List of female detective/mystery writers

Contents:

Top · 0–9 · A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

• Megan Abbott
• Sandra Abbott
• Suzanne Adair
• Christine Adamo (born 1965)
• Harriet Stratemeyer Adams (pseudonyms Carolyn Keene, Franklin W. Dixon)
• Jane Adams (writer) (born 1960)
• Joan Aiken (1924–2004)
• Catherine Aird (born 1930)
• Susan Wittig Albert
• Goldie Alexander
• Shana Alexander (1925–2005)
• Tasha Alexander
• Margery Allingham
• Karin Alvtegen (born 1965)
• Lin Anderson
• Donna Andrews
• Sarah Andrews
• Charlotte Armstrong (1905–1969)
• Ann Ashton
• Kate Atkinson
• Rosemary Aubert
• Bunty Avieson (born 1962)

B

• Marian Babson
• Deb Baker
• Linda Barnes (born 1949)
• Nevada Barr (born 1952)
• Lynne Barrett
• Jean Bedford (born 1946)
• Josephine Bell (1897–1987)
• Margot Bennett (1912–1980)
• Laurien Berenson
• Carole Berry
• Claudia Bishop
• Eleanor Taylor Bland
• Enid Blyton (1897–1968)
• Leigh Brackett (1915–1978)
• Christianna Brand (1907–1988)
• Lilian Jackson Braun (1913-2011)
• Anne Brooke (born 1964)
• Rita Mae Brown
• Sandra Brown
• Rina Brundu (born 1968)
• Jan Burke
• Gwendoline Butler (born 1922)

C

• Mary Cahill
• Karen Campbell (born 1967)
• Dorothy Cannell
• Patricia Carlon
• Felicity Winifred Carter (1906–1995)
• Vera Caspary (1899-1987)
• Sarah Caudwell (1939–2000)
• Jessie Chandler (born 1968)
• Kate Charles (born 1950)
• Marion Chesney (born 1936) (pseudonym: M. C. Beaton)
• Agatha Christie (1890–1976)
• Jill Churchill
• Carol Higgins Clark
• Mary Higgins Clark
• Ann Cleeves
• Jane Cleland
• Judy Clemens
• Barbara Cleverly
• Liza Cody (born 1944)
• Meredith Cole
• Kate Collins
• Sheila Connolly
• Patricia Cornwell
• Elizabeth Cosin
• Cleo Coyle
• Frances Crane (1896–1981)
• Deborah Crombie

D

• Mary Daheim
• Barbara D’amato
• Jeanne M. Dams
• Shirley Damsgaard
• Jordan Dane (born 1953)
• Diane Mott Davidson
• Carol Anne Davis (born 1961)
• Krista Davis
• Lindsey Davis
• Miriam Allen deFord (1888–1975)
• Doris Miles Disney (1907–1976)
• Joanne Dobson
• Thea Dorn (born 1970)
• Carole Nelson Douglas
• Stella Duffy
• Sarah Dunant
• Elizabeth Duncan

E

• Amelia Ellis (born 1977)
• Kerstin Ekman (born 1933)
• Maggie Estep (born 1962)
• Janet Evanovich (born 1943)
• Elizabeth Eyre (pseudonym for Jill Staynes and Margaret Storey)

F

• Nancy Fairbanks
• Linda Fairstein (born 1947)
• Diane Fanning (Lucinda Pierce mystery)
• Jerrilyn Farmer
• Joanne Fluke
• Elena Forbes
• Rebecca Forster
• Karin Fossum (born 1954)
• Mary Fitt (pseudonym for Kathleen Freeman (classicist), 1897–1959)
• Ariana Franklin pen name of Diana Norman
• Miles Franklin (1879–1954)
• Antonia Fraser
• Anthea Fraser (born 1930)
• Margaret Frazer (pseudonym for Gail Frazer and Mary Monica Pulver Kuhfeld)
• Celia Fremlin (born 1914)
• Inger Frimansson (born 1944)
• Gayleen Froese (born 1972)
• Frances Fyfield (born 1948)

G

• Gillian Galbraith
• Menna Gallie (1920–1990)
• Lisa Gardner
• Elizabeth George (born 1949)
• Tess Gerritsen
• Nadia Gordon
• Dolores Gordon-Smith (born 1958)
• Nancy Grace
• Sue Grafton (born 1940)
• Caroline Graham (born 1931)
• Ann Granger (born 1939)
• Alex Gray (born 1950)
• Anna Katharine Green (1846–1935)
• Kerry Greenwood (born 1954)
• Martha Grimes (born 1931)

H

• Jane Haddam (born 1951)
• Petra Hammesfahr (born 1951)
• Sophie Hannah (born 1971)
• Charlaine Harris
• Ellen Hart
• Carolyn Hart
• L. C. Hayden
• Mo Hayder
• Sparkle Hayter
• Georgette Heyer (1902–1974)
• Susan Hill
• Elizabeth Sanxay Holding
• Liz Holliday
• Wendy Hornsby
• Linda Howard
• Dorothy B. Hughes (1904-1993)
• Julie Hyzy

J

• Shirley Jackson (1916–1965)
• P. D. James (born 1920)
• J. A. Jance
• Charlotte Jay (1919–1996)
• Cathie John (pseudonym of Cathie and John Celestri)
• Claire M Johnson
• Linda O. Johnston
• Morag Joss
• Mari Jungstedt (born 1962)

K

• Susan Kandel
• Faye Kellerman
• Karen Kijewski
• Nina Killham
• Laurie R. King
• Natsuo Kirino (born 1951)
• Elsa Klensch

L

• Camilla Läckberg (born 1974)
• Lori L. Lake (born 1960)
• Virginia Lanier
• Lynda La Plante (born 1946)
• Åsa Larsson (born 1966)
• Emma Lathen
• Penny Leinwander (born 1957)
• Donna Leon (born 1941)
• Elizabeth Linington (1921–1988)
• Laura Lippman (born 1959)
• Gabrielle Lord (born 1946)
• Lisa Lutz

M

• Marianne Macdonald (born 1934)
• Charlotte MacLeod
• Jessica Mann
• Alexandra Marinina (born 1957)
• Liza Marklund (born 1962)
• Margaret Maron
• Ngaio Marsh
• Bodil Mårtensson (born 1952)
• Sujata Massey
• M. E. May
• Helen McCloy (1904–1994)
• Sharyn McCrumb
• Val McDermid
• Patricia (Pat) McGerr (1919–1985)
• Jill McGown (1947–2007)
• Fiona McIntosh (Pseudonym: Lauren Crow)
• Claire McNab
• Margaret Millar (1915–1994)
• Denise Mina
• Dreda Say Mitchell (born 1965)
• Gladys Mitchell
• Miyuki Miyabe (born 1960)
• Gwen Moffat (born 1924)
• Susan Moody (born 1940)
• Tara Moss (born 1973)
• Patricia Moyes (born 1923)
• Marcia Muller
• Margaret Murphy (born 1959)
• Beverle Graves Myers (born 1951)

N

• Magdalen Nabb (1947–2007)
• Barbara Nadel

O

• Maureen O'Brien (born 1943)
• Baroness Orczy

P

• Sara Paretsky (born 1947)
• Stef Penney
• Anne Perry (born 1938)
• Elizabeth Peters
• Ellis Peters (1913–1995)
• Catherine Louisa Pirkis (1841–1910)
• Genevieve Pou (1919–2007)

Q

• Janet Quin-Harkin

R

• Caro Ramsay
• Leigh Redhead (born 1971)
• Jean M. Redmann (born 1955)
• Ruth Rendell (born 1930)
• Craig Rice
• Mary Roberts Rinehart
• Nora Roberts
• Lynda S. Robinson
• Kate Ross
• Jennifer Rowe (born 1948)
• S. J. Rozan
• Jane Rubino

S

• Dorothy L. Sayers (1893–1957)
• Andrea Maria Schenkel (born 1962)
• Manda Scott
• Mabel Seeley
• Yrsa Sigurðardóttir (born 1963)
• Maj Sjöwall (born 1935) (in collaboration - Sjöwall and Wahlöö)
• Jane Smiley (mainstream novelist has written one crime novel Duplicate Keys (1984))
• Joan Smith (born 1953)
• Nancy Spain
• Dana Stabenow
• Susannah Stacey (pseudonym for Jill Staynes and Margaret Storey)
• Kelli Stanley
• Sarah Strohmeyer
• Dana Stabenow

T

• Phoebe Atwood Taylor (1909–1976)
• Josephine Tey (1896–1952)
• Helene Tursten (born 1954)
• Twist Phelan

U

• Dorothy Uhnak

V

• Dee Van Arnam
• Fred Vargas (pseudonym for Frédérique Audoin-Rouzeau, born 1957)

W

• Minette Walters (born 1949)
• Martha G. Webb
• Betty Webb
• Patricia Wentworth
• Valerie Wilson Wesley
• Ethel Lina White (1846–1944)
• Phyllis A. Whitney
• Kate Wilhelm
• Laura Wilson (born 1964)
• Anne Wingate
• Paula L. Woods
• Sara Woods (born 1922)

Y

• Margaret Yorke (born 1924)

See also

• Lists of authors
• List of mystery writers
• List of thriller authors
• List of female detective characters
• Detective fiction
• Crime fiction
• Mystery fiction
• Whodunit