When I was at university I had the fortune to study abroad for a year. While in North Carolina I took an amazing class called ‘Women in Detective Fiction’. We spent a good portion of the class discussing the evolution of the female detective character from Nancy Drew to Ruth Galloway, and I found a few of these characters sticking with me while I drafted After the Eclipse. One thing I learned is that I wanted to write women like these: flawed, brave and foolish in equal measure.
Here are 5 female sleuths that have really stuck with me:
1. Kay Scarpetta – Patricia Cornwell
I first read Cornwell’s first novel when I was in my late teens and they imprinted on me. I found Scarpetta to be a perfect blend of good and bad. She is bold and clever but often her ego causes her to make foolish decisions. I instantly liked that she wasn’t perfect – and also that as the series went on her opinions changed as she grew as a character. Although I prefer Cornwell’s earlier books I will always have a soft spot for Scarpetta’s brand of criminal detection. Plus, she can cook like I can only dream! (Me and After the Eclipse’s protagonist Cassie are both terrible cooks).
2. Lisbeth Salander – Stieg Larsson
Lisbeth is one of my all-time favourite characters in any book. Right from the outset I loved how brash and unapologetic she was, and while some of her behaviour is undoubtedly problematic it was really fresh to see how Larsson portrayed a lack of interest in what anybody else thought of her. From the outside Lisbeth is incredibly hard to pin down because she seems to only be interested in money but that isn’t true either. She’s a character of many layers and I only hoped to emulate that in my own debut!
3. Amy Dunne – Gillian Flynn
Amy is perhaps one of the best, and most terrifying, characters in any psychological thriller. I love all of Flynn’s novels but Amy is a different beast altogether – and while you wouldn’t call her a detective I think she acts with some of the same attitudes as some of the best sleuths. She is, you could say, an anti-sleuth. She is dogged, is always five steps ahead of her pursuers, has the other characters (and indeed the audience) wrapped around her little finger... She is a horrible, horrible person, and yet somehow we can’t look away.
4. V. I. Warshawski – Sara Paretsky
I’ve always found something quite attractive about Paretsky’s detective. She’s a no-nonsense badass private eye, wise-cracking and whip smart. I loved her insistence at being called V.I. instead of Vic because it called out to the part of me that was always looking for any kind of queer representation in fiction. We talked endlessly in our class about V.I.’s adoption of a more typically masculine name in her traditionally masculine-aligned profession, and while maybe a little dated now (gimme a private-eye in high heels any day) I think it makes a good point.
5. Kinsey Millhone – Sue Grafton
Grafton’s series also appealed to be because of the kick-ass ex-cop private investigator at its heart. And while this alphabet will never go beyond Y due the sad death of the author, I think Millhone’s legacy is one that will last. Again, I love Millhone’s lack of interest in her physical appearance, a refreshing take after so many years reading female detectives through a male gaze, and her development over the series, showing that characters do not have to remain static in order to keep a growing following.
My protagonist Cassie is foolish too, often short-sighted and reckless, but her heart – like many of my favourite detectives – is in the right place. It’s just a pity she doesn’t listen to more advice, but then they never do...
After the Eclipse by Fran Dorricott (Published by Titan Books)
Two solar eclipses. Two missing girls. August 1999: Olive Warren is abducted during the darkness of a solar eclipse. Her older sister was supposed to be watching her. Olive is never seen again. March 2015: In desperate need of a fresh start, journalist Cassie Warren moves back to the small Derbyshire town of Bishop’s Green to live with her ailing grandmother. When a local girl goes missing just before the next big solar eclipse, Cassie suspects the disappearance is connected to her sister – that whoever took Olive is still out there. But she needs to find a way to prove it, and time is running out.
More information about the author can be found on her website. You can also follow her on Twitter @franwritesstuff.
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