Women private investigators
10 Years Later, Mystery Heroine 'Maisie Dobbs' Gains New Life
Jacqueline Winspear's debut mystery, Maisie Dobbs, set in England around World War I, came out in paperback a decade ago. A new edition testifies to the enduring allure of the traditional mystery.
American Mystery Finds A New Voice On 'The Bohemian Highway'
This is the second mystery in Sara Gran's series featuring 40-ish bad-girl detective Claire DeWitt. Critic Maureen Corrigan says that reading a noir novel written by a Brooklyn-born author gave her a rush of private-eye, patriotic pride.
Book Review: 'Maisie Dobbs'
Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews Jacqueline Winspear's debut novel, Maisie Dobbs.
Two Last Recommendations for Beach Reading.
Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews The Intersection of Law and Desire, (Norton) which debuts the feminist lesbian private investigator, Micky Knight by J.M. Redmann. And a collection of lesbian pulp romances, The Beebo Brinker Chronicles (Quality Paperback Book Club) by Ann Bannon which has just been republished.
From the Archives: Hard-Boiled Writers Mosley and Grafton.
Writer Walter Mosley His first book, "Devil In A Blue Dress," (Norton) is a hard-boiled detective story starring a black gumshoe up against white prejudice. Mosley's mysteries are loosely based on stories his father told him about black culture the 1940's. His latest book is called "A Red Death" (Thorndike). (REBROADCAST FROM 6/8/90)
Mystery Writer Sue Grafton.
Mystery writer Sue Grafton. She's known for her "alphabet series" with female detective Kinsey Milhone, "A is for Alibi" through "G is for Gumshoe." Grafton's latest mystery is "H is for Homicide." (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)
Two New CBS Sitcoms.
Television critic David Bianculli reviews two new CBS sitcoms: "Normal Life," starring Frank Zappa's kids, Dweezil and Moon Unit Zappa, and "Sydney," starring Valerie Bertinelli of "One Day at a Time" fame. Bianculli says one is pretty good, and the other needs some polishing.
How a Bitter Divorce Led Sue Grafton to Write Fiction About Murder.
Mystery writer Sue Grafton. Her heroine, Kinsey Millhone, is a new breed of hard-boiled detective: competent and self-reliant, thirty-two years old, twice married with no kids, and currently single. The Kinsey Millhone mystery series began with A is for Alibi, and continues through the alphabet. Last year's publication was E is for Evidence, and the series continues with the newest addition, F is for Fugitive. Grafton has written this about creating a female private eye - "The basic characteristics of any good investigator are a plodding nature and infinite patience.
Mystery Novels, Lesbians. and Feminism.
Mystery writer Mary Wings. Wings' novels draw on the familiar hard-boiled detective genre, but her heroine is a lesbian-feminist detective named Emma Victor. Wings new book is titled "She Came in a Flash."
Sue Grafton's Mysteries in Alphabetical Order
Each of Grafton's detective novels begin with a letter of the alphabet. Her newest book is called "F" Is for Fugitive. She says that, in order to bring authenticity to her stories, she studied up on forensics, visited a morgue, and learned to fire a gun.