,



Mysteries, crime novels and thrillers featuring female detectives.

Fiction only, please -- and if part of a series, please only list ONE * book from that series -- preferably, if the woman is part of a man/woman team, one where her role is particularly highlighted in some fashion or other.

STRICTLY NO HORROR, SCI-FI, SUPERNATURAL TALES or ROMANCE, PLEASE! All of these will be removed.

This list is about the real world, and the great crime fiction of the present and of years past.

* Please also note that a LOT of series are already represented on this list. So before adding a[nother] book from a given series, you may want to double check whether that series is still lacking in its entirety. If it is not, any further books from the series added regardless will likewise be removed again.

Similarly, spam will be removed without any warning.
1

by
4.18 avg rating — 3,500,564 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
2

by
4.05 avg rating — 583,354 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
3

by
3.86 avg rating — 193,958 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
4

by
3.81 avg rating — 278,513 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
5

by
3.88 avg rating — 157,066 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
6

by
4.26 avg rating — 596,969 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
7

by
4.04 avg rating — 220,234 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
8

by
4.04 avg rating — 89,133 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
9

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 80,350 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
10

by
4.03 avg rating — 266,599 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
11

by
4.13 avg rating — 206,837 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
12

by
3.93 avg rating — 125,680 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
13

by
3.76 avg rating — 18,068 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
14

by
3.88 avg rating — 138,638 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
15

by
4.10 avg rating — 363,481 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
16

by
3.82 avg rating — 181,286 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
17

by
4.28 avg rating — 228 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
18

by
3.83 avg rating — 23,586 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
19

by
4.19 avg rating — 32,819 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
20

by
4.10 avg rating — 179,930 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
21

by
3.90 avg rating — 19,752 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
22

by
3.95 avg rating — 101,126 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
23

by
3.84 avg rating — 30,341 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
24

by
3.81 avg rating — 20,857 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
25

by
4.15 avg rating — 32,046 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
26

by
3.83 avg rating — 22,769 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
27

by
4.15 avg rating — 3,520,078 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
28

by
3.58 avg rating — 1,355 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
29

by
4.06 avg rating — 184,503 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
30

by
3.83 avg rating — 42,092 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
31

by
4.09 avg rating — 13,931 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
32

by
3.95 avg rating — 7,700 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
33

by
4.03 avg rating — 16,206 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
34

by
3.73 avg rating — 53,132 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
35

by
4.20 avg rating — 198,452 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
36

by
3.85 avg rating — 6,715 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
37

by
3.84 avg rating — 73,316 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
38

by
3.90 avg rating — 22,625 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
39

by
3.58 avg rating — 68,352 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
40

by
3.95 avg rating — 15,014 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
41

by
3.87 avg rating — 38,208 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
42

by
3.90 avg rating — 62,571 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
43

by
3.88 avg rating — 6,932 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
44

by
3.65 avg rating — 20,756 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
45

by
3.93 avg rating — 47,483 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
46

by
3.72 avg rating — 46,766 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
47

by
4.06 avg rating — 363 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
48

by
3.87 avg rating — 3,963 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
49

by
4.04 avg rating — 23,354 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
50

by
3.90 avg rating — 16,130 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
51

by
3.83 avg rating — 10,729 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
52

by
3.68 avg rating — 73,654 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
53

by
3.73 avg rating — 21,640 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
54

by
3.69 avg rating — 37,977 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
55

by
3.86 avg rating — 15,809 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
56

by
3.93 avg rating — 41,219 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
57

by
4.41 avg rating — 37 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
58

by
3.93 avg rating — 43,996 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
59

by
3.70 avg rating — 37,945 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
60

by
3.92 avg rating — 6,873 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
61

by
3.99 avg rating — 6,801 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
62

by
4.49 avg rating — 29,995 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
63

by
3.83 avg rating — 9,247 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
64

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,262,053 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
65

by
3.84 avg rating — 10,032 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
66

by
3.87 avg rating — 356 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
67

by
3.85 avg rating — 4,496 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
68

by
3.90 avg rating — 17,918 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
4.01 avg rating — 4,901 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
3.82 avg rating — 4,964 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
71

by
4.14 avg rating — 159 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
72

by
4.35 avg rating — 43 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
73

by
3.83 avg rating — 36,724 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
74

by
3.92 avg rating — 21,112 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
75

by
3.93 avg rating — 68,438 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
76

by
4.02 avg rating — 16,936 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
77

by
4.01 avg rating — 8,274 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
78

by
3.95 avg rating — 8,109 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
79

by
4.10 avg rating — 118 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
80

by
4.34 avg rating — 53 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
81

by
3.55 avg rating — 15,945 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
82

by
3.89 avg rating — 4,296 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
83

by
4.05 avg rating — 137,408 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
84

by
3.89 avg rating — 2,931 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
85

by
4.16 avg rating — 45,406 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
86

by
3.73 avg rating — 59,313 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
87

by
3.94 avg rating — 13,022 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
88

by
3.91 avg rating — 28,060 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
89

by
3.89 avg rating — 2,988 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
89

by
3.89 avg rating — 14,321 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
91

by
4.05 avg rating — 10,599 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
92

by
4.10 avg rating — 127,825 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
93

by
3.97 avg rating — 9,492 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
94

by
4.71 avg rating — 111 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
95

by
3.74 avg rating — 2,488 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
96

by
4.67 avg rating — 15 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
97

by
4.13 avg rating — 37,255 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
98

by
3.92 avg rating — 11,970 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
99

by
3.91 avg rating — 41,379 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
100

by
4.07 avg rating — 9,778 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
176 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) 546 books
365 friends
Susanna - Censored by GoodReads 3388 books
850 friends
Lobstergirl 5925 books
157 friends
ღ Carol jinx~☆~☔ʚϊɞ 4217 books
464 friends
Dara S. 7698 books
389 friends
Annette 6752 books
63 friends
Bettie 15687 books
19 friends
Laura 2842 books
75 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-16 of 16 (16 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) Folks, PLEASE stick to the list description. There are several nonfiction entries here now, several cases where more than one book per series has been added, and several books that, however great they may be, are neither mysteries nor thrillers by any definition whatsoever -- all of which I'm going to remove. Again, this doesn't say anything about the books in question. I just don't think they happen to belong on this list.


message 2: by [deleted user] (last edited Apr 11, 2012 01:13PM) (new)

Female Detectives? How does Hunger Games and Tess of the D'Ubervilles (which I abhor) fit in?


Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) See coments above -- someone evidently didn't bother to read the list description.

I'm willing to leave "Hunger Games" (book 1) in for the moment on the grounds that it might (just) be considered a thriller, and at least it has a female protagonist. May end up changing my mind about that eventually, though.


Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) Alright -- I did delete The Hunger Games after all because it kept attracting the wrong kind of books.

Also amended the list description. -- If anybody sees anything on this list that doesn't seem to fit the description, I'd be most grateful for a heads-up.


message 5: by Cindy (new)

Cindy Divergent is YA Dystopia, not a mystery.


Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) Cindy wrote: "Divergent is YA Dystopia, not a mystery."

Thanks, much appreciated. Deleted that and also Blood in the Skies (steampunk).

Do keep the alerts coming if you see something else. This is one hard-to-monitor list ...


message 7: by Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) (last edited Dec 09, 2012 02:28PM) (new)

Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) Alright, since this list has started to collect more than an average amount of spam entries, here's a warning: Any and all entries I consider spam will be removed REGARDLESS to what extent, facially at least, they would appear to meet the criteria for inclusion.


message 8: by Theresa (last edited Feb 20, 2013 01:59AM) (new)

Theresa Dunn In the Bleak Midwinter Julia Spencer-Fleming (Clare Fergusson mystery series #1)


message 9: by Theresa (new)

Theresa Dunn A Duty To The Dead (Bess Crawford, #1) by Charles Todd by Charles Todd
A Bess Crawford mystery #1


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads You add books at the top of the list, at the tab next to "all votes."


message 11: by [deleted user] (new)

I would consider The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane to be supernatural. I voted for it and then deleted my vote.


message 12: by Judy (new)

Judy The Eyre Affair is a great story, but is clearly fantasy.


message 13: by Artemisa (last edited Nov 10, 2015 08:55AM) (new)

Artemisa Ask Agregué "El Moái de Obsidiana" escrito por Artemisa Ask.
La novela ocurre en Isla de Pascua, en Chile y está ambientada en 2014.
¿Qué más temible que una madre que protege a su hija de un posible asesino que ronda a los turistas en Isla de Pascua?

El Moái de Obsidiana


message 14: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Feb 09, 2019 08:17AM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Can Nemesis (#461) be removed? The first one of the Miss Marple stories, Murder at the Vicarage, is already on this list (and the description is quite clear, as it says only ONE of a series). Same goes for Finger Lickin' Fifteen (#550), Fearless Fourteen (#553), Lean Mean Thirteen (#555) and Twelve Sharp (#557), as the first one of the Stephanie Plum novels, One for the Money, is also already on the list...


message 15: by Valerie (last edited Aug 06, 2021 10:08AM) (new)

Valerie Hi Everyone - I stumbled onto this list and feel right at home. I write the Logan McKenna Mystery/Thriller series and think Logan would fit right in. Not sure how lists work-still learning my way around Listopia here. Is there anything special I need to do to add my books? There are 7 in the series. Whisper Creek releases Sept 14th.

Shattered Logan Book 1 (The Logan McKenna Series) by Valerie Davisson
Forest Park Logan Book 2 (The Logan McKenna Series) by Valerie Davisson
Devil's Claw Logan Book 3 (The Logan McKenna Series) by Valerie Davisson
Lies That Bind (A Logan McKenna Mystery Book 6) by Valerie Davisson
Vanishing Day Logan Book 4 (The Logan McKenna Series) by Valerie Davisson

Vanishing Day: Logan Book 4


message 16: by Lucia (new)

Lucia Kanter St. Amour Hi there! I'm the author of the upcoming title, The Covert Buccaneer. I noticed that 3 readers voted it to this list and I don't think they read the list description. Yes, The Covert Buccaneer prominently features fearless females, but it is not a crime book. Ok, it does feature a (real life) Chicago woman counterfeiter in an extended passage in one of the chapters, but overall it's not a crime fiction novel. I just don't want to mislead readers, which can ultimately be a disservice to the author (me!)


back to top



Related News

Need another excuse to treat yourself to a new book this week? We've got you covered with the buzziest new releases of the day, according to early...

Anyone can add books to this list.