Crime Detective Mystery Thriller Group discussion

Hi all :) I'm really into 1st person POV, romantic murder mystery crime series with a female lead. If the heroine has some sort of clairvoyant ability, that'd be a cherry on top! I'm dying to find a Kay Hooper 'Bishop Series' -esque series that is written in 1st person. I've tried many 3rd person series and I cannot connect to the story, unfortunately. The more gruesome the murders the better.

Similar series I've read lately are:
Kay Scarpetta
Temperance Brennen
Alexandra Cooper
Lacy Flint
Fiona Griffiths
Alice Quentin
Women's Murder Club
Maeve Kerrigan
Kate Burkholder
Kathleen Turner
Casey Duncan
Dr. Charlotte Stone
The 'Burg
Irene Kelly
Graveyard Queen
Tradd Street
Kinsey Millhone

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated (only interested in books where the main heroine is written in 1st person pov), Cheers!

Well, I can recommend Mildred Pierce by James Cain, which is a sort of multilayered romance/crime/melodrama/family-drama/single-mother/murder-businesswoman novel...It's hard to sum up because there's so much going on there, but it's a good novel narrated from the perspective of the heroine, Mildred, who is a fairly interesting and sympathetic character.
Cain wrote some weaker crime/romance novels from a woman's POV, the best of them being The Enchanted Isle and The Cocktail Waitress

I'm currently reading Into the Night which is narrated by a murderess. It's twisted, dark, and more of a psychological horror than a thriller...If that's what you're looking for, you may enjoy it. I like it so far.

I think we have far less noirish crime novels by women than we should have. It seems like, for whatever reason, the publishing industry delegates women authors to little corners where they usually stay in obscurity. It's a literary injustice. Sylvia Plath was one of the greatest poets of the 20th century, but she's often over looked in favor of lesser male poets. Sandburg and Pound never wrote a verse as good as anything in Ariel...But I'm rambling.

Lastly, LOA recently came out with a two volume set titled Women Crime Writers: Eight Suspense Novels of the 1940s & 50s: A Library of America Boxed Set which collect eight great out of print crime novels exclusively by mostly overlooked female authors, among them Highsmith and Hughes, two names that deserve to go down in the history of crime fiction more than Mickey Spillane.

Sorry, I went on longer than I meant to, but I hope you try one of the books mentioned and enjoy them.

Thanks so much for your recommendations. I can't wait to dive in!

Since you've read Sue Grafton, you should read Sara Paretsky's VI Warshawski series, Marcia Muller's Sharon McCone series, Linda Barnes' Carlotta Carlisle series and Karen Kijeiewski's Kat Colorado series. Below are links to the first in each series:

Indemnity Only
Edwin of the Iron Shoes
A Trouble of Fools
Katwalk

Enjoy!

I can't recommend highly enough Missing, Presumed and Persons Unknown, both by Susie Steiner. A Brit, very self-aware, female detective living her life with some self-deprecating humor and working on a big crime in each book. She has a 3rd in this series coming out hopefully in 2018. I've read many many many mysteries so have gotten harder to engage over time. These two grabbed me!

While I agree with your recommendations I would start Marcia Mueller authORITIES IN A DEAD WOMAN'S EYES. The striker ones are could reading but they are not her best.

Try J.D. Robb's Death series of books. The detective is a woman, as are many other characters. They are well written and interesting.

Unfortunately, I'm only looking for series written in first person female pov. Thanks for taking the time to respond though! :)

Betty wrote: "While I agree with your recommendations I would start Marcia Mueller authORITIES IN A DEAD WOMAN'S EYES. The striker ones are could reading but they are not her best."

Pennies On a Dead Woman's Eyes is my favorite of the Marcia Muller series