Vicky T. (VickyJo) -
By a Woman's Hand lists female mystery writers, gives a brief synopsis of their works, any series they are writing, and other authors you may enjoy if you like the featured author's work. Swanson and James also include pseudonyms the women use. This was published in 1996, so it needs an updated edition, but if you are looking for different authors to read, this is a good guide.
Sample entry: (One of the shorter ones)
Fallon, Ann C.
Fallon has taken the traditional English mystery and given it an agreeable Irish brogue with a series of novels about young Dublin solicitor James Fleming. A bachelor with a comfortable income, an upper-middle-class background, and a passion for railways all over the world, James Fleming makes an attractive character for a series set in contemporary Ireland. Through his law practice, James encounters some odd cases that call for using his skills as a lawyer in more creative ways. In "Dead Ends" (Pocket, 1992) James goes to a beautiful country inn near Sligo to draw up a will for the inn's owner, an old friend of a colleague. A mysterious death occurs at the inn while James is there, and soon he finds himself working to solve the puzzle to save the owner of the inn from arrest. Fallon's writing style is leisurely, spinning out the thread of the narrative in the fashion of mysteries from the Golden Age. While the pace is not fast, the plot is usually neatly and fairly constructed. The series begins with "Blood is Thicker" (Pocket, 1990).
Other writers who have set their work in Ireland are Eilis Dillon and Nigel Fitzgerald. Readers who enjoy lawyers as sleuths might also try the work of Sara Woods, Frances Fyfield, M.R.D. Meek, or E.X. Giroux.
Swanson and James also put together several indexes: one by the name of the series character; one for geographic locations; and one for the type of sleuth, such as lawyer, librarian or scientist.
Sample entry: (One of the shorter ones)
Fallon, Ann C.
Fallon has taken the traditional English mystery and given it an agreeable Irish brogue with a series of novels about young Dublin solicitor James Fleming. A bachelor with a comfortable income, an upper-middle-class background, and a passion for railways all over the world, James Fleming makes an attractive character for a series set in contemporary Ireland. Through his law practice, James encounters some odd cases that call for using his skills as a lawyer in more creative ways. In "Dead Ends" (Pocket, 1992) James goes to a beautiful country inn near Sligo to draw up a will for the inn's owner, an old friend of a colleague. A mysterious death occurs at the inn while James is there, and soon he finds himself working to solve the puzzle to save the owner of the inn from arrest. Fallon's writing style is leisurely, spinning out the thread of the narrative in the fashion of mysteries from the Golden Age. While the pace is not fast, the plot is usually neatly and fairly constructed. The series begins with "Blood is Thicker" (Pocket, 1990).
Other writers who have set their work in Ireland are Eilis Dillon and Nigel Fitzgerald. Readers who enjoy lawyers as sleuths might also try the work of Sara Woods, Frances Fyfield, M.R.D. Meek, or E.X. Giroux.
Swanson and James also put together several indexes: one by the name of the series character; one for geographic locations; and one for the type of sleuth, such as lawyer, librarian or scientist.
