Lady on the Case : 22 Female Detective Stories

by Marcia Muller (Editor), Bill Pronzini (Editor), Martin H. Greenberg (Editor)

For more than a century, fictional female detectives have challenged the notion that the scene of the crime is no place for a lady.Lady on the Caseis a thrilling selection of classic and contemporary suspense stories in which damsels of deduction and hard-boiled heroines forsake home and hearth to walk the mean streets in pursuit of justice.

The gaslight era of genteel crime-solvers who exercise their brains against criminal brutes is ably represented by Anna Katharine Green's " The Second Bullet," with its refines detective, Violet Strange, and by Baroness Orczy's "The Man in the Inverness Cape," in which Lady Molly's superior intellect lands her a plum position with Scotland Yard---and lands a diamond-snatching villain in jail. Agatha Christie provides the epitome of the golden age detective, Miss Jane Marple, who solves the diabolical mystery of "The Four Suspects" without leaving the comfort of the drawing room.

This distinguished grouping of twenty-two tales features both amateur and professional sleuths---including a Catholic nun, a dime-a dance flapper, and the ex-school teacher of Stuart Palmer's full-length novel "Murder on Wheels" whose female perspective brings fresh insights to the study of criminal behavior. Whether single or married, the women of these stories are always engaged---in their detectively duties---equaling their male counterparts in cleverness and courage.

Murder at Troyte's Hill / C.L. Pirkis
Man in the Inverness cape / Baroness Orczy
Death in the sun / G.D.H. and Margaret Cole
Second bullet / Anna Katharine Green
The stripper / Anthony Boucher
Claret stick / Mignon Eberhart
Four suspects / Agatha Christie
Broken men / Marcia Muller
Invisible intruder / Edward D. Hoch
Date in Helsinki / Patricia McGerr
Dancing detective / Cornell Woolrich
Lucky penny / Linda Barnes
Fuzzy things / D.B. Olsen
Coyote and Quarter-Moon / Bill Pronzini and Jeffrey Wallmann
At the old swimming hole / Sara Paretsky
Mom sheds a tear / James Yaffe
Daisy Bell / Gladys Mitchell
Solo job / Paul Gallico
Not before my morning coffee / Susan Dunlap
Mrs. Norris observes / Dorothy Salisbury Davis
The Parker shotgun / Sue Grafton
Murder on wheels / Stuart Palmer

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies

512 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Marcia Muller is an American author of mystery and thriller novels.
Muller has written many novels featuring her Sharon McCone female private detective character. Vanishing Point won the Shamus Award for Best P.I. Novel. Muller had been nominated for the Shamus Award four times previously.
In 2005, Muller was awarded the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master award.
She was born in Detroit, Michigan, and grew up in Birmingham, Michigan, and graduated in English from the University of Michigan and worked as a journalist at Sunset magazine. She is married to detective fiction author Bill Pronzini with whom she has collaborated on several novels.

Reviews

[Lana Kamennof-sine]

What a wonderful compilation of short stories and 1 complete novel. Fascinating to see the evolution of the female detective. Also appreciated the fact that while I may have come close to the solution of the mystery there were always nuances that I'd missed.
It was soooo good that I even managed to stuff it into my carry on for the plane trip home before borders were shut down during the COVID panic.

[Phil]

21 short stories and 1 complete novel staring the world's greatest female sleuths!
Great stories - loved reading it.

[Michelle Powers]

Short stories- all mysteries with female protagonists. Some set in US but some in England. Very fun. Found it much better than "Best American Mystery Stories-2013"

[☠☼Serena☼☠]

Good selection of mysteries compiled together!! Love it!!