Crime Novels with Female Protagonists and Side-kicks

[Karen Tyrrell]

I'm looking for modern crime novels which have female protagonists and a female side kick.

I love to read fast-paced books by Katherine Howell, Marianne Delacourt and Janet Evanovich.

http://www.karentyrrell.com

[I. J. Parker]

You are probably right, but will the other boys go for it?

[Benjamin Sobieck]

I work a real full-time job aside from these delusions I have about writing. I'm not worried if anyone goes for it.

[Karen Tyrrell]

I'm a member of Sisters in Crime Australia. We are female crime authors who  have female protagonists and sometimes female side-kicks.

So many crime Readers are female ...There's a shift towards male authors writing with female protagonists too, which is a very good thing.

Good luck with your Crime writing :))

 

[minervaK]

Ben -- Do you mean that seeing those misogynistic tropes has made you want to change to a female protag in order to tear them down? If so, bravo! -- MK

[I. J. Parker]

What mysogynistic tropes?  Sorry, not familiar with flash fiction.

[Pepper Smith]

I think it's more a noir thing than a flash-fiction thing.

[minervaK]

This is a TV tropes wiki, but many of the stereotypes discussed apply to writing as well:

 

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AlwaysFemale

 

I've also written a short post about the sexist tropes so common in our genre:

 

http://www.minervakoenig.com/2009/11/how-to-write-non-sexist-crime-...

 

 

[Karen Tyrrell]

Thanks Minerva for these amazing links ... very interesting.

 

Loved your Blog about avoiding female stereotypes in crime writing.

Let's all raise the bar and create lead female characters who are well rounded and more real ... Karen :))

[I. J. Parker]

Oh, good blog, Minerva.  My particular bete noir is the female detective (generally only seen in ragged sweatshirt, jeans, and athletic shoes) who has the policeman hunk drooling after her. She's always much smarter and braver than he is and solves all the cases the dumb ox cannot handle.  On principle, the men in such books are all stupid, or chauvinist pigs, or abuse women. The stupid hunks are there to prove that women still have sex appeal even when they behave exactly like men.

 

The problem has a lot to do with formula writing. They do it for romance.  It bleeds over into mystery.

[Donna White Glaser]

You might like the first in my Letty Whittaker 12 Step series titled THE ENEMY WE KNOW. It features a psychologist who is new to recovery and is being stalked by a client. It's not quite the extravagant humor as Janet Evanovich (I should be so lucky) but it's a nice blend of humor and suspense.

Also, I'd recommend Lois Greiman's UNZIPPED or Lisa Lutz's Spellman Files. Lots of laughs in both of those as well.

Hope that helps!
Donna White Glaser

[Karen Tyrrell]

Thanks Donna for your suggestions. Like to read a mix of action, mystery humor and wit :))

[Donna White Glaser]

Your welcome! Action, mystery and humor are my favorite combinations too. JA Konrath can be pretty funny too, amidst the blood and guts. He takes a stronger stomach, but at least his female protag is not a ninja/princess.