Lesbian Detective Fiction: Woman as Authors, Subjects and Reader

by Phyllis M. Betz

This work examines how lesbian detective and mystery fiction represents lesbian characters and experience within the confines of the genre. Such fiction reveals the lesbian's increasing visibility in the wider society. Often the best place to find the lesbian represented in books is within the pages of genre fiction?especially the detective story. This book looks at how the lesbian characters? public and private lives intersect?often at the point of coming out, or of moving from isolation to connection with the community. Also considered is the lesbian detective's typical confrontation with two crucial elements of the investigator's role: the use of violence and the acquisition and expression of authority within police systems. Other topics of discussion include the cultural environments in which the stories are situated, and the use of humor as a key weapon in the lesbian detective's investigative arsenal.

207 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Phyllis M. Betz is an assistant professor of English at La Salle University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She has written books examining genre fiction written by lesbians. She lives in Burlington, New Jersey.

Reviews

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent description of the genre, lesbian characters, with a list I've gone back to, again and again, by author and character.