The business of spying, usually considered a male domain, is facing stiff competition from the fair sex. Inspired by Nancy Drew and Miss Jane Marple, more and more young women are daring to peep into your lives. Detective agencies in the city claim that there has been a rise in the number of women ready to take up the job of a spy.

“Earlier, there were hardly any woman working as a private investigator in the city, but now things have changed. We get around 15 resumes every month, of which five to six are of women who want to become detectives,” said Sharmila Chatterjee, who has been into the profession for the last two decades. She attributes the new found interest of the women to the adventurous nature of job and handsome payments, “The job is perfect for those who are adventurous and daring. They don’t have to toil throughout the day. The working hours depend on the nature of assignment, and women are generally not allowed to work late into nights,” she added.

Detective agencies say, hiring women comes with its own advantages, as they’re accessible and can easily befriend a person who is being spied upon. “Women have proved helpful in cracking some difficult cases. They’re not easily suspected and able to extract much information from the target,” said T K Das, regional manager of Global Detectives Private Limited, who has been in the line for nearly five decades.

Veteran detectives believe that a staggering rise in the matrimonial dispute cases, especially bigamy, has created scope for women detectives. “We are flooded with cases of women spying against their spouses and vice versa. We receive around 15-20 clients every month willing to spy on their husbands or wives. Women come handy as they easily strike up friendship with a person who is being spied upon,” said S R Banerjee, founder director of Anapol Group of Services. “They’re well-paid and offered incentives both by the client and owner on the successful completion of an assignment.” Does look matter while selecting a woman? A senior detective on condition of anonymity said, young woman with good looks are certainly preferred, “A graduate who is suave and has a command of English along with wit are hot favourites for the job,” he added.