Happy Tuesday!
I've noticed myself reading quite a bit of historical detective fiction, and noticed that they all had one thing in common: a kick butt female detective. And so, I have compiled a list of these top notch ladies:
10. Liza Hastings, Prisoners in the Palace by Michaela MacColl
After her parents were killed when their carriage crashed, Liza was forced to find a job, something that would have been beneath her had her parents lived. She bears her lot in life with such grace, barely allowing herself time to grieve over her unfair situation. This girl was able to balance the bratty and selfish future Queen Victoria, the plot of usurping fiends, and a nosy, but handsome journalist, all without losing her cool.
9. Marjorie McClelland, the Marjorie McClelland series by Amy Patricia Meade
Marjorie is a charming young mystery writer who lives in a quiet town during The Depression. Nothing happens in this town until a charming millionaire moves into an old mansion nearby and a murder is discovered. Add in the handsome detective assigned to the case and you find yourself involved in a delicious love triangle. All the while, Marjorie is taking direction from no one, trying to solve the murder on her own, and proving that women can be strong, smart, and feminine at the same time.
8. Mary Quinn, The Agency series by Y. S. Lee
1860s London was not an attractive place. Sights and sounds and overpowering smells (oh god, the smells!) invade the senses, and day to day life was a game of kill or be killed. After her parents' deaths, Mary is forced to live the life of a street rat. To avoid unwanted attention from unscrupulous men, Mary disguises herself as a boy. Unfortunately, she is caught stealing, a crime punishable by death. Her last minute rescue by a school for girls keeps her off the streets and trains her for a more adventurous life. The school is just a cover for a network of spies, The Agency. Mary is the kind of spy that will stop at nothing to finish her mission, even if it involves "pretending" to conspire with the attractive young engineer, James Easton.
7. Penelope Lumley, The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series by Maryrose Wood
Penelope is an orphan who, after graduating from The Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, is assigned to be a governess at Ashton Place. Her mistress, not much older than Penelope, is a spoiled rich woman who wants nothing to do with the three peculiar children her husband found in the woods. It's Penelope's quick thinking and Swanburne mottoes that help her tame these wild children. But there's someone out there who does not have the well-being of the children in mind and it's up to her to protect them. Penelope is the kind of babysitter that every child wished they had and has the mind of a top notch detective.
6. Maisie Dobbs, Masie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear
Maisie's father sent her to live with Lady Rowan Compton when she was thirteen, and the good Lady discovered just how bright Maisie was. Taking great care to educate her, she ensured that Maisie would have a life like no other woman of her station. After serving as a nurse in The Great War, Maisie comes back to England to train as a private detective. Her first case involves a suspicious farm for men injured in the war. It's Maisie's recollections of her life during the war and how she's still coping with them that make Maisie such a fascinating character.
5. Jade del Cameron, Jade del Cameron series by Suzanne Arruda
Jade is a fascinating woman who found her roots as a tomboy on her parents' ranch in New Mexico. During The Great War, Jade enlisted as an ambulance driver, experiencing horrible sights and sounds, including witnessing her fiance be shot by enemy fire in his airplane and plummet to the earth. To say that she is scarred is an understatement, but that doesn't stop her from taking an assignment as a photojournalist in Kenya and proving to the men there that she is by no means a fragile lady. When a mystery crops up involving her dead fiance, she will go to any means necessary to solve the case and put his memory to rest. Along the way she meets some dashing men who are frustrated yet intrigued by her spark for life and pave the way for some fascinating romance.
4. Flavia de Luce, Flavia de Luce series by C. Alan Bradley
The youngest of three sisters, this 1950s eleven-year-old chemistry genius (her specialty is poison) is a force to be reckoned with. When a murder happens in her own yard, her curiosity compels her to solve the case, even if it means finding herself in some pretty precarious situations. This bright girl will either end up as the director of Scotland Yard or winner of the Nobel Prize for chemistry. Or both.
3. Sally Lockhart, Sally Lockhart Trilogy by Philip Pullman
Before he died, Sally's father made sure to school her in the important matters: how to shoot a gun, run a business, and military tactics. Left poor after her father's death, she's forced to live with an old relative, one who is not so keen on Sally's "wild" ways, and wants her to conform to the current Victorian standards of womanhood. But Sally knows that there's more to her father's estate than his colleagues are letting on, and when mention of a deadly gem surface, her life is in serious danger. Thankfully she has Frederick, Jim, and Adelaide to help her navigate her through this seedy underworld of London.
2. Nefret Forth AND
1. Amelia Peabody, Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters
My mom handed this book to me when I was in high school. I thought it would be super lame, but at the time I was fascinated by Ancient Egypt and mysteries so I gave it a shot. If you want to meet the two most kick butt women ever to grace the mystery genre, then you MUST pick up this series. Amelia's the only daughter in a house full of boys, and it is left to her to tend to her father in his dying days. After his death, he leaves ALL of his money to her, and instead of demurely taking her place in London society of the 1880s, she enlists a traveling companion and sets off to explore Egypt. Her and her companion, Evelyn, find themselves at an archaeological dig headed by the Emerson brothers. There, Amelia finds a dead body and some unlikely allies. Along the way, the Peabody gang amasses more members, including Nefret (I won't give too much away about her, but this girl accomplishes almost as much as Amelia). Amelia offers us her practical thinking (what other woman in that time period would wear trousers simply because they allowed her to move more freely?) and sharp wit, and combines the history of the times with that of Ancient Egypt and more dead bodies to produce the most lovable heroine of all time.
