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Sisters in Crime Challenge Post #3: The genre busters

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This post at Petrona reminded me of a tremendous small Australian publishing house called Spinifex Press which specialises in ‘publishing innovative and controversial feminist books with an optimistic edge’. A few years ago they re-published Australian author Finola Moorhead’s Still Murder which, according to Moorhead herself, is not a genre novel although it features a crime, an investigation, and suspects. In a short essay in Killing Women: Rewriting Detective Fiction (Delys Bird editor) Moorhead explains her somewhat paradoxical lack of comfort with the notion of the crime genre’s suitability for tackling the subjects that interested her (broadly speaking women’s thinking and feminism) and her reasons for using the genre’s popularity, in spite of these misgivings, to do exactly that.

The book was first published in 1991 when it won the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Fiction. On re-reading it 20 years later I was pleasantly surprised to find it largely undated and as compelling as I remembered. The themes and ideas it explores seem almost purpose-built for this particular challenge. To begin with Still Murder is not a conventional narrative, using instead a mixture of fictional diary entries, news clippings, detective’s notebooks and other documents to flesh out its complex, grand story. This could have proven not much more than a quirky experiment but Moorhead is skilled enough to draw these disparate streams and points of view together to tell a fascinating story. The fact that it unfolds somewhat unevenly with readers never knowing which angle will be coming next adds to the suspense.

The subject matter is another departure from run-of-the-mill crime fiction; exploring some themes that remain largely ignored even today. One that resonates particularly strongly still is the notion of war as a crime, especially in the myriad of horrendous ways it impacts on society for years after the events themselves are done with. For all its genre-busting ways though the novel does have a corpse (discovered by a nun), a police investigator (who spends most of her time pretending to be a nurse in order to keep an eye on a key figure in the case) and suspects (of a sort). It isn’t the easiest read you’ll come across but it is intellectually stimulating, especially for those who have some familiarity with the tropes and formulas of the genre who will enjoy seeing these subverted in intriguing ways. From this perspective the novel was quite a different read for me now than in 1991 when my knowledge of the genre (and most everything else at the ripe old age of 24) was fairly limited.

As part of this challenge my job is now to mention three other female crime writers whose work is similar. I might revisit this in a different way in a future instalment of this challenge by discussing more feminist crime novelists but here I thought I’d highlight other women whose works are only loosely ‘of the genre’ in terms of their structure, focus or themes.

Natsuo Kirino: a Japanese writer who eschews the traditional procedural or detecting elements of crime novels and in her grim narratives which explore a range of social themes such as the overall treatment of women in society. Of the two novels of hers that I’ve read, Grotesque and Out, I enjoyed the first more. It has elements of fantasy and gothic romance as well as crime but all are somewhat tangential to the deconstruction of the lives and thoughts of the sisters at the novel’s heart and the tortured, vitriol-filled relationship between the two is one you won’t forget in a hurry.

Dorothy Porter: another Australian writer who in 2007 released El Dorado, in whicb a man kills children (without molesting them) and is hunted by a troubled policeman whose own personal relationships are laid bare in the novel. The book’s break with genre conventions is that it is written entirely in verse. I thought I would hate it when it was selected by my book club shortly after its release but admit to finding myself thoroughly gripped by the exploration of people seemingly unable to grow up. If you’re worried about the poetry leading to a flowery or romantic book don’t fret; it’s as dark and sharp as any noir tale.

Karin Alvtegen: there are actually quite a few women writers specialising in the psychological suspense category of novels which often don’t feature police officers or detectives of any sort and in which sometimes even crimes themselves are only tangentially discussed. In these books it is the reason for the crime that the author is exploring rather than who did what to whom and how many years are they going to jail because of it. The fact that these novels are often standalones is, these days, something of a convention-busting trait in itself as the long-running series has become so ubiquitous in the genre. I’ve only read one of Alvtegen’s novels so far but it has stayed clearly in my memory for over 2 years which is high praise indeed.

Do you like crime writing that breaks with the traditions of the genre’s styles? Do you have any favourite women crime writers who ‘bust’ the conventions of the genre in some way?

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To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Sisters in Crime (US) author, blogger and current Sisters in Crime board member Barbara Fister issued book bloggers the challenge of writing about women’s contribution to crime fiction. There are three levels of the challenge and I’m aiming for the expert level which requires me to write ten blog posts about works of crime fiction by a woman author and, for each, mention three similar women authors whose works I would recommend.  Though I am taking Barbara at her word and using the “whenever” deadline as a concrete goal, so it may take me a while to do all ten posts. Even if you only occasionally blog about crime fiction why not join in the challenge and help celebrate the women who write it?

Sisters in Crime Challenge Post #2: Historical Women

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To me at least the phenomenon of historical fiction which features somewhat feisty females is easily understandable. If you read much actual history, including contemporary primary sources from just about any time before the 20th Century (and a good deal of the stuff written after 1900 too) women don’t appear all that often. When we do we’re generally in the background being demure (if we’re lucky) or being traded like chattel and abused in every way imaginable (when fortune does not smile so kindly upon us). So it doesn’t surprise me that female crime writers enjoy creating imaginary worlds of times gone by in which women participate more equitably in world affairs than reality might have allowed.

One of my recent, and newly favourite, discoveries in this genre is Ariana Franklin who was introduced to me by Norman from Crime Scraps Review (who single-handedly reignited my interest in historical fiction after I’d abandoned the genre many years ago). Franklin is a pseudonym for journalist and writer Diana Norman who sadly passed away earlier this year.  So far I’ve read three of the four adventures set in medieval England in which a woman, the rather magnificent Adelia Aguilar, shines. She is part of a team sought out by King Henry II to investigate a gruesome death which is being blamed on the Jewish population whom Henry is sick of offering protection because while he is doing so they’re not out earning money with which to pay him taxes. Adelia is said to be able to ‘read bodies’ which is the skill she brings to the table.

The basic facts of Adelia’s character, including her being trained as a doctor in Italy, are allowed for by historical record according to the Ariana Franklin website. And who knows…the other aspects of her unconventional character such her forwardness, eschewing of romance and disdain for organised religion might well have appeared in real women of the 12th century though we’ll probably never know because they do not make copious appearances in the few contemporary sources remaining. But it’s pretty difficult to imagine that there haven’t always been at least a few women wanting something more than a life of slavery and playing second-fiddle to men.

But the books do not only offer a marvellous protagonist, they are first and foremost tales of adventure and derring-do, with intricate plots and of loads of period detail to become absorbed in. In order the series books are

Franklin also wrote a standalone novel called City of Shadows which purports to tell the tale of the last living granddaughter of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. I do own this one but haven’t read it yet either.

There are a plethora of historical fiction series written by women and many are similarly packed with strong female protagonists, though I have to admit I don’t like them all equally (and one or two have been the subject of a rant). Three I do enjoy and think share Franklin’s attention to period detail, ability to create warm and intelligent characters and willingness to have a little fun and display a sense of humour are

Elizabeth Peters whose novels featuring wealthy heiress Amelia Peabody and her implausible but delightful adventures in the archaeological digs of 1880′s Egypt are a treat I still enjoy. The first book, Crocodile on the Sandbank, was released in 1975 and the 19th book in the series was released last year. Of course Amelia is just a little over the top but I can’t help but get swept up in her various escapades, helped along by the exotic locations and Peters’ attention to detail.

Imogen Robertson whose novel Instruments of Darkness I read last year and thoroughly enjoyed. It’s set in England in 1780 and features as one of two investigators Mrs Harriet Westerman who runs her family estate while her husband is off at sea with the Navy. She does what has to be done and stands up for those less able, even when it gets dangerous for her to do so.

Victoria Thompson whose first mystery set at the very end of the 19th Century and featuring a New York midwife, Sarah Brandt, was called Murder on Astor Place. Sarah, who has been widowed before the book begins, is estranged from her wealthy family and so has to stand on her own two feet from the outset when she alone tackles an investigation into the murder of a young girl (after trying and failing to get either the police or the girl’s parents interested). I somehow lost track of this series but realise there are now 14 books to try, all seemingly named after famous New York streets.

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To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Sisters in Crime (US) author, blogger and current Sisters in Crime board member Barbara Fister issued book bloggers the challenge of writing about women’s contribution to crime fiction. There are three levels of the challenge and I’m aiming for the expert level which requires me to write ten blog posts about works of crime fiction by a woman author and, for each, mention three similar women authors whose works I would recommend.  Though I am taking Barbara at her word and using the “whenever” deadline as a concrete goal, so it may take me a while to do all ten posts. And it turns out I might find it hard to stick to recommending just 4 authors per post. Even if you only occasionally blog about crime fiction why not join in the challenge and help celebrate the women who write it? So far for this challenge I have written about:

Sisters in Crime Challenge Post #1: The PI novel

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One day in 1987 I asked a librarian to recommend some mysteries by contemporary women writers. I walked away with my first books by both Sue Grafton and Sara Paretsky, so the two are inextricably linked for me. Both have long-running series featuring gutsy female private investigators and my 19 year old self adored them. Until that point virtually all of the non-dead women I’d encountered in my mystery reading had been children (Nancy Drew and Trixie Beldon) (perhaps we’ll leave for another day the fact that it’s always been easier to find smart, feisty characters for young girls to identify with in fiction than to find intelligent, feisty women for adult women to look to for inspiration), elderly (Miss Marple who is at the other end of the ‘sexless’ scale) or bits on the side for the men who solved crimes (I can’t name you one particular woman) (which is, in its way, my point). The very notion of a young woman running her own business, solving crimes on her own, being at the centre of a story instead of the periphery (not to mention having a healthy sex life without being married) was a revelation. My 43 year old self is still pretty fond of both the characters that I first encountered all those years ago.

There’s a number of reasons to like Sara Paretsky‘s work, not least of which is the character of V I (or Vic to her friends) Warshawski. I think she might be in a minority of fictional private investigators who wasn’t first in the police, though she was a lawyer with the public defender’s office. She’s independent sometimes to the point of endangering herself, can have a mean temper and is prone to sarcasm (anyone who knows me personally is wondering if I am accidentally describing myself at this point) (which probably explains my fondness for Vic).  Her business is never exactly flush with cash but she stays afloat with some steady corporate clients. The investigations that form the heart of the novels usually have some aspect of social commentary about them and it is this aspect of the books that I love most but which has also proven unsuccessful occasionally when the book has turned into more of a political rant than work of literary art. However in most of the 14 books Paretsky does a bang-up job of exploring some aspect of modern American life that undoubtedly needs some investigating. Whether it be the privatisation of prisons (1999′s Hard Time), the lengths some insurance companies will go to to weasel out of making payments (2001′s Total Recall), the aftermath of the Iraq war (2010′s Body Work) or one of the countless other social and political issues Paretsky has explored there’s always something to think about at the end of one of her novels. The BBC’s excellent monthly radio show World Book Club tackled Paretsky’s first novel, Indemnity Only, in 2007 and the show is a treat to listen to as Paretsky talks about the impetus for creating Vic, the death of the PI novel and lots of other meaty subjects.

Sue Grafton‘s work is less political in content and in some ways is even a more direct descendant of the hard-boiled PI novels that clearly inspired the series. Starting with A is for Alibi in 1982 (the same year Paretsky’s first novel was published) Kinsey Millhone has searched for missing people, investigated cold cases and generally looked into things that the police have stopped investigating in 22 books to date. The series will finish in four books’ time with (Grafton has announced) Z is for Zero. Kinsey is a real loner, a twice divorced ex-cop whose ‘family’ consists of an octogenarian landlord and a grumpy Hungarian bar owner, but she is tenacious and she does fiercely look after the few people she is close to. I know that starting all the way back at the first book of such a long series would be daunting for new readers but I think this is one series you can dip in and out of fairly easily and I think the last 2 instalments, T is for Trespass and U is for Undertow were both terrific reads. ‘U’ is particularly good being a departure from the earlier novels as it contains an entire thread of historical fiction from the 1960′s. I have to admire an author who chooses not to keep writing the same book over again even though, at this point, she could almost be forgiven for doing so.

So if I count Paretsky and Grafton as one (because I found them both at the same time) then I can mention three more ‘similar’ authors according to the rules of the challenge. Some less well-known private investigators then…

Australian author Marele Day‘s Claudia Valentine appeared in a series of four books starting with The Life and Crimes of Harry Lavender which was published in 1988. I didn’t read the book until much later but, having moved to Sydney that year I can attest to the way that Day captured the time and place to perfection. Fans of feisty female PIs like Warshawski and Millhone will enjoy Claudia Valentine too and for those who’ve never tried a female PI book perhaps you should start with a smaller series :)

An author who has crossed genres and other literary boundaries over the years is English writer Sarah Dunant but her early 90′s trilogy featuring private investigator Hannah Wolfe is another firm favourite of mine. The first book, Birth Marks, involves Wolfe in an investigation into the death of a young girl who was heavily pregnant and the case allows Dunant the opportunity to explore the complex issue of surrogate mothers. In the remaining books animal experimentation and women’s body issues are both explored in depth in these intelligent books.

I can’t talk about celebrating the women who write private investigators without mentioning the person who created this challenge and who I recently discovered as an author. Barbara Fister has written two books (so far) featuring Chicago-based private investigator Anni Koskinen. In 2008′s In the Wind Anni is asked to help a woman who is believed by some to have been responsible for the murder of an FBI agent many years earlier. Something about Chicago must prompt politically-themed writing as Fister’s work shares this trait with Paretsky’s but she’s done a first-rate job of ensuring the story came first in this book. I have the second book in this series, Through the Cracks, near the top of my TBR pile. Why don’t you?

The PI novel has a long history within the crime fiction genre, allowing authors to explore storylines and themes that other sub-genres sometimes can’t. There are things that would simply be incredible in a police procedural that a PI novel can get away with and there is an appeal about the idea of a private investigator that has never gone away. For much of the genre’s history though the field was dominated by male writers and their male creations and it wasn’t until the late 1970′s that American Marcia Muller’s first Sharon McCone PI novel gained general acceptance then Paretsky and Grafton followed in the early 80′s. Personally I think these women writers have contributed significantly to the depth of the genre in terms of storylines, thought provoking themes and female characters who are a force to be reckoned with in their own right.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Sisters in Crime (US) author, blogger and current Sisters in Crime board member Barbara Fister issued book bloggers the challenge of writing about women’s contribution to crime fiction. There are three levels of the challenge and I’m aiming for the expert level which requires me to write ten blog posts about works of crime fiction by a woman author and, for each, mention three similar women authors whose works I would recommend.  Though I am taking Barbara at her word and using the “whenever” deadline as a concrete goal, so it may take me a while to do all ten posts. And it turns out I might find it hard to stick to recommending just 4 authors per post. Even if you only occasionally blog about crime fiction why not join in the challenge and help celebrate the women who write it?