Thursday, September 22, 2011

Thursday Thirteen

I'm taking a class called Detectives in Film & Literature at Hollins University. So today I think I'll list 13 female detectives. They can be from TV, movies, or books. And I am not current on my TV and movie viewing, so some of these go back to the 1980s simply because I haven't really watched that much TV since about 1995.

1. Stephanie Plum. She is the heroine of Janet Evanovich's books, and I have listened to all of these on audio, and read a few of them. She is a bounty hunter/amateur detective, and she doesn't so much detect as have stuff just sort of happen. She's a bumbling detective. The first book is called One for the Money, and the rest of the books have titles that have something to do with the number of the book in the series. A movie based on the first book is scheduled for release soon.

2. Kinsey Milhone. She is the heroine of Sue Grafton's ABC mystery series. These books are interesting in that they continue to be set in the 1980s as opposed to bringing the heroine up to the present day. She is a strong detective, a loner, who enjoys her work and is very serious about it. No bumbling here.

3. Nancy Drew. I grew up reading these stories. Nancy always saved the day. She was very much the amateur detective. These books were written under the pseudonym of Carolyn Keene, and were actually the work of a series of writers.

4. DeeDee McCall. She is a sergeant with the Los Angeles Police Department and the co-star of the 1980s TV series Hunter. She was played by Stepfanie Kramer. Rick Hunter is the other detective in the show. He was played by Fred Dyer.

5. Christine Cagney. She was a detective with the New York Police Department and co-star in the show Cagney & Lacy. She was played most famously by Sharon Gless; the role was first taken by Meg Foster. However, she only lasted a season.

6. Mary Beth Lacey. She was a detective with the New York Police Department and co-star in the show Cagney & Lacey. She was played by Tyne Daly throughout the series.

7. Amelia Peabody. She's a detective, of sorts, in the mystery series by Elizabeth Peters. She's actually an archaeologist, and the mysteries generally surround her work in Egypt.

8. Sabrina Duncan. She was one of three detectives in the original Charlie's Angels TV series. She was played by Kate Jackson.

9. Kelly Garrett. She was one of the three detectives in the original Charlie's Angels TV series, too. She was played by Jacqueline Smith.

10. Precious Ramotswe is a detective in a series of books called The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith. The books were made into a series that showed on HBO, too.

11. Kay Scarpetta is the chief medical examiner in Virginia in a series of books by Patricia Cornwell.

12. Buffy Summers is a vampire slayer and solver of mysteries in the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She was played by Sarah Michelle Gellar in the TV series. I read a lot of the books that came out when the show was popular, and they were pretty good, too.

13. Goldy Bear. She is the heroine of the Goldy books, a series by Diane Mott Davidson. Goldy is a chef and so the mysteries tend to have something to do with cooking. There are recipes in the books, too.


PS I was using the amazon associates widget that allowed me to put pictures of the books up on my blog. However, it is no longer working. Anybody have a clue?



Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 209th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

15 comments:

  1. I feel like Kinsey and Scarpetta are old friends. And, like you, I grew up reading Nancy, Bess and George. Terrific list!

    ReplyDelete
  2. If there's a chance I'd love to watch Amelia Peabody at work - archeology and Egypt , love those two! I associate Nancy Drew with childhood readings. Loved her!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yey Buffy!! My dh and I just finished watching the entire TV series on Netflix this summer. We missed it on broadcast.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Stephanie is my favorite in the list. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I still have some of my Nancy Drew books. Loved them!


    Have a great Thursday!
    http://harrietandfriends.com/2011/09/about-the-nfl/

    ReplyDelete
  6. I loved Nancy Drew when I was growing up! Now I enjoy Stephanie Plum, and I think I am going to start reading the Patricia Cornwall books. Great 13! No idea about the pictures, though.

    ReplyDelete
  7. DeeDee "Big Hair" McCall.... remembered fondly. Thanks for the reminder.

    ReplyDelete
  8. You forgot Veronica Mars. Oh, how I loved that show!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oo, those are all good ones. My favourite female detective is Kathy Mallory from Carol O'Connell's books.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'll be doing a Buffy marathon with a friend next week! I've missed that show.

    Veronica Mars was a great one and it filled the Buffy void for a short while.

    My current fave TV detectives are Kate Beckett on Castle and Jane Rizzoli on Rizzoli and Isles.

    Happy T13,

    ~Xakara
    13 Fitness Gadgets

    ReplyDelete
  11. I guess I didn't think of Charlie's Angels as detectives. We need a woman Columbo or Perry Mason.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Ah, how I loved Cagney and Lacey.

    By the way, Loretta Swit (you remember, Hotlips from MASH) was the first person to play Cagney, in the pilot, which I remember owning on VHS long ago and haven't seen for a long time.

    My favourite detective is Precious Ramotszwe (and her assistant, Grace Makutsi), Botswana's No 1 Ladies' Detective.

    The BBC and Hallmark started a serialisation of the books and then, shamefully and without explanation, abandoned it.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love a good mystery. Great list. Happy T13!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Your class reminds me of one I took in college, Film & Literature, in which we would read a book/play and then see the movie based on it. This is a nice selection of fictional female detectives. I can't stand the movies and am not interested in watching the new series, but I did have a "Sabrina" doll once upon a time--untilbaby sis stole and traded it with her friends.

    ReplyDelete
  15. You have just given me a bunch of new ideas for reading! Thanks. I've never been much for mysteries--not for any particular reason, just haven't (other than a few Nancy Drew books as a kid).

    Fabulous post! I'm off to Amazon...

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for dropping by! I appreciate comments and love to hear from others. I appreciate your time and responses.