Favorite Female Thriller Writers?

[Angie]

Just wonderin'...most of the thriller writers I've thought of are male. Who are the fab femme thriller writers out there? Inquiring minds wanna know. Well, at least this one does!

[norby]

Okay Angie, this is where I have to show my ignorance of something. Where the hell did this whole thriller thing come from? All my life I've read mysteries (or crime novels, depending on where you're living), but now all of a sudden some of my favorite authors are considered thriller writers. So is it the same thing? Why are some mysteries considered thrillers but others aren't, and it doesn't just seem to be the difference between a cozy and a 'regular' mystery. When did a mystery novel stop just being a mystery novel?

[Daniel Hatadi]

ITW has a useful article on that, although it explains what a thriller is more by example than by parameters.

[I. J. Parker]

Val McDermid's SIRENS SINGING (?) impressed me. Her other thrillers are pretty good, but that one was horrific and very good.

[Angie]

Yeah, yeah. Okay, lets say...books where the emphasis is on the suspense. So, not so much a p.i. or procedural, but an edge-of-your-seater.

I know "thriller" is an ambiguous, hard to define kinda deal. Just...play along, 'kay? As for the mystery thing...well, I generally prefer "crime fiction" to cover all the bases. Some of the crime fic. novels that I love best are more about character psychology within a crime setting than it is about "who-dunnit." But that's just me!

[norby]

Ah. Yeah, those are okay. More of a who done it go get 'em girl myself. Erm, all the ones I can think of were written by guys. Sorry.

[Russel McLean]

I don't know about thriller but...

Women who have recently impressed me include...

Zoe Sharp (definite thriller writer and finally a truly kickass series heroine in Charlie Fox)
Vicki Hendricks (Steamy florida noir, utterly brilliant)
Sara Gran (I've only read CLOSER, which is a superb horror novel... but everyone tells me DOPE is amazing)
Laura Lippman (I haven't read the Tess Monaghan books, but WHAT THE DEAD KNOW and THE POWER OF THREE are brilliant)

I don't know if the other three fit entirely into what most people would class as a thriller (Zoe Sharp writes thrillers, no question), but damm if they don't just write brilliant crime novels.

[Angie]

Hendricks and Gran are both fab, but...not so much in the thriller category. Lippman rock - 2 times! Will definitely have to check out Zoe Sharp. Thanks!

[Karen from AustCrime]

Tricky question - that old "what exactly is a thriller" thing - but I think... maybe the author that comes to mind most for me is Patricia Carlon:

http://www.austcrimefiction.org/node/522

[LC Fraser]

Helen MacInnes. Or for more modern perhaps PJ Tracey.

[Sandra Ruttan]

Well, if you're thinking about what I think you're thinking about, maybe also Toni McGee Causey. Also, Jan Burke and Tess Gerritsen.

[Jude Hardin]

Tess Gerritsen is one of my faves.

[J.D. Rhoades]

I just started reading Zoe Sharp, but yeah, she's definitely going to be a favorite, I can tell already. Tess Gerritsen's incredibly good. Lisa Unger's definitely one to keep an eye on. Laura Lippman? Love her madly, but she's not a thriller writer. Toni McGee Causey? I guess you could call her a thriller writer, but her stuff's funny as well, which doesn't really fit the "thriller" mold.