To close out my week celebrating women’s history,
I’m veering off into the fictional world of girl detectives.
The introduction of fictional female detectives came about, apparently,
in the early 1860s with one Mrs. Gladden investigating crimes as a professional detective
in the novels of Andrew Forrester.
60 years later Dorothy Sayers was critical of the genre,
arguing that women detectives as written were not given to logical reasoning
but “irritatingly intuitive” luck in solving crimes.
And then she gave us Harriet Vane.
By the time Nancy Drew came on the scene in the 1930s,
there had already been a handful of teen girl detectives
though none, obviously, would ever match Nancy’s popularity.
In 1964, Louise Fitzhugh introduced Harriet the Spy, perhaps the first middle-grade girl to assert her moxie in the detecting business.
The whole progression of fictional female detectives, their growing capabilities and boundary-pushing, would make a fascinating study, don’t you think? If you’re interesting in reading more, here are a few articles I found helpful:
The First Fictional Female Detectives
Critical Survey of Mystery & Detective Fiction: Women Detectives: An Overview
Girl Detective
Girl detectives provide a delightful genre for tweens, teens, and adults.
Each of the six girls on today’s list is precocious, intrepid, curious, and smart,
unconcerned with lines drawn between what “young ladies” should or shouldn’t be busy doing. And they would sure make Dorothy Sayers happy with their deductive reasoning skills!
I’ve reviewed the first book in each of the series featuring these daring damsels
so you can get started on the right foot.
Flavia de Luce
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, by Alan Bradley
published in 2009 by Bantam Books
370 pages
Flavia de Luce is an 11-year-old with a passion for poisons and she concocts them with relish in the vast, Victorian-era chemistry lab that still takes up a room within Buckshaw — her family’s decaying mansion in rural England.
It’s 1950 and Flavia’s irrepressible curiosity is about to be supercharged. In short order she is surprised by a strange “gift” on their doorstep, mystified by a late-night argument she overhears, and shocked to discover a dead body in their cucumber patch! Does she wait for the local constables to solve these mysteries? Of course not. Armed with moxie and her trusty bicycle, Gladys, she dives head first into the detecting business herself, and into all the dangers inherent in that occupation!
Flavia is a more complex character, flaws included, than the other girl detectives on today’s list. That makes sense because even though she is only 11, this book was written and marketed to adult audiences. It uses sophisticated vocabulary and allusions throughout. Strong readers ages 13 through adult are a great audience for the series – this is the first of 10 books. I haven’t read any of the others.
NB: Flavia is heading for the big screens!
Myrtle Hardcastle
Premeditated Myrtle, by Elizabeth C. Bunce
published in 2020 by Algonquin Young Readers
358 pages
Myrtle Hardcastle, age 12, is a keen-witted sleuth. One might even say she has an Unconventional Obsession with matters of crime. She’s well-versed in the fine points of the law thanks to extensive conversations with her attorney-father and perusals of his big fat law books, and she’s outfitted with microscopes, telescopes, and copious imperturbability.
When Miss Wodehouse, her elderly next-door-neighbor, is discovered dead in the bathtub, the ever-observant Myrtle suspects foul play, and with the help of her governess, Ada Judson, who’s as much soul-sister as chaperone, Myrtle persistently, shrewdly, uncovers the unsavory truths.
Set in Victorian England, this first installment hums along with sparkling wit, delightful characters, sinister plots, plentiful red herrings, and a Girl Detective with no patience for Proper Decorum. Dear Reader, Myrtle and Ada won me over in a heartbeat! There are now five Myrtle Hardcastle mysteries, and the quality of the storytelling continues to shine. These are awesome for ages 10 to adult. I’m always delighted to grab the newest book in the series as they’re published.
Aggie Morton
Aggie Morton Mystery Queen: The Body Under the Piano
written by Marthe Jocelyn, illustrated by Isabelle Follath
published in 2020 by Tundra Books
318 pages
This series stars Aggie Morton, a 12-year-old girl with a Morbid Preoccupation modeled after Dame Agatha Christie herself. She’s in league with young Hector Perot, an eminently polite Belgian immigrant with canny observational skills modeled after Hercule Poirot, of course.
Aggie’s lively, curious, breath-of-fresh-air voice greets us from page one and carries us along with verve throughout the suspenseful tale set in a deliciously Edwardian world.
She lives in a small town on the coast of England in 1902. One day – surprise! – Aggie discovers a dead body on the floor of the Mermaid Dance Room! As the number of suspects grows and the murder threatens to tear the town apart, Aggie and Hector will need every tool at their disposal — including their insatiable curiosity, deductive skills and not a little help from their friends — to solve the case before Aggie’s beloved dance instructor is charged with a crime Aggie is sure she didn’t commit. There are now 4 titles in this series. Ages 10 and up.
Lady Ada Bryon and Mary Godwin
The Case of the Missing Moonstone (The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency No. 1)
written by Jordan Stratford, illustrated by Kelly Murphy
published in 2015 by Alfred A. Knopf
240 pages
Lady Ada Byron, age eleven, is a genius. Isolated, awkward and a bit rude—but a genius.
Mary Godwin, age fourteen, is a romantic. Adventurous, astute, and kind,
Mary is to become Ada’s first true friend.
Together, the girls conspire to form the Wollstonecraft Detective Agency—a secret constabulary for the apprehension of clever criminals. Their first case involves a stolen heirloom, a false confession, and an array of fishy suspects. But it’s no match for the deductive powers and bold hearts of Ada and Mary.
Modeled after Ada Byron Lovelace, the pioneering computer programmer, and Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein, with a detective agency named after Mary’s mother, the early feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, this is a marvelous, zesty opening to the series. I haven’t read the subsequent volumes but recommend these for ages 9 and up.
Sophie Taylor
The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow, written by Katherine Woodfine
American edition published in 2016 by Kane Miller
313 pages
Sophie Taylor, age 14, is newly orphaned. Accustomed to living an elegant lifestyle with her papa, Sophie now must make her own way in the world.
Landing a job at Mr. Sinclair’s posh new department store in London,
working in the Millinery Department among “a riot of silk flowers, huge chiffon bows, frills of lace and nodding ostrich plumes” is a bright stroke of luck for her.
It’s at Sinclair’s that Sophie makes the acquaintance of Lil,
a dramatic, dark-haired beauty who works as a “Captain’s Girl,” a living mannequin,
modeling the rich gowns in the store’s dress shows. Although Lil has the looks of a goddess, she’s got the spirit and spunk of a brazen detective.
Which is just as well, because a priceless clockwork sparrow has been stolen from the store’s display, and it’s up to Lil and Sophie to track down the dastardly criminal responsible!
These Edwardian-era mysteries are lively, descriptive, fast-paced, with a bit of an old-fashioned sensibility in the dialogue in keeping with their Edwardian time period. There are 4 “Sinclair’s Mysteries,” all of which would are tickety-boo for strong readers age 9-10 through adults.
Ruby Redfort
Ruby Redfort Look Into My Eyes
written and illustrated by Lauren Child
published in 2011 by Candlewick
400 pages
I love Lauren Child’s Clarice Bean novels, and laugh out loud as I’m reading them.
In those books, Clarice is enamored with gutsy fictional detective Ruby Redfort. Thank goodness Child has now written the very Ruby Redfort detective stories that Clarice loves so well so we can enjoy them, too!
Ruby is a brilliant 13-year-old, an exceptionally astute code-breaker, a girl with stunning powers of observation. It takes all her skills as well as her incredible pluck, a few way-cool top-secret spy gadgets, and the loyal assistance of her good pal Clancy Crew, to crack this first case.
It all begins when the entire belongings of the Redfort household go missing at once — including the housekeeper! Add some strange phone calls, a mysterious new butler, a hush-hush spy agency, the arrival of a huge shipment of gold, and a precious jade artifact, and Ruby finds herself hip deep in an ocean of trouble.
How will she survive, rescue Mrs. Digby, and foil the bad guys?
Almost 400 fast-reading pages are filled with quirky characters, puzzling discoveries, and Ruby’s breezy, cool investigations. Included in these pages is a vigenere cipher to attempt to crack yourselves, and a 99-second Spectrum Agency Test that you can take to see if you measure up to the likes of Ruby Redfort!
There are 6 Ruby Redfort novels, and they are a blast for ages 10 and up.
And a postscript:
If you’d like to read about Kate Warne, the true-life, first female detective,
check out these titles:
The Detective’s Assistant, by Kate Hannigan
A historical fiction account of Kate’s work with the original Pinkerton’s Detective Agency.
You can find my review of this high-energy book, here.
How Kate Warne Saved President Lincoln
by Elizabeth Van Steenwyk, illustrated by Valentina Belloni
An excellent picture book biography of Kate Warne.
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Okay! That’s it for this week.
Again, if you’re interested in reading more fabulous biographies of women,
do check out my list of over 200 titles,
each one linked to my review.
I learn so much and have my world marvelously expanded via these picture books.
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