The Big Book of Female Detectives

by Otto Penzler (Editor)

Other authors: Lars Anderson (Contributor), Charlotte Armstrong (Contributor), John Kendrick Bangs (Contributor), Linda Barnes (Contributor), Nevada Barr (Contributor) — 67 more, Adolphe Barreaux (Contributor), Phyllis Bentley (Contributor), Lawrence Block (Contributor), M. McDonnell Bodkin (Contributor), Whitman Chambers (Contributor), Agatha Christie (Contributor), Max Allan Collins (Contributor), Jeffery Deaver (Contributor), Karl Detzer (Contributor), David Durham (Contributor), Mignon G. Eberhart (Contributor), Robert Eustace (Contributor), T.T. Flynn (Contributor), Hulbert Footner (Contributor), Andrew Forrester Jr (Contributor), Gilbert Frankau (Contributor), Antonia Fraser (Contributor), Sue Grafton (Contributor), Anna Katharine Green (Contributor), Carolyn G. Hart (Contributor), HH Holmes (Contributor), Wendy Hornsby (Contributor), Fergus Hume (Contributor), Edgar Jepson (Contributor), F. Tennyson Jesse (Contributor), Faye Kellerman (Contributor), Frederic Arnold Kummer (Contributor), Laura Lippman (Contributor), Frances Lockridge (Contributor), Richard Lockridge (Contributor), Richard Marsh (Contributor), DB McCandless (Contributor), LT Meade (Contributor), Gladys Mitchell (Contributor), Deborah Morgan (Contributor), Nigel Morland (Contributor), Marcia Muller (Contributor), Frederick Nebel (Contributor), Joyce Carol Oates (Contributor), E Phillips Oppenheim (Contributor), James Oppenheim (Contributor), Emmuska Orczy (Contributor), Stuart Palmer (Contributor), Sara Paretsky (Contributor), Q. Patrick (Contributor), Barbara Paul (Contributor), Perry Paul (Contributor), Anne Perry (Contributor), CL Pirkis (Contributor), Arthur B. Reeve (Contributor), Mary Roberts Rinehart (Contributor), Clarence Rook (Contributor), SJ Rozan (Contributor), Richard Sale (Contributor), Joseph Shearing (Contributor), George R. Sims (Contributor), Julie Smith (Contributor), Vincent Starrett (Contributor), Eugene Thomas (Contributor), Roger Torrey (Contributor), Valentine (Contributor), Edgar Wallace (Contributor), Hugh C. Weir (Contributor), Carolyn Wells (Contributor), Ethel Lina White (Contributor), James Yaffe (Contributor), Arthur Leo Zagat (Contributor)

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"Edgar Award-winning editor Otto Penzler's new anthology brings together the most cunning, resourceful, and brilliant female sleuths in mystery fiction. A Vintage Crime/Black Lizard Original. For the first time ever, Otto Penzler gathers the most iconic women of the detective canon over the past 150 years, captivating and surprising readers in equal measure. The 74 handpicked stories in this collection introduce us to the most determined of gumshoe gals, from debutant detectives like Anna Katharine Green's Violet Strange to spinster sleuths like Mary Roberts Rinehart's Hilda Adams, from groundbreaking female cops like Baroness Orczy's Lady Molly to contemporary crime-fighting P.I.s like Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone, and include indelible tales from Agatha Christie, Carolyn Wells, Edgar Wallace, L. T. Meade and Robert Eustace, Sara Paretsky, Nevada Barr, Linda Barnes, Laura Lippman, and many more"--… (more)

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This book contains 74 short stories featuring women detectives. It covers 150 years of writings by some famous and some-not-so famous authors. If you’re a mystery reader, you’ll recognize many if not all the modern authors. What is particularly fascinating is reading the stories from the early days to present day to see how the idea of the woman detective has evolved over the years. You also get to read how the writing evolved over that same period. At 1136 pages, it is not a book you can or should read in one setting. It deserves to be savored, one story at a time. (

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OldFriend | Oct 12, 2018 |

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Penzler, Otto	Editor	primary author	all editions	confirmed
Anderson, Lars	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Armstrong, Charlotte	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Bangs, John Kendrick	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Barnes, Linda	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Barr, Nevada	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Barreaux, Adolphe	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Bentley, Phyllis	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Block, Lawrence	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Bodkin, M. McDonnell	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Chambers, Whitman	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Christie, Agatha	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Collins, Max Allan	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Deaver, Jeffery	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Detzer, Karl	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Durham, David	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Eberhart, Mignon G.	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Eustace, Robert	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Flynn, T.T.	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Footner, Hulbert	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Forrester Jr, Andrew	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Frankau, Gilbert	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Fraser, Antonia	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Grafton, Sue	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Green, Anna Katharine	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Hart, Carolyn G.	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Holmes, HH	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Hornsby, Wendy	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Hume, Fergus	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Jepson, Edgar	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Jesse, F. Tennyson	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Kellerman, Faye	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Kummer, Frederic Arnold	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Lippman, Laura	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Lockridge, Frances	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Lockridge, Richard	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Marsh, Richard	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
McCandless, DB	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Meade, LT	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Mitchell, Gladys	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Morgan, Deborah	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Morland, Nigel	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Muller, Marcia	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Nebel, Frederick	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Oates, Joyce Carol	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Oppenheim, E Phillips	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Oppenheim, James	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Orczy, Emmuska	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Palmer, Stuart	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Paretsky, Sara	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Patrick, Q.	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Paul, Barbara	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Paul, Perry	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Perry, Anne	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Pirkis, CL	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Reeve, Arthur B.	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Rinehart, Mary Roberts	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Rook, Clarence	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Rozan, SJ	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Sale, Richard	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Shearing, Joseph	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Sims, George R.	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Smith, Julie	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Starrett, Vincent	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Thomas, Eugene	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Torrey, Roger	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Valentine	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Wallace, Edgar	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Weir, Hugh C.	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Wells, Carolyn	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
White, Ethel Lina	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Yaffe, James	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Zagat, Arthur Leo	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed

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The Big Book of Female Detectives

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▾Book descriptions

"Edgar Award-winning editor Otto Penzler's new anthology brings together the most cunning, resourceful, and brilliant female sleuths in mystery fiction. A Vintage Crime/Black Lizard Original. For the first time ever, Otto Penzler gathers the most iconic women of the detective canon over the past 150 years, captivating and surprising readers in equal measure. The 74 handpicked stories in this collection introduce us to the most determined of gumshoe gals, from debutant detectives like Anna Katharine Green's Violet Strange to spinster sleuths like Mary Roberts Rinehart's Hilda Adams, from groundbreaking female cops like Baroness Orczy's Lady Molly to contemporary crime-fighting P.I.s like Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone, and include indelible tales from Agatha Christie, Carolyn Wells, Edgar Wallace, L. T. Meade and Robert Eustace, Sara Paretsky, Nevada Barr, Linda Barnes, Laura Lippman, and many more"--

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Contains:

Introduction
Victorians and Edwardians (British)
- Mysterious Countess / Anonymous
- Unraveled Mystery / Andrew Forrester, Jr.
- Redhill Sisterhood / C.L. Pirkis
- Diamond Lizard / George R. Sims
- Stir Outside the Café Royal / Clarence Rook
- Mandarin / Fergus Hume
- Outside Ledge: A Cablegram Mystery / L.T. Meade and Robert Eustace
- Frewin Miniatures / Emmuska Orczy
- Conscience / Richard Marsh
- Hidden Violin / M. McDonnell Bodkin
Before World War I (American)
- Christabel's Crystal / Carolyn Wells
- Bullet from Nowhere / Hugh C. Weir
- Intangible Clew / Anna Katharine Green
- Planted / James Oppenheim
Pulp Era
- Wizard's Safe / Valentine
- Red Hot / Frederick Nebel
- Domino Lady Collects / Lars Anderson
- Letters and the Law / T.T. Flynn
- Old Maids Die / Whitman Chambers
- Too Many Clients / D.B. McCandless
- Rat Turnaround / Roger Torrey
- Murder with Music / Adolphe Barreaux
- Coke for Co-Eds / Adolphe Barreaux
- Chiller-Diller / Richard Sale
- Passing of Anne Marsh / Arthur Leo Zagat
Golden Age
- Secret Adversary / Agatha Christie
- Diamond Cut Diamond / Frederic Arnold Kummer
- Locked Doors / Mary Roberts Rinehart
- Tea-Leaf / Edgar Jepson and Robert Eustace
- Almost Perfect Murder / Hulbert Footner
- Lover of St. Lys / F. Tennyson Jesse
- Misogyny at Mougins / Gilbert Frankau
- Introducing Susan Dare / Mignon G. Eberhart
- Bloody Crescendo / Vincent Starrett
- Burglars Must Dine / E. Phillips Oppenheim
- Missing Character / Phyllis Bentley
- Murder in the Movies / Karl Detzer
- Gilded Pupil / Ethel Lina White
- Case of the Hundred Cats / Gladys Mitchell
Mid-Century
- Murder with Flowers / Q. Patrick
- Vacancy with Corpse / H.H. Holmes
- Riddle of the Black Museum / Stuart Palmer
- Meredith's Murder / Charlotte Armstrong
- Flowers for an Angel / Nigel Morland
- There's Death for Remembrance / Frances and Richard Lockridge
- Mom Sings an Aria / James Yaffe
Modern Era
- All the Lonely People / Marcia Muller
- Blood Types / Julie Smith
- Poison That Leaves No Trace / Sue Grafton
- Discards / Faye Kellerman
- Spooked / Carolyn G. Hart
- Making Lemonade / Barbara Paul
- Louise / Max Allan Collins
- Strung Out / Sara Paretsky
- Beneath the Lilacs / Nevada Barr
- Miss Gibson / Linda Barnes
- Headaches and Bad Dreams / Lawrence Block
- Affair of Inconvenience / Anne Perry
- Beaubien / Deborah Morgan
- Double-Crossing Delancey / S.J. Rozan
- Shoeshine Man's Regrets / Laura Lippman
- Dust Up / Wendy Hornsby
- Case of the Parr Children / Antonia Fraser
- Fast / Jeffery Deaver
Bad Girls
- Winged Assassin / L.T. Meade and Robert Eustace
- Blood-Red Cross / L.T. Meade and Robert Eustace
- Adventure of the Carnegie Library / John Kendrick Bangs
- Woman from the East / Edgar Wallace
- She Knew What to Do / Joseph Shearing
- Forgers / Arthur B. Reeve
- Meanest Man in Europe / David Durham
- Four Square Jane Unmasked / Edgar Wallace
- Adventure of the Headless Statue / Eugene Thomas
- Madame Goes Dramatic / Perry Paul
- Extenuating Circumstances / Joyce Carol Oates