Women have been prolific and successful writers of detective fiction throughout the twentieth century. The emergence of feminist detective fiction as a distinct subgenre, featuring a female protagonist and distinctly feminist plot concerns and narrative features, is much more recent. Although Dorothy Sayer’s Gaudy Night (1935) and Amanda Cross’s oeuvre are important precursors, the form’s arrival is usually dated from the publication of Marcia Muller’s Edwin of the Iron Shoes (1977) and Liza Cody’s Dupe (1980), followed in 1982 by what turned out to be the first in two best-selling series, Sue Grafton’s A is for Alibi and Sara Paretsky’s Indemnity Only. All t

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Published 15 November 2001

Citation: Wilson, Anna. "Feminist Detective Fiction". The Literary Encyclopedia. 15 November 2001.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=382, accessed 20 November 2009.]