A potpourri of unusual detective characters who depart from regular police procedurals and independent female investigators.
Female characters |
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Atherton, Nancy |
Aunt Dimity series |
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Mystery series featuring a gentle ghost.
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Barron, Stephanie |
Jane Austen mystery series |
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Series depicting the well known author as a sleuth that imitates Jane Austen's style and humour.
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Beaton, M. C. |
Agatha Raisin series |
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Sleuthing adventures of Cotswald village resident, Agatha Raisin.
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Bell, Nancy |
Biggie series |
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Featuring sleuth Biggie Weatherford, a true southern lady and the richest woman in town.
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Black, Veronica |
Sister Joan series |
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Sister Joan is a member of the Order of the Daughters of Compassion and lives in a convent on the Cornish moors. Her murder investigations depict both cloister and English village life.
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Brett, Simon |
Mrs. Pargeter series |
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Melita Pargeter is a genteel wealthy widow and the star of this 'cozy' mystery series.
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Buckley, Fiona |
Ursula Blanchard series |
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Elizabethan sleuth.
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Carvic, Heron |
Miss Seeton series |
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Retired English school teacher solves mysteries with ease.
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Christie, Agatha
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Miss Marple series |
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Comfort, Barbara |
Tish McWhinny series |
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Series set in Vermont featuring 70 year old Vermont woman Tish McWhinny and a pug named Lulu.
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Dams, Jeanne |
Dorothy Martin series |
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American widow and amateur sleuth relocates to a small village near London.
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Dereske, Jo |
Miss Zukas series |
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Librarian and sleuth Miss Zukas investigates murder whilst conducting a romance with the local police chief.
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Dunn, Carola |
Daisy Dalrymple series |
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The Honorable Daisy Dalrymple solves murder and mayhem in 1920's English country houses.
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Frazer, Margaret |
Sister Frevisse series |
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Mysteries set in fourteenth century England involving Sister Frevisse and a Benedictine like order of nuns.
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George, Anne |
Southern sisters series |
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Mystery series featuring sixty something sisters, Mary Alice and Patricia Anne.
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Gilman, Dorothy |
Mrs. Polifax series |
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Grandmother and part-time CIA agent, Mrs. Polifax undertakes adventures that lead to exotic international locations.
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Grace, C. L. |
Kathryn Swinbrooke series |
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Mysteries featuring a 15th century physician and her partner, King's Commissioner Colum Murtagh working in Canterbury, England.
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Gray, Gallagher |
Hubbert and Lil series |
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Eighty something Lil assists her nephew to solve murders, providing a woman's intuition to tense situations.
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Greenwood, D. M. |
Theodora Braithwaite series |
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Deaconess Theodora Braithwaite assists the police in murder investigations.
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Hart, Carolyn |
Annie Laurance and Max Darling series |
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Sleuthing adventures of mystery bookstore owner and her future husband.
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Hart, Carolyn |
Henrietta O'Dwyer series |
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Series featuring sixty something former journalist and amateur detective.
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King, Laurie R. |
Mary Russell series |
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Series featuring Mary Russell, a fifteen year old girl and student of Sherlock Holmes who solves mysteries in a style similar to the former investigator.
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Lawrence, Margaret |
Hannah Trevor series |
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Hannah Trevor, a widow and midwife solves mysteries in 18th century Maine where memories of the War of Independence still linger.
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Linscott, Gillian |
Nell Bray series |
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Suffragette and part-time sleuth Nell Bray solves mysteries in the early twentieth century.
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Monfredo, Miriam Grace |
Glynis Tryon series |
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Unmarried librarian Glynis Tryon solves crimes in the small town of Seneca Falls, New York during the mid 19th century.
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Newman, Sharan |
Catherine LeVendeur series |
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Mysteries set in 12th century Scotland featuring Catherine LeVendeur, a married scholar.
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Oliver, Anthony |
Elizabeth Thomas and John Webber series |
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English mysteries featuring retired police inspector and village woman Elizabeth Thomas.
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Perry, Anne |
Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series |
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Charlotte assists her policeman husband to solve murders in Victorian London.
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Peters, Elizabeth |
Amelia Peabody series |
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Thirty something Victorian heiress undertakes investigations in Egypt during the early 1900s.
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Pickard, Nancy |
Eugenia Potter series
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Rich, Virginia |
Eugenia Potter series |
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Introducing wealthy widow sleuth, Eugenia Potter.
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Roosevelt, Elliott |
Eleanor Roosevelt series |
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Mysteries featuring 1930s First Lady and set in the White House.
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Tremayne, Peter |
Sister Fidelma series |
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7th century mysteries featuring Sister Fidelma, an educated court advocate and sister of the Celtic Church in Ireland.
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Wentworth, Patricia |
Miss Silver series |
| Mysteries often featuring an English country house setting. | |
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Male characters |
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| Apostolou, Anna | Bartimaeus twins series |
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Ancient Greek mysteries featuring a pair of Israelite clerks.
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| Chisholm, P. F. | Robert Carey series |
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Sixteenth century mysteries set in the English-Scottish border region.
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| Clynes, Michael | Roger Shallott series |
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Medieval rogue Sir Roger Shallott features in this Tudor mystery series
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| Davis, Lindsey | Marcus Didius Falci ancient Rome series |
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Falco is an informer employed by Emperor Vespasian. His detecting duties take him and his patrician partner, Helena Justina to the furthest limits of the empire.
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| Eco, Umberto | The Name of the rose |
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Murder mystery set in a Benedictine monastery and investigated by William of Baskerville, a 50-year-old monk. His task is complicated as further murders are committed that appear to be linked to the Book of Revelation.
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| Gregory, Susannah | Matthew Bartholomew series |
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Physician and teacher Matthew Bartholomew and his colleague Brother Michael solve mysteries at a Cambridge college in the 14th century.
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| Haney, Lauren | Ancient Egypt (Lieutenant Bak) series |
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Egyptian mysteries at the time of Queen Hatsheput.
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| Harding, Paul | Brother Athelstan series |
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Brother Athelstan, a Dominican monk, assists Sir John Cranston in his sleuthing.
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| Jinks, Catherine | The Inquisitor |
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Brother Bernard, an Inquisitor of Heretical Depravity, faces persecution whilst investigating the murder of his superior.
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| Marston, Edward | Domesday book series |
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Gervase Bret, lawyer to William the Conqueror, solves murders in Norman England.
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| Peters, Ellis | Brother Cadfael series |
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Brother Cadfael is a sleuthing monk and herbalist in this historically accurate series.
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| Robb, Candace | Owen Archer series |
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A former Welsh soldier begins a second career in a 14th century York apothecary where he is assisted by his wife.
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| Robinson, Linda S. | Lord Meren series |
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Mysteries set during the times of Tutankhamen and Akhenaten.
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| Ross, Kate | Julian Kestrel series |
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Novels featuring a Regency dandy with a knack for solving murders.
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| Rowland, Laura Joh | Sano Ichuro series |
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17th century mysteries set Japan that feature samurai investigator Sano Ichuro.
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| Saylor, Steven | Roma sub rosa series |
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Ancient Roman series set in the last days of the republic featuring Gordianus the Finder.
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| Sedley, Kate | Roger the Chapman series |
| English mysteries featuring an itinerant pedlar set in 15th century. | |
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| Animals |
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| Allen, Garrison | Big Mike series |
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Series starring book seller and part time police assistant Penelope Warren and her cat Big Mike.
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| Braun, Lillian Jackson | Cat series |
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Two Siamese cats called Koko and Yum Yum upstage their owner Jim Qwilleran in this series of cat mysteries.
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| Brown, Rita Mae | Mrs. Murphy series |
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Mrs Murphy, a tiger cat and her Corgi dogsolve murders with the assistance of the local post mistress.
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| Benjamin, Carol Lea | Alexander and Dash series |
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Investigator and dog trainer Rachel Alexander solves canine mysteries with her pit bull terrier Dashiell.
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| Cleary, Melissa | Dog lover series |
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Jackie Walsh and her canine partner Jake investigate murder and other crimes.
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| Conant, Susan | Dog lover's mystery series |
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Starring Holly Winter and her pair of Alaskan malamutes.
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| Douglas, Carole Nelson | Midnight Louis series |
| Midnight Louis, a handsome black tomcat and Temple Barr, his human off-sider solve murder mysteries. |
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