July Mystery KIT: Cops 'n' Robbers Lady Style

We all love a good cops 'n' robbers story. This challenge is to focus on women as the main character or as the perpetrator in a crime solving mystery. We can take a wider view of this prompt to include not only police working for the public, but also private investigators. This opens up a plethora of female detective characters. The crime does not have to be robbery, but should be about breaking the law. There are many series, classic and contemporary that suit this definition. If you want to kick up the challenge, try to avoid murder as the crime. Can't wait to see what you choose!

Here are a few that I've enjoyed
Girl Waits with Gun series by Amy Stewart
Girl in Disguise by Greer Macallister
Norwegian by Night, and American by Day Derek Miller
Long Bright River Liz Moore
The Child Finder Rene Denfeld
The Late Show Renee Ballard series. Michael Connelly

Lists to explore:
Favorite Female Detectives>
More Facorite Female Detectives>
Best Female Detectives>



and then a list of new-ish non-fiction/true crime to try out.

Diamond Doris: The True Story of the World's Most Notorious Jewel Thief
Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her
The Woman Who Stole Vermeer: The True Story of Rose Dugdale and the Russborough House Art Heist
Confident Women: Swindlers, Grifters and Shapeshifters of the Feminine Persuasion by Tori Telfer

Don't forget to update the Wiki

My choices here are:

A Woman Unknown by Frances Brody
Gone Away by Hazel Holt
Breakup by Dana Stabenow

This feels like a good time to get back to James' Patterson's Women's Murder Club series. Next up for me:
The 9th Judgment / James Patterson

Another option:
Maisie Dobbs / Jacqueline Winspear

I'll check through my shelves- good theme!

I am going to be reading Girl Waits With Gun by Amy Stewart.

I have been meaning to read the Phryne Fisher series for ages as they are set around where I live. I mean, Murder on the Ballarat Train - that's the train I catch to visit Melbourne!

>5 DeltaQueen50: Hi Judy! I think I’m ready for the second book in that series, Lady Cop Makes Trouble, so I will read that.

>5 DeltaQueen50: >7 lsh63: Girl Waits with Gun is what inspired this topic. I still haven't gotten beyond the first, but I will definitely do that in July. Also hoping to listen to Diamond Doris

Does it have to be an official policewoman or detective? Because if this theme covers any female investigating a crime I'll read a Flavia de Luce, A Red Herring Without Mustard.

>9 mstrust: I'm fine with that. One of my suggestions above The Child Finder features a female investigator...no official job, just a free lancer. I think the point here is to focus on females in either role-investigator or culprit.

I've wanted to start the Richard Castle series that has Detective Nikki Heat as a character so this is a good opportunity to do that. I have the next Linda Castillo in my TBR so I might read that too.

>10 beebeereads: Thanks!

I'll have to grab Dear Miss Kopp from the library for this.

Also waiting for my library hold on Confident Women, whose subtitle promises that the book will cover "swindlers, grifters, and shapeshifters".

Edit: just noticed that >1 beebeereads: already highlighted Confident Women! It looks great. Can't wait to read it :)

I'll be joining others to read Girl Waits With Gun

I've read some of the later ones in the Kopp Sisters series, but I haven't read Girl Waits With Gun yet. I think it is on my Kindle just waiting for me to read it. I'll make a note that it fits this month's theme.

>13 rabbitprincess: I enjoyed Dear Miss Kopp and now I need to go back to the others in that series.

Ooh, I just put a book on hold at the library that might work! A Peculiar Combination by Ashley Weaver stars a thief heroine who ultimately becomes a detective to solve a murder in conjunction with law enforcement. So in some sense, she's both a robber and a cop. :) Only problem is, I'm #12 in the hold queue, and holds are excruciatingly slow right now. Still, I'm sure I have some other books with female detectives on my shelves already!

>17 christina_reads: That one sounds great!

I just snagged Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche from NetGalley. I love this series! I am also eyeing a Nancy Drew book, since I unearthed my collection at my temporary digs/apartment today! Yippee! Maybe life is smoothing out finally.

Will Rhys Bowen's Her Royal Spyness work for this challenge?

I think I'll try a novel from Italy, Flowers over the inferno by Ilaria Tuti (translated by Ekin Oklap.)

>20 majkia: I was considering reading the next (for me) in that series...

>22 LibraryCin: yeah. I'm up to Malice at the Palace

If Castle Shade doesn't show up at the library before July I'll add it to this challenge.

I started July reading last night and finished Heat Wave by Richard Castle this morning, it's under 200 pages. Dectective Nikki Heat is with the NYPD and working a case that involves the death of a high profile NYC citizen who fell to his death from a six story balcony. The investigation will expand beyond the death when his very valuable art collection disappears from his walls a few days later.

I like the character of Nikki Heat but I have a big problem with another one. Jameson Rook, a journalist who has won the Pulitzer, is riding with her so that he can gather information for an article on NYC police. His relationship with Heat is ridiculous as is the sex scene that ensues. One hundred ninety-eight pages was enough for me, I won't continue this series.

Yippee, I unearthed my copy of Girl Waits with Gun! I am going nuts not knowing where my books are during this move. I might read this one finally.

>26 LadyoftheLodge: Hope you enjoy it!

I'm almost done my first one for this already! It's an audio and it was ready to be checked out when I needed a new one. :-) It'll probably still be a few days yet, so it might be July by the time I post a review!

I have a second one (also an audio) that I'll likely get to, as well.

I finished Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche by Nancy Springer. This was an enjoyable installment in the series, although it felt as if it was being written for filming!

>29 LadyoftheLodge: I am finding that in a lot of my current reads. I can't blame the authors because that is how they monetize their writing, but it is disappointing when the reader can see right through it.

Currently reading W Is for Wasted, in which PI Kinsey Milhone deals with two murders and other crimes against the homeless.

Currently reading Castle Shade and enjoying it.

I am currently listening to Diamond Doris. Fascinating and little creepy to listen to the development of a jewel thief.

For this category I'm reading Death at Windsor Castle by C.C. Benison where the Queen and a housemaid are the principal sleuths. I've read others in the series and they were a lot of fun. Benison includes a lot of details not only about the castle but about the pomp and circumstance of events there.

>34 VivienneR: My favourite in that series!

I just read Called to Justice by Edith Maxwell in which Quaker midwife, Rose Carroll, helps solve a murder mystery in which the police have jailed an innocent black man. This mystery novel, occurring in the late 19th century in a small mill-town in Massachusetts, also involves a rape, thefts, and extreme danger to Rose herself and several people she is with including a baby.

I read Girl in Disguise by Greet Macallister which is a fictional story about the first female Pinkerton agent, Kate Warne. It weaved the few known stories about her career along with some imagined adventures.

>36 sallylou61: That sounds like a BB for me!
>37 LittleTaiko: I really liked that book when I read it a few years ago. I've since seen references to her in other books of that time.

Maisie Dobbs / Jacqueline Winspear
2.5 stars

In 1929, Masie Dobbs is opening up a detective agency and gets her first case. It’s not long before she solves this one, then the book takes us back in time to when she was younger and had to take a job as a servant, where she was not only treated well, but she was helped with an education. Then WWI hit, and she became a nurse.

This might not be a great summary, as I listened to the audio and missed much of it. I was interested at the start, then sort of missed the going back in time (although it did say the year at the start and I sort of wasn’t thinking, as I do – vaguely – recall hearing the new date). From there to the end of the book, what I paid attention to was patchy.

I was somewhat interested again for part of her time during the war. There were very few characters that I remembered who they were when mentioned again later in the book, though. I did like Simon and Maisie’s relationship with her father, Frank. They are pretty much the only other characters I remember (oh, and Lady Rowan – Maisie’s employer when she was a servant). I got the idea that there was another mystery at the end of the book, but I really had no clue what was going on there – apparently (based on other reviews), there was a murder – I had no idea! See how much I missed!? Although it’s considered a mystery, there is next to no time spent on a mystery in the book. Needless to say, I will not be continuing the series.

>39 LibraryCin: You are right, there is little in the way of mystery in this book. If I had read this one first I would not have continued the series either. After a couple that were not bad, I gave up on the series anyway. I didn't care for Maisie's psychic abilities helping to solve mysteries.

>40 VivienneR: And if there was any indication of psychic abilities in book 1, I missed it!
...but there was some mention of seeing into the future a couple of times? I did miss what that was all about, so I guess I forgot about that. It didn't really make sense to me

I'm pulling The Secret Life of Anna Blanc by Jennifer Kincheloe off my shelves for this KIT. The heroine takes a job as a police matron in 1907 Los Angeles.

I read Golden in Death by J. D. Robb and found that it pretty much followed the author's formula for this series which now has over 50 novels.

I finished Castle Shade, the latest in the Russell/Holmes series, and rated it as a 3 1/2 star read.

I read The Darkest Evening by Ann Cleeves featuring Vera Stanhope.

I read Death at Windsor Castle by C.C. Benison.

The entire series was a lot of fun but this entry was the best. I've heard there will be no more in the series and that's a shame because housemaid Jane Bee and Her Majesty make a terrific pair of sleuths. I loved the setting and background story of Windsor Castle and the Knights of the Garter. By including details of pomp and protocol it was a tad lengthy for a cozy mystery, but it was well-written and I wouldn't remove a word.

>46 VivienneR: I know! One of my greatest literary regrets is that this series won't be finished.

And I have to admit that because I love this series so much, I refuse to read The Windsor Knot...

>47 rabbitprincess: I know exactly how you feel! I put a hold on The Windsor Knot back when it was at the "on order" stage at the library. It just arrived a couple of days ago. I'll keep it for a few days to pretend it's been read (small town, the library staff know me very well) and return it without it ever being opened.

Benison is an LT author. Maybe we could petition him?

August MysteryKIT posted here:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/333715

I read Long Road to Mercy by David Baldacci for this

I have finished Der tote Rittmeister where a teacher helps to solve the murder of a cavalry officer on Norderney in 1913.

I finished listening to Diamond Doris. What a story! This is right in this category, specifically, robbers. I am glad I read it, but I can't say I loved it. The story is well told and well read on audio, but it is hard to live in the world of a criminal without becoming very judgy.
Coincidentally our book club pick this month was The Ballad of the Whiskey Robber. The robber was male so doesn't work for this challenge, but it was an interesting comparison. I found Doris more interesting and there was no violence in her crimes. The Whiskey Robber became a folk hero in Hungary in the 1990's but I still don't understand why there was so much sympathy for him. So fun to compare this random pairing.

I finished Malice at the Palace by Rhys Bowen. I really enjoy this series. Has me laughing out loud quite often.

I totally loved Girl Waits With Gun by Amy Stewart. I am already looking forward to reading more of Constance Kopp's adventures in the next book!

I've finished Deadly Arms, fifth in the Maple Syrup Mysteries series. In this one, the chief of police and most of the other officers are too sick to work, so multiple murders are investigated by a female officer and two female lawyers.
This series has lots of the cozy tropes, like romance and recipes, but the deaths are more grizzly than expected and there are angles such as domestic abuse that you don't normally find in cozies.

The 9th Judgment / James Patterson
3 stars

There is someone out there killing mothers and their babies. Also, there is a thief robbing people; after a high profile robbery (an actor), the actor’s wife is murdered and it appears that the robber is also the murderer.

I listened to the audio and overall, this was ok. It seemed like every time there was a focus on the women’s personal lives, it was all about sex. Ugh! Did they even meet up beyond the one time at the end of the book? I’m at a point where it may not be worth it to continue on. The audio had my attention sometimes.

I read The Case of the Left-Handed Lady by Nancy Springer, the second book in the Enola Holmes series. It was great! I look forward to reading more about Enola.

I read Moonlight Downs by Adrian Hyland, starring Emily Tempest.

>39 LibraryCin:, >40 VivienneR: Sorry you didn't like Maisie Dobbs better. I think this first one is the weakest. While it isn't my favorite series, I like it well enough to keep reading. I like the depiction of England between the wars, and enjoy following Maisie, Billy, and Maisie's father & Dr.Blanche.

>54 DeltaQueen50: I was not able to get Lady Cop Makes Trouble (#2 in the series) through Libby for my Kindle. I have the paper copy on hold through the library, but was eager to start it so I am listening to it via Hoopla audio. I'm up to chapter 8 and loving it so far. What a fun series! This is great for a hiatus from heavy books, just lots of rollicking fun. I would definitely support your intent to move forward with the next book.

I just read (and enjoyed) Ann Granger's The Companion, which features a female sleuth, although she does team up with a male police officer.

I have finished Die Tote in der Sommerfrische, the first book featuring teacher Viktoria Berg as a sleuth.

A new-to-me author, Chris Daugherty with her 2nd mystery, Revolver road featuring reporter Harper McClain in Savannah, Georgia.

Fir an Atlanta, GA setting, I recommend Trudy Nan Boyce.

I read two Janet Evanovich books for this month. Twelve Sharp and Four To Score. Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum tracks down a female in Four To Score.

Thank you everyone for participating in this month's challenge. I certainly picked up some additions to my TBR.
I am nearly finished listening to my second selection for the month,, Lady Cop Makes Trouble, a delightfully fun historical mystery.

I am a little late with Poulets grillés, the first outing of Anne Capestan's brigade of misfts solving a cold case.