The Real Prime Suspect
Jackie MaltonHelene Mulholland

'Jackie Malton lifts the lid on the jaw-dropping day-to-day realities that have faced women cops.' -Val McDermid

'Jackie Malton was one of the women who blazed a trail in the very macho world of policing. She was indeed the real Prime Suspect, viewed with suspicion because of her gender and her sexuality and, while it took its toll, she stood out, proud and independent. She gave policing a good name. A terrific read!' - Baroness Helena Kennedy QC

'Unputdownable. A uniquely personal journey through recent decades of policing. Searingly honest, shocking and funny.' -Barbara Machin, creator and showrunner, Waking the Dead

Jackie Malton was a no-nonsense girl from Leicestershire who joined the police force in the 1970s when women were kept apart from the men. Feisty and determined, Jackie worked in CID and the famous flying squad before rising to become one of only three female detective chief inspectors in the Metropolitan Police. In The Real Prime Suspect, Malton describes the struggles she faced as a gay woman in the Metropolitan Police, where sexism and homophobia were rife.

Jackie dealt with rapists, wife beaters, murderers, blackmailers and armed robbers but it was tackling the corruption in her own station that proved the most challenging. Ostracised and harassed by fellow officers furious that she reported the illegality of some colleagues, Malton used alcohol to curb her anxiety.

A chance meeting with writer Lynda La Plante five years later changed the course of her life. Together they worked on shaping Jane Tennison, one of TV's most famous police characters, in the ground-breaking series Prime Suspect. Not long after, Malton recovered from alcoholism and now works as an AA volunteer in prison and as a TV consultant.

Jackie has spent her life working in crime. Now she's ready to share her story.

'The story of a pioneer, a determined police officer who used her talent as a force for good. If it were not for women like Jackie, policing today would be very different.' -Colin Sutton, author of the Manhunt series

'A fascinating account of Jackie Malton's remarkable career as a police officer, and how she used that experience to bring a new kind of authenticity to Prime Suspect and many other TV crime dramas and documentaries.' -Neil McKay, TV writer and producer, Appropriate Adult

'Compelling, enlightening and totally gripping' -Angela Marsons