Top Books With Female Detectives & Investigators
From Hercule Poirot in the Agatha Christie books to the tales of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle there is certainly no shortage of famous male detectives in classic literature. However, recent years have seen a lot of women step up to the plate as well, thanks to the increasing amount of brilliant female authors. If you are a fan of murder mysteries, crime fiction, and similar stories, but want to read about women cracking the cases, then there is no better time to be a reader than now. Just check out these top books with female detectives and investigators taking the lead.
The Birthday
by Carol Wyer
Detective Natalie Ward is the lead in The Birthday by Carol Wyer. She is a mother of two teens, so the case of a five-year old girl who never returned home from a party hits her particularly hard. After the little girl turns up dead another girl who attended the same party also vanishes and Natalie has to figure out what the connection is. Her job is not made easier by the fact that it looks like some of the parents know more than what they are telling her. The stakes become even higher when a third girl from the party goes missing and Natalie has to race against time to solve the case before more innocent lives are endangered.
Thin Air
by Lisa Gray
Jessica Shaw is the private investigator in Thin Air by Lisa Gray. Jessica specializes in investigating missing persons, but in a strange twist of fate, she receives a photo of a three-year old girl who was kidnapped twenty-five years ago in Los Angeles. Jessica is shocked when she recognizes that she is the little girl in the photo, so she wastes no time heading to LA in order to investigate. She soon discovers that her biological mother was killed the same night that Jessica was abducted, but the police appears to have forgotten all about the case.
Forget Me Not
by Kierney Scott
Forget Me Not by Kierney Scott introduces Detective Jess Bishop, a woman who has spent her entire career trying to forget a particularly gruesome murder that she investigated. Jess thought that the killer is already dead, but to her horror, the bodies of more women bearing the same kinds of wounds show up years later. This means that in order to stop the serial killer and prevent more women from dying, Jess will have to confront her past and put her life on the line.
Dark Game
by Rachel Lynch
In Dark Game by Rachel Lynch, DI Kelly Porter leaves the Metropolitan Police after being involved in a scandal and returns to the Lake District, which is her old home turf. Since the Cumbrian constabulary is a lot more quiet than London, Kelly begins digging into a cold case, which involved the abduction and murder of a ten-year old girl. However, while investigating other crimes that initially appear to be very straightforward, Kelly uncovers a lot more than she expected. It turns out that the sleep tourist town might just be hiding a lot darker secrets than anyone ever knew.
Vanishing Girls
by Lisa Regan
Vanishing Girls by Lisa Regan introduces readers to Detective Josie Quinn, who is investigating the disappearance of a young girl in the small town of Denton. However, Josie discovers another girl who nobody even knew was missing. Unfortunately, the girl is mute and unresponsive, but Josie does manage to get a name from her who might be that of a third victim. Josie is determined to track down the culprit as she fears there are more girls in danger, but all signs appear to point to a cold case that was dismissed as a hoax by authorities. This leads Josie to begin questioning who exactly is left for her to trust.
Lola Is Missing
by Alison James
In Lola is Missing by Alison James it is up to Detective Rachel Prince to discover what happened to a six-year old girl named Lola Jade. Lola disappeared from the safety of her own bedroom and neither family, friends or neighbors saw a thing. Lola's mother is convinced that her ex-husband is the person behind the kidnapping, but he vehemently denies any involvement. However, someone must know where the little girl is and Rachel is determined to find out who is lying and who is telling the truth.
The Girl in the Water
by Victoria Jenkins
Detective Alex King is called in to solve the murder of a young woman in The Girl in the Water by Victoria Jenkins. There is a lot of pressure on Alex to solve the case, but just as she begins running out of leads another girl is found dead under the same circumstances. With a horrible pattern beginning to emerge Alex is in a race against time to find the killer before the body count rises even more. However, to make matters even more complicated, she discovers that a member of her own team is also in grave danger.
The Missing Ones
by Patricia Gibney
The Missing Ones by Patricia Gibney sees Detective Lottie Parker taking the lead on a case where a young woman is found dead in a cathedral and a young man found hanging from a tree. The only connection between the two victims is a distinctive tattoo that has been clumsily inscribed on their legs. Lottie soon finds that the victims could be linked to unsolved murders from decades ago, but going through with the investigation could put her own children in danger.
