Author and former criminal inspector Frode Z. Olsen presents his book about Ellen Jensen-Saltø, Denmark's first female detective. Ellen was hired at the Copenhagen Police's Murder and Morality Department on 15 January 1920 and grew up at Saltø Manor near Karrebæk, where her father was a tenant farmer.
Throughout her long police career, Ellen participated in the investigation and solving of serious cases, including murders and sexual crimes, until her retirement in 1952. She was involved in several significant murder cases, including the Dagmar Overby case and the Damhus murder, and was sent on investigative assignments throughout the provinces.
The book about Ellen is simultaneously an account of Danish societal development in the first half of the 20th century — a period of industrialisation, urbanisation, expansion of women's rights, police reform and two world wars. Upon her retirement, Ellen was honoured with the Order of the Dannebrog, a special recognition for a non-royally appointed police officer.
