The First Amateur Female Detective in Print

Since I love reading about female-sleuths, I found myself wondering about the first female-sleuth ever to appear in a book solely devoted to her. Who was she?

I thought back to my own reading experiences and guessed that it would be Nancy Drew or Miss Marple. So I did a little research on both (from Wikipedia):

Nancy Drew: “The character was conceived by Edward Stratemeyer, founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate. Stratemeyer had created the Hardy Boys series in 1926 (although the first volumes were not published until 1927). The series had been such a success that he decided to create a similar series for girls, with an amateur girl detective as the heroine. While Stratemeyer believed that a woman's place was in the home, he was aware that the Hardy Boys books were popular with girl readers and wished to capitalize on girls' interest in mysteries with a strong female heroine. The first four titles were published in 1930 and were an immediate success”.

Miss Marple: Agatha Christie’s famous sleuth made her first appearance in a full-length novel named “The Murder in the Vicarage”. This book was also published in 1930.

Hollywood capitalized on the success of both characters and put them in the movies: Miss Marple’s first appearance was in the early 1960’s film “Murder, She Said”, and Nancy Drew showed up in “Nancy Drew - Detective” from the late 1930’s. I’ve seen both films and they are enjoyable.

In a strange coincidence, four films were made from each book series.

They are:
Nancy Drew - Detective - 1938;
Nancy Drew - Reporter - 1939;
Nancy Drew - Trouble Shooter - 1939;
Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase - 1939

and Miss Marple in:

Murder She Said - 1961;
Murder at the Gallop - 1963;
Murder Ahoy - 1964;
Murder Most Foul - 1964.

Does anyone know of a book about a female-sleuth pre-dating 1930? Again, one that would have a book solely devoted to her, and not just be a character in another book.

If so, post a comment and share your knowledge please!

Why Female-Sleuths?

Why not Male-Sleuths too? Well, first and foremost - I’m a girl. When I started reading for fun as a teenager, I wanted to read about things that girls like myself were doing.

One day my mom was shopping at our local department store and I wandered over to the book section. There were several Nancy Drew books for sale and I persuaded Mom to buy me “The Secret in the Old Attic” - the 1944 version in yellow hardcover. I was hooked! To date, that is one of my favorite Nancy Drew books.

(I also saw the blue hardcover Hardy Boys books but didn’t get any. I still haven’t read any Hardy Boys yet. Hope to someday.)

Plus I’m drawn to the cozy, or traditional mysteries. The publishers are marketing these books to women and I’ve gotta say, I’m right there. Amazon.com sure has me pegged as they have tons of recommendations that are right up my alley.

I like that many of these mysteries feature women who have chosen many different career-paths, or who are interested in so many different kinds of hobbies. The lists are endless.

Plus these ladies are typically nice, or funny or interesting in someway. They are wives, moms, daughters, sisters, aunts and nieces. They have personalities and feelings that I can relate to.

Several years ago I was really into Jonathan Kellerman’s Alex Delaware child psychologist series. I thought the books were good and extremely well written, but the graphic descriptions of violence really bothered me. Sadly, I stopped reading him.

In general I’m not against reading about male-sleuths and I imagine there are several good ones out there. Feel free to leave a comment if you have some you’d like to recommend.

It’s just that there are many, many female-sleuths out there. I’d like to read about them all someday!

Dumber Than a Box of Rocks

Re: The Ghost and the Femme Fatale by Alice Kimberly

In so many of the cozy or traditional murder mysteries, the police detectives investigating the murders are stubborn, insensitive and just plain dumb! They refuse to listen to the insights and intuition of our female-sleuths. The police often consider the female-sleuths to be meddlesome and just plain 'in-the-way'. The cops don't get it, which is too bad because our girls have the brains and the gumption to figure out what's what!

Quindicott's police Chief Ciders is no exception. He thinks Dr. Lilly had a fatal 'accident' in Penelope's store, and even goes so far as to say that Penelope is negligent because she allowed Dr. Lilly to climb up a ladder. He thinks Penelope set herself up for a lawsuit by Dr. Lilly's estate.

What does Jack the Ghost think of all this? He calls Chief Ciders "Chief Donut" and he thinks Dr. Lilly was murdered. So does Penelope.

Hmm, I wonder who is right?

On the Lookout

This is my first attempt writing a blog. It’s my hope to share my interest and insight into the genre with other interested parties. Maybe some of you reading this will also have a favorite female-sleuth that you can share with us. I’m always on the lookout for new and fun series.

Amazon.com has recommendations for me that they share in the hopes of getting me further hooked! Thankfully we have a rewards credit card from them - after you earn 2500 points, you get a gift certificate worth $25. Good enough for about 4 new paperbacks!

(Photo courtesy stock.xchng)

Obsession!

So now I’ve become obsessed with fictional female-sleuths like Kinsey Millhone, Stephanie Plum, Hannah Swenson, and Goldi Schultz, to name a few. I admire their ability to put the pieces together and solve the mystery. I also enjoy their senses of humor and their relationships with lovers, family and friends.

As this blog progresses, I will share my thoughts and opinions about the books I’ve read. I can even sometimes figure out ‘who done it’ before I reach the end of the book!

Thanks for visiting and I hope you enjoy my blog!