective Bureau. Far below, young boys vie for trinkets in bombed out houses. Why did her father call her?

Zena traces snowflakes down the window of Scott’s Detective Bureau and wonders why her father has called her in. It is post-war Liverpool and Scott’s is busier than ever. ‘Join me,’ her father says. Zena Scott Archer, Private Investigator – it has a certain ring. ‘As a typist,’ her father adds. Disappointed but with the blessing of her ever-patient husband Dave, Zena starts at Scott’s. Tired of the lazy detectives her father hires, Zena asks her father to give her a chance. Her first case is a success, but can she prove her worth as a woman in a man’s world?

Can Zena solve the case of missing designer dresses? Will posing as a gangling St Trinian’s schoolgirl succeed in catching the fairground swindlers? How can she convince a missing young man to return home to his parents?

Over the years Zena learns what it takes to be a detective and juggles the intrigue and excitement of solving colourful cases with the duties and domesticity of a wife, daughter, and sister.