Mysteries - by and about women

I thought I'd open a thread up to talk about mysteries written by women. Again, I'd like to avoid just list-making without comment. Do you have a favorite author and why? Do you prefer mysteries written by women over those by men, or do you not have a preference? Do you prefer a female protagonist? Do you read mysteries where the women are the perpetrators of the crimes? (just a few questions to warm us up).

I used to be a big mystery reader, and while I haven't read many in recent years, I can offer some thoughts on some of the writers I have really enjoyed.

Of course, I have to start with Dorothy L. Sayers, who is just so witty and literate (can't believe she doesn't touchstone) and who brough in the wonderful Harriet Vane to complement the charming Lord Peter Wimsey.

Another favorite is Sarah Caudwell who wrote four very witty mystery novels set in British law offices featuring a sexually ambiguous lawyer/detective Hilary Tamar (we never learn whether Hilary is a man or a woman). Alas, Sarah Caudwell died before writing any more.

I've also enjoyed the Elizabeth George mysteries, largely because the characters are so interesting (more so than the plots in some cases).

I've read a lot of mysteries by women, probably because women write so many mysteries, but I think I'm pretty evenly divided in the authors I like between men and women.

I enjoy female protagonists if they're interesting enough -- for example, I enjoyed the Sara Paretsky series because V.I. Warshawski is an interesting character, as are her friends (the plots aren't that compelling to me); the same goes for Marcia Muller's Sharon McCone series. For the life of me, I can't figure out why I've read most of Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone alphabet series; they all seem the same after a while.

NONE of these authors are touchstoning, except for the least well-known Sarah Caudwell -- doesn't make any sense!!

Now that you've posed the question, I've realized I seem very drawn to mysteries written by women. I think this is partly because I enjoy mysteries with a romantic element, which are perhaps more likely to be written by women, and because I prefer mysteries to thrillers.

I've also noticed that I really enjoy mysteries in which the author provides a great sense of the setting--I like stories that involve secrets that divide families or small towns, or in which the geographical, political, and societal conventions of a particular place and time are tied up in the mystery. For whatever reason, I haven't yet found male mystery authors whose work I've really connected with on this level. But to name some particular authors:

Jacqueline Winspear--I'm a big fan of the Maisie Dobbs series, and I understand that Winspear is now working on a new series (I can't wait to learn what). I love Winspear's use of history. Her books include both small but fascinating details, but each mystery also includes the big picture of the time period (the 1930s) by hearkening back to World War I and gazing forward to the terrible events to come. To me, her books give a sense about how the political impacts and influences the individual.

Erin Hart--I've only read her first book Haunted Ground but have her second Lake of Sorrows. I think Hart's a bit less known and she's actually shelves in the Fiction section, but to recap a bit, her books are archaeology-related mysteries set in Ireland that feature archaeologist Cormac Maguire and anatomist Nora Gavin, who is interested in studying bodies uncovered from peat bogs. Partly I think I like these just because the setting is foreign to me and thus feels unusual, but Hart also works with an interesting cast of characters, and learning about the undercurrents and secrets that bring tension to their relationships with each other is perhaps more rewarding than the actual mystery.

Tana French is definitely grittier than Hart, but I also love her for the richness she brings to her characters, and the complexity of the relationships between them. I also think she just writes beautifully. Like Hart, I've only read her first book, In the Woods, but I also have her second The Likeness.

The final person I'll mention is a bit unusual for my taste, but I loved Out by Natsuo Kirino. The book was gritty, brutal, and disturbing, and I LOVED it. Like the other authors I've mentioned, I like Kirino because her book brings to life the culture of the setting.

Though I myself didn't care for Heartsick by Chelsea Cain, I think she's pertinent to this discussion because of the apparently shocking character she created in the brutal female serial killer Gretchen Lowell. Reading articles about her books is interesting because Cain has mentioned how many women fans seem to love and admire how empowered Gretchen's character is, but I myself just find the character a bit disturbing. I'd be interested to hear from anyone who liked the book better and has a different perspective.

Julie Smith has a mystery series set in New Orleans, with a female detective leading the investigations. I've only read House of Blues which has detectives tracking down the murderer of a top restauranteur. Just about the entire family is under suspicion at some point--and it makes it quite interesting. There's lots of local color and you get the real feel of NOLA and local police work. Thank you to NPR for showcasing this author--I'll definitely read more of the series as I love the setting.

I'm not a big mystery reader, so I can't really comment on male versus female authors/protagonists/perpetrators. Something to notice in future reading.....

Thinking about the books I've been reading, I would say that I am pretty divided. However I checked my library, and, of the mysteries I own, 134 have been written by women and 222 have been written by men. The main investigator divide is even greater, with only 61 having a woman as the detective (whether professional or amateur) and 199 having a man as the detective.

I haven't taken a tally but I am probably well-balanced between male and female mystery writers. I read very few thrillers, although I did used to listen to them on audio.

I can agree with rebeccanyc's choice of Dorothy Sayers and add P.D. James to the list. Her mysteries are classic crime / police procedurals, very cerebral and she keeps the gratuitous violence to a minimum. Not so, Elizabeth George who I have also liked mostly for her character of Barbara Havers. There were a few books not so long ago that did not feature Barbara and I got irritated and took up Ian Rankin and Reginald Hill to compensate (I won't go any further with them other than the mention of their names:-). I also read Deborah Crombie's British mystery series for quite a while. I think I've gotten too behind to catch up.

I used to read a fair amount of 'first mysteries', so have read the first books of Erin Hart (noted above), Jacqueline Winspear (also noted above), Susan Hill, and Julia Spencer-Fleming. All the books were terrific but I try to avoid getting caught up in a lot of series.

Susan Hill's first Simon Seraillier (sp?) novel, I forget the title now, was intriguing because our detective was introduced to us solely through the women in his life. Asa Larsson, a Swedish author, whose protagonist is a lawyer, allow the reader to see her various characters as they related to animals (I read her 2nd novel The Blood Spilt first, so I don't know if it was only the one book. I did acquire her 3rd recently). Cheryl Benard's one mystery novel, Moghul Buffet is set in Pakistan. Written in the late 90s, the suspect is only described as having been wearing a green chador. Now how does one work with that helpful clue?

I am more for the so called 'traditional' mystery, preferably set in England. Beside the wonderful above mentioned Dorothy Sayers, I will have to add Margery Allingham, with her Albert Campion series, and of course Agatha Christie!!
She still is my favourite mystery author, and I could not say whether I prefer Poirot or Miss Marple.
Kerry Greenwood's mysteries, featuring Phryne Fisher, are set in Australia, during the 20s.
Christianna Brand is another British mystery writer, more or less Christie's contemporary, who was quite famous in her days. Her Green for Danger is pretty good.

I love Dana Stabenow's Alaska mysteries - I love characters like Kate Shugak who do what they need to do without issues about being women, but also have to deal with the fact the rest of the world sometimes has issues. In addition, the tour of various parts of Alaska that you get through her series is really a pleasure.

P.M. Carlson's mysteries were kind of a revelation to me. They were written when I was a child, and the world view and challenges faced by an academic woman at that time made me realize how much I take for granted. Maggie Ryan confronts prejudices and attitudes that I hadn't really realized existed. Good puzzles too.

Personally, I like a mysteries with a good puzzle to figure out or a complex character. I also like ones that take me inside some specialized group. I think mystery stories are very good at that because they focus so much attention on the people as they reveal who the suspects are. Patricia Cornwall's early Kay Scarpetta novels made the whole world of big city pathology come alive, as do Kathy Reich's Temperance Brennan books.

>8 Helcura: I liked listening to the Reich mysteries on audio; I loved them for the scientific detail. How well I remember the detailed body recovery in a septic tank in Guatemala! I might have stopped with the one about the ashes in the woodstove (no spoilers here!).

Thinking about the books that you read, what percentage of women mystery authors (and should we include the thriller subgenre? i.e. Scottoline, Fairstein) do you think feature sole female protagonists? female and male partnerships? Are the partnerships equal or is the woman on top? (I couldn't resist that, sorry) sole male protagonists?

How many include females as the perpetrators of the crime? (i.e. Martina Cole)

Example: Julia Spencer-Fleming features a duo - Claire Ferguson, ex-Army helicopter pilot turned Episcopal priest, and Russ (?) local sheriff. The crime-solving partnership is pretty balanced between the two.
Asa Larsson features a woman lawyer and no sidekick, if I remember correctly. Deborah Crombie featured a male-female duo, who are also (eventually) a couple. When last I read one, he was still on top technically but they functioned as an equal partnership, imo.

As to main protagonist, I think the investigator's gender is largely dependent upon what kind of investigator is used.

Of my mysteries by female authors, those that are police procedurals (involving an investigation within a police department by designated investigators), all the main protagonists are male. The two exceptions I have are Elizabeth George (with Lynley-Haverly mysteries) and Val McDermid (with Hill-Jordan mysteries).

All of my mysteries featuring a medical examiner have female protagonists.

Most of my private investigators are female as are most of my amateur detectives.

Perhaps because the stereotype police officer is male? I don’t know why the medical examiners (whether main characters or not) are predominantly female though.

Is anyone else seeing this trend with the mysteries they read, or is it the authors I choose?

Just as a matter of note, BBC's "Prime Suspect" came from a few books by Linda La Plante. I thought it was one of the most credible portrayals of what a career female police officer would've experienced at that time (at least as can be portrayed on television). I never read the books but the television series was excellent.

Christiguc, I'm thinking.

Most of the female-authored mysteries and thrillers I can think of which feature lawyers or D.A.s, they are women.

I agree on woman-authored mysteries with medical examiners/forensic anthropologists.

Using police officers/detective, other than La Plante, seems they tend to feature duos (not equal positions, but generally equal in crime-solving skills. i.e. Havers and Lynley, the Crombie duo)

I can't think of any private investigators except in mysteries set prior to the 1950s (i.e. Harriet Vine, Cordelia Gray, the woman in the Winespear novels).

yep, you might be on to something.

what about the meddling amateurs, don't they tend to be all women?

As to private investigators, in my library there are (written by women): the Kinsey Millhone mysteries by Sue Grafton (set present-day US), the Hannah Wolfe mysteries by Sarah Dunant (set present-day US), the Phyrne Fisher mysteries by Kerry Greenwood (set in Australia in the 1920s), and the Aimee Ludoc mysteries by Cara Black (set in present-day France).

The amateurs are women most of the time, but there is one exception in the female-authored mysteries in my library that I should note (because I own so many): the Cadfael mysteries (by Ellis Peters).

I understand why there are more fictional male police detectives than female. In the same way, I understand why the majority of amateur detectives are women, and my exception (Brother Cadfael) isn't exceptionally masculine.

Perhaps the private detective field provides the women with a way to pursue their career outside of the male-dominated police force? Or perhaps it further emphasizes their rogue-status/independence?

However, I am still puzzled as to why medical examiners would be mostly women. Ideas?

The medical examiners question is really interesting. I've read a fair number of non-fiction medical examiner/forensic books and they're all written by men (and about) men.

I wonder if it's just that we're fortunate to have two strong writers, who happen to be medical examiners and women. If you look for mystery fiction about medical examiners, there's only a limited amount, and it's dominated by Reichs and Cornwall.

The Skeleton Detective series by Aaron Elkins features a male forensic anthropologist, but not a medical examiner. All the other mysteries I've read about forensic anthropologists have featured women. Is there something about forensics that is particularly friendly to female characters?

Does anyone want to do a doctoral dissertation on the careers of female detectives? :-)

I'm not a big mystery fan. I tend to go for Dorothy Sayers and writers of like ilk. I do remember some mysteries that I enjoyed reading as a child (although I think they were written for adults: the Mrs. Pollifax novels by Dorothy Gilman. They're pretty light, fluffy, and undemanding, but fun. Is anyone familiar with them? Has anyone read Message from Absalom by Anne Armstrong Thompson. It's a cold war, spy novel. I read it when I was in high school and found it quite thrilling. Of course that was back in the mists of antiquity.

I read fluffy mysteries. I don't watch much TV, but I do read mysteries. So, yes, I've read some of the Mrs. Pollifax mysteries. (Actually, I listened to many of these as books on tape when I was working at a very stressful job with a long commute. They were very relaxing!) I've also read mysteries set in coffee shops, tea shops, craft shops, . . . if I like the protagonist (inevitably female) and the setting, I can easily be hooked. Also, for a long time I kept up with all the dog mystery series, of which there are many. Male-female is less the focus when the sidekick is--just to name a few--a poodle, a malamute, a German shepherd, a pit bull, or a whole team of sled dogs!).

I really like three of Charlaine Harris's series - the Southern Vampire ones about Sookie Stackhouse, the Shakespeare series about Lily Bard, and the Grave series about Harper Connelly. All three are very different, but all have very engaging, strong main characters.
I choose to read mysteries written by female writers that have strong main characters as they tend to engage me more than than male writers do. I love Kerry Greenwood, Rita Mae Brown, Jacqueline Winspear, Marcia Muller, Sue Grafton, and Lindsey Davis, who has created a brilliant male protagonist in her Roman mysteries - Marcus Didius Falco.

Anyone read Nevada Barr? I've read all of them. Currently on Winter Study. It makes me cold just reading it, it's great. My fave was Blind Descent. I love her heroine - National Park Ranger Anna Pidgeon. She goes from park to park and solves crimes - a lot of the smaller lesser known parks.
I also read all of Sujata Massey's books. They're pretty mindless, but I really enjoy learning about the different aspects of the culture of Japan. Zen Attitude is probably my fave.

waderu -- I've been interested in starting that series by Nevada Barr, so it's nice to see a good rec for them.

While saying that, it's difficult for me to get into a series that already has a lot of books in it. I started the Amelia Peabody historical mysteries by Elizabeth Peters and read about 7 before getting stalled and not picking another one up. I think I got a little intimidated at the idea of catching up (there are almost 20).

I'm a big fan of women authors and women protagonists. I really enjoyed Ariana Franklin's Mistress of the Art of Death and its sequel and look forward to the next. They're about a female doctor in England during the late Middle Ages when that was pretty much akin to witchcraft (but she's got Henry II on her side). On a completely opposite note, I enjoy the Cece Caruso mysteries by Susan Kandel. The twist is fun in that Cece is a biographer of mystery authors (Agatha Christie, Dashiel Hammett) and somehow gets herself in trouble while researching them. Both of these series are new and only have a small number of books out so far.

It seems as though series are the way to go for mysteries. I don't notice very often books with a straight up mystery where we never hear about the characters again. Even Kate Atkinson's Case Histories is now a short series with One Good Turn and When Will There Be Good News. I adore Atkinson and loved Case Histories and was surprised when One Good Turn had the same character as I thought Case Histories worked well as a standalone novel.

Anyone have any suggestions for a one-time-only mystery vs. series, or do you not see it very often either?

Minette Walters comes to mind as an author who writes one-off mysteries rather than series .....

>18 waderu: I read the Sujata Massey mysteries for a while myself. They were formulaic (but most mysteries are!), each book centered around one aspect of Japanese culture: ikebana, kimonos. . .etc. I have not kept up with them.

I've been enjoying the "Stephanie Plum" series by Janet Evanovich . I've read and LMAO with the first three books ! Also I read Skinny Dip by Carl Hiassen . Its a funny revenge mystery about a wife tryng to find out why her jerky husband tried to kill her and getting revenge in the process .