Women’s History Month: Recommendations of Women (and Men) in Crime Fiction, From Women in Crime Fiction

-Post by Molly

March is Women’s History Month, so at the beginning of the month, I reached out to many of my favorite female authors writing in crime fiction today for some thoughts and recommendations. Jamie Mason, Meg Gardiner, Ausma Zehanat Khan, Megan Abbott, and Lori Rader-Day all sent replies along, posted earlier this month (Mason’s response posted separately), and now we bring you some of their amazing recommendations. Not all the authors listed below are currently in print (although some soon return to print), and this is certainly not an exhaustive list of all the best crime writers today (a virtually impossible task). I’ve added quite a few of the following to my “to read” list. Enjoy!

Jamie Mason Recommends…

Classic Authors:

Josephine Tey
Dorothy Sayers
Daphne du Maurier
Patricia Highsmith
Agatha Christie

Second Wave Authors:

Ruth Rendell
PD James
Patricia Cornwell
Mary Higgins Clark
Sue Grafton
Kathy Reichs

Contemporary Authors:

Gillian Flynn
Tana French
Laura Lippman
Megan Abbott
Tess Gerritsen
Kate Atkinson
Lisa Lutz
Mo Hayder
Sara Paretsky

Meg Gardiner Recommends…

Classic Authors:

Agatha Christie
Mary Shelley (as innovator of suspense fiction)
Patricia Highsmith

Ausma Zehanat Khan Recommends…

Classic Authors:

Ngaio Marsh
Dorothy L. Sayers (and the Jill Paton Walsh continuation of the Wimsey/Vane series)

Contemporary Authors:

Deborah Crombie
Imogen Robertson
Charles Finch
Charles Todd
Alan Bradley
Louise Penny
Susan Hill
Ariana Franklin
Anna Dean
Martha Grimes
Morag Joss
C. S. Harris
Stephanie Barron
Laurie R. King
Laura Joh Rowland
Elizabeth George
Peter May (in particular, The Blackhouse)
the late, great Reginald Hill

Megan Abbott Recommends…

The following books are soon to appear in the Library of America’s collection Women Crime Writers: Eight Suspense Novels of the 1940s & 50s, edited by Sarah Weinman