It’s been over 20 years since Ellen Nehr called me up and asked if I would write an article for a project she was working on: Deadly Women: The Women Mystery Reader’s Indispensable Companion. I, of course, agreed and the wonderful volume was published in 1998. Just glance at the Table of Contents below and check out all the writers involved in providing information and recommendations for mysteries written by women or featuring women characters.
Just by serendipity, I discovered my copy of Deadly Women which had been mis-shelved for a couple of decades. I spent an hour rereading several of the essays Jan Grape, Dean James, and Ellen Nehr brought together for mystery readers. Bill Crider is here. So is Nancy Pickard, Marcia Muller, Bill Pronzini, and Ed Gorman.
Most of the best known women writers of the 1990s show up here in one form or another. The interviews reveal key facts about the writers. The checklists–although slightly dated–still are valuable.
Deadly Women is a browser’s delight! Many of these detailed articles will send you down mysterious rabbit-holes and generate Want-Lists. If you don’t own a copy of Deadly Women, copies are available for reasonable prices on-line. Do you have a favorite female mystery writer? GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
| Foreword — Jan Grape, Dean James, Ellen Nehr | 1 | (2) | |
| A Brief Look Back | 3 | (44) | |
| “O, Pioneers” — Charles Champlin | 5 | (4) | |
| “Lady and the Dark: Louisa May Alcott’s Literary Double Life” — Elizabeth Foxwell | 9 | (4) | |
| “From Honey to Freddie” — Robert J. Randisi | 13 | (4) | |
| “Women in the Pulps” — Bill Pronzini | 17 | (4) | |
| “Paperback Ladies” — Bill Crider | 21 | (2) | |
| “Carter Brown’s Fabulous Mystery Babe: Mavis Seidlitz” — George Kelley | 23 | (4) | |
| “Leave Them Laughing: The Mysteries of Craig Rice” — Jeffrey Marks | 27 | (4) | |
| “Some Women We Should Be Reading” — Ed Gorman | 31 | (6) | |
| “Beyond Christie and Kinsey: The Twelve Best Women Mystery Writers You Never Heard Of” — Thomas Leitch | 37 | (10) | |
| A Conversation with Mary Higgins Clark — Jan Grape | 47 | (10) | |
| A Mary Higgins Clark Checklist | 54 | (3) | |
| Interview with Dorothy Cannell — Dean James | 57 | (4) | |
| Heroines Are Born and Influenced | 61 | (20) | |
| “I Owe It All to Nancy Drew” — Nancy Pickard | 63 | (4) | |
| “What Sharon McCone Learned from Judy Bolton” — Marcia Muller | 67 | (4) | |
| “Nancy Lies about Her Age” — Mary Blount Christian | 71 | (2) | |
| “Writer’s Bookshelf” — Margaret Maron | 73 | (2) | |
| “The 10 Best Pieces of Writing Advice I Ever Received…” — Margaret Maron | 75 | (2) | |
| “Drifting Through the Library Stacks” — Sharon Zukowski | 77 | (2) | |
| “Early Influences” — Annette Meyers, Wendy Hornsby, John Lutz | 79 | (2) | |
| Interview with Elizabeth Peters — Dean James | 81 | (8) | |
| An Elizabeth Peters Checklist | 86 | (1) | |
| Ten Favorite Mysteries from Barbara Mertz | 87 | (2) | |
| Interview with Sharan Newman — Dean James | 89 | (4) | |
| You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby | 93 | (22) | |
| “Women’s Roles in the Ancient Mystery” — Lynda S. Robinson | 95 | (4) | |
| “Tough Girls, Hard Cases” — Susan Wittig Albert | 99 | (4) | |
| “The Lesbian Detective” — Ellen Hart | 103 | (4) | |
| A Reader’s Checklist of Lesbian Detectives — Jan Grape, Dean James, Ellen Nehr | 107 | (2) | |
| “PC Hits the Mystery Scene–and Gets Hit In Return” — Kathy Phillips | 109 | (6) | |
| Interview with Val McDermid — Jerry Sykes | 115 | (4) | |
| Interview with Patricia Cornwell — Paul Duncan | 119 | (6) | |
| It’s All Part of the Writing Game | 125 | (42) | |
| “Why Do They Call Them Cozies?” — Ellen Nehr | 127 | (2) | |
| “Why I Don’t Write Hard-Boiled” — Carolyn G. Hart | 129 | (4) | |
| “Why I Don’t Write Cozies” — Teri White | 133 | (2) | |
| “The Darker Side of My Life” — Billie Sue Mosiman | 135 | (4) | |
| “Midnight Louie: From Science Fiction to Feline Fiction” — Carole Nelson Douglas | 139 | (4) | |
| “The Strange and True Story of a Woman Who Wrote Pulp Fiction” — Gayle Lynds | 143 | (3) | |
| “Life With Ed” — Julie Smith | 146 | (3) | |
| “Marti MacAlsiter: Tough Cop–Tender Heart” — Eleanor Taylor Brand | 149 | (2) | |
| “The Older They Get…” — Elizabeth Daniels Squire | 151 | (4) | |
| A Reader’s Checklist of Older Women Sleuths — Jan Grape, Dean James, Ellen Nehr | 155 | (2) | |
| “Something to Love and Laugh At (The Aristocratic Sleuth)” — Joyce Christmas | 157 | (6) | |
| “How Cyberspace Is Changing the Writer’s Life” — Barbara Paul | 163 | (4) | |
| A Conversation with Marian Babson — Carol Harper | 167 | (6) | |
| My Mama Told Me There’d Be Days Like This | 173 | (22) | |
| “Wendy Goes to the Morgue” — Wendy Hornsby | 175 | (4) | |
| “Where Dottie Came From” — Gar Anthony Haywood | 179 | (2) | |
| “The Life, Loves (and Twisted Fantasies) of a She-Writer” — Joan Hess | 181 | (4) | |
| “The Proper Study of Mankind is Woman?” — John Lutz | 185 | (4) | |
| “Writing Like a Girl” — Wendi Lee | 189 | (2) | |
| “A Heroine for Me” — Liza Cody | 191 | (4) | |
| Interview with Minnette Walters — Dean James | 195 | (4) | |
| Interview with Elizabeth George — Crow Dillon-Parkin | 199 | (6) | |
| It’s Murder, Y’all | 205 | (16) | |
| “A Matter of Pedigree” — Deborah Adams | 207 | (2) | |
| “How I Became Local Color” — Toni L. P. Kelner | 209 | (2) | |
| “Translating English Into…” — Barbara Burnett Smith | 211 | (4) | |
| ” ‘I’ Is Not Me” — Margaret Maron | 215 | (3) | |
| A Checklist of Southern Mysteries — Jane Grape, Dean James, Ellen Nehr | 218 | (3) | |
| Why We Love Kinsey Millhone — Bev DeWeese | 221 | (6) | |
| Interview with Janet Evanovich — Adrian Muller | 227 | (6) | |
| Brief Appearances | 233 | (10) | |
| “Short and Sweet” — Edward D. Hoch | 235 | (4) | |
| “The Long and Short of It” — Jan Burke | 239 | (4) | |
| Interview with Nancy Pickard — Jeffrey Marks | 243 | (6) | |
| A Nancy Pickard Checklist | 247 | (2) | |
| Get Them While They’re Young | 249 | (10) | |
| “Murder She Writes: Interview with Joan Lowery Nixon” — Mary Blount Christian | 251 | (4) | |
| “Pathways, Pointers, and Pearls: Interview with Carol Gorman” — Carol Crowley | 255 | (4) | |
| “F as in Fascination” — Don Sandstrom | 259 | (4) | |
| Hidden Treasures or Buried Trash? | 263 | (12) | |
| “Recycling in the New Millenium” — Susan Rogers Cooper | 265 | (2) | |
| “Funny You Should Ask” — Barbara Burnett Smith | 267 | (1) | |
| “Tale of Post-Feminist Gothic” — Carole Nelson Douglas | 268 | (1) | |
| First Manuscript? — Jan Burke, Lynda S. Robinson, John Lutz, Wendy Hornsby, Gayle Lynds, Mary Blount Christian, Annette Meyers, Ed Hoch, Billie Sue Mosiman, Elizabeth Daniels Squire | 269 | (6) | |
| Interview with Mary Wings — Adrian Muller | 275 | (6) | |
| Interview with J.A. Jance — Rylla Goldberg | 281 | (6) | |
| Interview with Sara Paretsky — Dean James | 287 | (6) | |
| Deadly Allies | 293 | (14) | |
| “Chipping Away at Affirmative Action” — P. M. (Pat) Carlson | 295 | (2) | |
| “President Salutes Past, Looks to Future” — Annette Meyers | 297 | (2) | |
| “Former Presidents Lead Celebration” — Eve K. Sandstrom | 299 | (2) | |
| “Private Eye Writers of America `A Very Personal Reflection'” — Robert J. Randisi | 301 | (4) | |
| A Reader’s Checklist of Female Private Eyes | 305 | (2) | |
| A Visit with Marcia Muller — Jan Grape | 307 | (8) | |
| A Marcia Muller Checklist | 313 | (2) | |
| Does Crime Ever Pay Enough? | 315 | (26) | |
| “On the Road without Charles Kuralt” — Marlys Millhiser | 317 | (4) | |
| “Retrospect” — Joan Hess | 321 | (4) | |
| “An Austin Country Mouse” — Mary Willis Walker | 325 | (2) | |
| “There’s Not Much Mystery Here…” — Barbara Peters | 327 | (4) | |
| “Collecting Women Authors” — Jean Swanson | 331 | (4) | |
| A Sample of Collectible Mysteries by Women Writers | 335 | (2) | |
| “An Independent Mystery Press…” — Barbara Peters | 337 | (4) | |
| Interview with Laurie King — Dean James | 341 | (6) | |
| Interview with Charlotte MacLeod — Dean James | 347 | (5) | |
| Contributor Notes | 352 | (6) | |
| Index | 358 |
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Favorites-P. D. James, Denise Mina, Val McDermid, Megan Abbott.. Never liked Mary Higgins Clark.
Steve, I’d have to add Agatha Christie to your list.
Sounds great: Megan Abbott, Tana French, Ruth Rendell, Laura Lippman, Val McDermid to name a few.
Patti, I’d have to add Catherine Aird to your list. And…Patti Abbott!
Although I don’t make any conscious effort to keep my mystery reading balanced between the sexes it does seem to work out that way. If I had to pick favorites among female writers no longer with us I’d go with Christie (who else?) and Margaret Millar. Among current writers I’d go with Tana French, Megan Abbott (whose latest is waiting for me at the library), and Val McDermid. Of course there are lots more.
Michael, I’m a big fan of Margaret Millar’s mysteries, too.
I should have included Margaret Millar, Patricia Highsmith, and Josephine Tey
Steve, Millar and Tey are great. Patricia Highsmith is in a class of her own.
And Shirley Jackson…
Indeed. Though she’s almost off to the side with nearly all her work, despite “The Lottery” being an almost-perfect suspense story.
Jerry, Shirley Jackson changed everything with “The Lottery”!
And who are your favorite Male cf writers? Favorite cf writers who would resent the classifications?
Among those not cited so far, Marijane Meeker, Marcia Muller, Joan Aiken, Miriam Allen deFord, Sara Paretsky, Margaret St.Clair, Elizabeth Hand, Leigh Brackett, Liza Cody. Patti might be the best who is too undersung who comes to mind. J. C. Oates certainly isn’t undersung, but might just deserve a mention, however much it might annoy too many for a variety of reasons.
Todd, I would have to give favorite MALE WRITERS some thought.
Hmm, I have a lot of these type books – MYSTERY WOMEN: AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF LEADING WOMEN CHARACTERS IN MYSTERY FICTION (two volumes); BY A WOMAN’S HAND: A GUIDE TO MYSTERY FICTION BY WOMEN; DETECTING WOMEN (1 and 2): A READER’S GUIDE AND CHECKLIST FOR MYSTERY SERIES WRITTEN BY WOMEN;
But I don’t see this one.
Favorite women mystery writers include Val McDermid, Marcia Muller, Margaret Maron, Agatha Christie, Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, Kate Ellis, Jill McGown.
Jeff, you would enjoy DEADLY WOMEN.
Kate Wilhelm. Kit Reed (aka Craig).
Todd, I have a number of Kate Wilhelm mysteries waiting to be read. I did read Wilhelm’s SF and enjoyed it.
DEATH QUALIFIED being among those which split the difference.
Though the relevant texts make up a small measure of her body of work, Carol Emshwiller.
I’m currently reading/rereading Christie, starting at the beginning. I’ve just made it as far as PARTNERS IN CRIME, so not even in the 1930s yet.
My favorite current mystery writer is Ann Cleeves, who I find thoroughly satisfying. I like the tv shows based on her different series, but reading her I find just exactly what I want from these books. I’ve almost caught up on her, maybe half a dozen still to read. Considering that the first of hers I read was in 2020, that’s a lot in 3 1/2 years.
Jeff, it may shock you to learn that I have many of Ann Cleeves’s books on my shelves waiting to be read! With your enthusiastic review, they’ve all moved up on the Read Real Soon list!