I usually back away from controversy, but I'm shaking my head over the discussion over in the Forum about must-read authors. In 48 posts so far, counting my last one, only Sandra Scoppettone and I have dared to ask "Where are the women?" and "Where are the traditional mysteries?" And so far nobody has so much as commented on the fact that the heirs of Hammett and Chandler hold up only half the sky. I haven't felt so invisible since way back near the beginning of the women's movement. Wondering what I'll get with this post. Support? Hostility? Silence?

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Comment by Tribe on March 14, 2007 at 3:18am
Elizabeth, to be honest, this sort of thread seems to be a trap to play "I gotcha" if someone writes a response that doesn't correspond...I mean, just look at Sandra's chewing out Pat because he didn't happen to pay enough atention to how he was writing. We shouldn't have to be covering our collective asses like this....
Comment by Elizabeth Zelvin on March 14, 2007 at 3:13am
If Cornelia Reads this (what a great name for a writer!), I'd like to hear if she considers her excellent first book hardboiled. I thought it was a classic whodunit with an amateur sleuth protagonista who used the F word a lot. Hey, I'm a New Yorker. Cussin' alone does not color a book noir. My own forthcoming first mystery is traditional, though its protagonist is male and the word "puke" appears in the first sentence. Will this make you tough guys more likely to read it? ;) Liz
Comment by Sandra Scoppettone on March 14, 2007 at 2:05am
The comment below and others like it boggled my mind.

"most of the members on this crimespace arena don't read a ton of "traditional" or "cozy" type mysteries so that's where that portion of women on the list is lacking"

Does that mean "traditional" and "cozy" equal what women write? That's it? If that were true I wouldn't read any women because I don't like those subgenres.
Comment by Laura Root on March 13, 2007 at 8:34pm
Like other posters, I cut my crime-reading teeth as a teen on the traditional mysteries, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, DLS, Ruth Rendell, then progressed via Ruth Rendell to the dark/noir side. On the other thread, my recommendations included several female authors - Patricia Highsmith, Margaret Millar, Karin Fossum. I am sure in ten years time my crime fiction tastes will undertake another seismic shift. And I also enjoy Dana Stabenow - I must confess more for the sense of place than the details of character/storyline.

I don't feel that overall women are under-represented amongst the crime best sellers or in terms of critical acclaim. Ruth Rendell has been hugely influential in the UK, if not in Europe, and is a constant point of reference and comparison for critics.
Comment by Robert Gregory Browne on March 13, 2007 at 4:52pm
Hmmm. I think every single one of the must-reads I listed were men. That's no slam against women. I just listed the people who influenced me when I was young. They all happened to be men.

Now I read a wide variety of authors, including Tess Gerritsen, Gayle Lynds and Denise Hamilton. I believe all three of those are women.

But to be honest, I judge a book by its content, not the gender of the person writing it.
Comment by J.D. Rhoades on March 13, 2007 at 12:34pm
I don't think this crowd is capable of silence. And I can be hostile, but only in matters of business or some legitimate complaint.
Comment by Angie on March 13, 2007 at 11:50am
Well, Elizabeth, looks like you can scratch silence & hostility off your list of possible responses!


:o)
Comment by DADavenport on March 13, 2007 at 11:13am
I am a huge fan of my fellow women writers. In fact, the only first editions I collect are debut Crime/Mystery novels by women writers. Carol O'Connell, Sue Grafton, Val McDermid, Sara Paretsky, Denise Mina, Mo Hayder, Barbara Hambly, Amanda Scott, Louise Welsh, Ruth Rendell, P.D.James, Sandra Scoppettone, Mary Wings, Kathy Reichs, Anne Frasier, Cornelia Read, Barbara Paul, Margaret Yorke (ad infinitum)....all grace my shelves and actually dwarf the volume of male writers I collect. (Now guys, I really do love your stuff as well, just call it a woman's support of her own!) My favorites are as uncompromising and unflinching as their male counterparts who also rank among my Must-Keep-Forevers. If it's top-notch, hard-boiled and Noir, I don't give a damn who writes it. I just want to experience a great read!
Comment by Daniel Hatadi on March 13, 2007 at 11:03am
Imagine how us underlings feel.

Poor little underlings, if only I could imagine your hardships. ;P
Comment by Sandra Ruttan on March 13, 2007 at 11:02am
I don't know that it was a list of favourites... was this the post of must-reads? If so Laura Lippman, Ruth Rendell, PD James, Cornelia Read and others were all mentioned.

For me, I lean dark. Some of my favourite female authors include Laura Lippman, Cornelia Read, Anne Frasier, Val McDermid. When I contributed to that thread I was thinking of people who really stood out as doing something distinctive, and the two for me I can really speak to are Bruen and Rankin.

I have been aware of my own bent towards crime fiction by male authors, and I also considered why this was. I was converted to the genre by Rankin. I had a hard time finding female authors I liked at first, because female authors write across a wider spectrum. They write romantic suspense, cat mysteries, amateur sleuth, cozies, etc. etc. Men, in general, stick in the hardboiled/police procedural areas. Generalization, yes, but because I like hardboiled/police procedurals when I was looking for authors I'd strike pay dirt with guys and with the women I had a harder time.

Eventually I found them, through referrals from men. Sara Gran is high on my list of authors to try. I have some PJ Parrish and Tess Gerritsen on the pile. I've worked very hard to find those women I really enjoy. Over the past two years my reading has gone from 80-20 for guys to about 60-40.

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