FEMINIST IN THE DARK

By Joy Pincus, United States

 

Move over Agatha Christie. There’s a new female mystery writer in town, and her heroine is not on the Orient Express. You’re much more likely to find her a black single mother, or a lesbian dealing with her longtime girlfriend, a new romantic interest, and a dead body. And it’s not just one or two writers. The so-called feminist mystery has emerged as an American literary genre onto itself, and may even be changing the nature of mainstream mysteries.

 

A few writers like Sara Partesky and Sue Grafton have made onto the bestsellers list. But most feminist mystery writers don’t, nor will you find them mentioned on the popular Oprah Winfrey television show. (“We’re not cheerful enough,” said one, SJ Rozan).  Still, feminist mysteries have a readership, and their authors are winning major awards. 

 

So what makes a feminist mystery author? Is she even different from a female mystery author? There is disagreement on this, even amongst some of the writers typically classified in the genre. According to SJ Rozan, it is a mystery writer who is also a feminist: “It's just an expression of a fact, in a way, like "feminist lawyer" or "feminist doctor" would be.”

 

Annette Meyers asserts: “I was told that I was a feminist mystery writer and that I was writing feminist mysteries, and I said, ‘I didn’t know that. I thought I was just writing strong women.’” 

 

But Barbara Neely, author of the “Blanche White" mystery series, feels that as a feminist mystery writer it is not enough to create strong women, and that maybe the term “Feminist Mystery Writer” is being used too loosely. "I think the difference is in intent. As a feminist, I set out to develop a feminist character.  I think some women characters are called feminist simply because they are strong, or loners, or carry a gun, not because they believe in feminist principles." 

 

Joan Drury [http://www.spinsters-ink.com/csexcerpt.html], owner of feminist publishing house, “Spinsters, Inc.,” and author of her own mystery series, says feminist mysteries are characterized by the surrounding circumstances that the character must face, and the issues she is dealing with whilst solving her mystery. Feminist mysteries are reality-based, says Drury, in that “the characters age, and they have real life problems.”  Moreover, these mysteries also focus on issues of silence in women’s lives, “or issues that should no longer be silent,” said Drury, whose second book was nominated for an Edgar, a prize awarded to mystery authors.

 

Indeed, silence is a theme in more than one of Drury’s novels.  “Silent Words” (Spinsters, 1996) finds Tyler Jones, the lesbian amateur sleuth of Drury’s mystery series, traveling back to her Minnesota roots to uncover the family secrets about issues such as misogyny, prejudice and relationships. “Closed in Silence” (Spinsters, 1998) shows the truth about friendships and what may be hidden beneath the surface, as a reunion of friends turns to murder.

 

Moreover, feminist mystery writers use the mystery genre as a way to cleverly pass on feminist ideas and values to an audience they might not otherwise reach, said Drury. “If I were to write a book, for instance...about violence against women -- a nonfiction book -- most of the people who would read it would be the people who already know about...violence against women,” said Drury. “When I write it in mystery format, I get an incredible number of responses from people who had no idea…” about this issue.

 

Valerie Wilson Wesley, a former editor at Essence Magazine, was inspired to write mysteries by the readers’ mail at this popular Afro-American women’s magazine. Her private eye, Tamara Hayle, [http://www.tamarahayle.com] is unique in being a single black parent.

 

“I wanted her to be a single mom, because ...I didn’t think a lot of people realize how tough it is, and I...wanted to find in my own way a tribute to these women,” said Wesley.

 

In the first of her series, “When Death Comes Stealing” (Avon, 1995), Hayle is hired by her own ex-husband to find out who is trying to kill his sons from a second marriage.  Despite the unsorted issues within herself that get stirred up, Hayle agrees to take on the case. In Wesley’ s sixth mystery, “The Devil Riding” (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2000), Hayle is looking for a runaway girl in Atlantic City, trying to mother all of the girls she meets on the street as well as the teenage son she has at home. Wesley tackles the issue of teenage pregnancy in this novel, trying to show that it doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the world.

 

Another black detective, Blanche White, is author Barbara Neely’s vehicle to attack issues of race and class in America [http://www.blanchewhite.com]. The first of the four Blanche White novels, “Blanche on the Lam” (Penguin, 1992) won the Agatha, Anthony and Macavity awards.

 

Blanche, a 40-year-old, full-sized woman, escapes from a 30 day jail sentence for non-payment of a $42 debt, and finds work as a housekeeper in North Carolina where she comes to unlock the secrets of the wealthy and eccentric employers. In her second book, “Blanche Among the Talented Tenth” (Penguin, 1995), Neely said she was inspired by readers to focus on the in-race prejudice that exists in the black community.  In this mystery, Blanche, who is dark- skinned, returns to her hometown and rediscovers the pains of her childhood where light-skinned kids had called her “Tar Baby” and “Ink Spot.”

 

In her fourth and most recent book “Blanche Passes Go” (Viking, 2000) Neely raises the difficult subject of violence against women, while in another she looks at voluntary non-motherhood.  “I wanted her [Blanche] to be childless by choice, because this is something that I think we need to push out there in the world,” said Neely. “We still live in a society that tells us if you have not used your womb you are not a woman…”

 

Sandra Scoppettone [http://www.imt.net/~gedison/scoppett.html], who has won numerous awards, including the Shamus (presented by the Private Eye Writers of America), also uses her unusual detective to deal with issues that are not accepted in society. Like her creator, Lauren Laurano is a lesbian. The first of the series’ five novels, “ Everything You Have Is Mine” (Little Brown, 1991) introduces us to this Greenwich Village private investigator and her long-term partner, Kip.

 

By book four their relationship is treading on thin ice, and when a beautiful woman interested in Lauren enters the picture, there is more than murder to occupy her mind. Scoppettone takes us inside the less-than-perfect world of the long-term relationship, and shows the dangers that befall any couple once they become too familiar of each other.

 

The story of Scoppettone’s success as a feminist mystery writer began in the 70’s when she was one of the first writers who wrote for young adults about lesbians and homosexuals. After a successful novel on alcoholism entitled "The Late Great Me" (Putnam, 1976) which was made into an Emmy award winning television show, she began to move into writing crime novels, which received no special attention.

 

Then one day a voice appeared in her head - the voice of a male detective whom Scoppettone proceeded to create a story around. As it was written in the first person perspective, she decided to choose a pseudonym, thinking this would have better appeal than a male voice coming from a woman author. The name she chose (humorously described as being from the middle of the alphabet to ensure that it would be placed neither too high nor too low on the store shelves) was Jack Early and the book, entitled "A Creative Kind of Killer" (Franklin Watts, 1984) was immediately published, receiving great reviews, being nominated for an Edgar and winning a Shamus award.

 

After the second Early came out, The New York Times started to compare "him" with a number of authors, including Elmore Leonard and Stephen King.

"Would they have said, "Sandra Scoppettone, another Stephen King?" She asks, dryly.

 

Tired finally of writing under a man’s name, Scoppettone created Lauren Laurano. To her surprise, it was the first lesbian mystery series reviewed by The New York Times and published with a mainstream publisher. The success of it prompted Scoppettone to continue on until the fifth and final book of the series, "Gonna Take a Homicidal Journey" (Little Brown, 1998).

 

Much to her fans’ chagrin, Scoppettone is finished with the Laurano series, and is moving on to write a non-lesbian novel. What will it be and under which name will she publish? She won’t tell. Now that her real name is forever linked with lesbian novels, if she wishes to continue to publish mainstream, she will likely have to find a new pseudonym and keep it a secret -- even from her most loyal fans.

 

Like Scoppettone, Annette Meyers also took the back door to mystery writing. Meyers [http://www.meyersmysteries.com/bios.html#annette], a tiny powerhouse of a woman looking out over enormous frames of glasses that magnify her eyes to an impossible size, worked for 16 years in theatre before becoming a headhunter on New York’s Wall Street, America’s financial center. She was amazed at the sexism she encountered. On Wall Street; women were constantly harassed, grabbed and talked dirty to. Almost every woman she met who had made it on Wall Street had to deal with sexual harassment.

 

It followed naturally that upon becoming inspired to write a murder mystery, Meyers sat down one night before her typewriter and knew she would focus on those strong, but victimized women of Wall Street. Combining both of her worlds of experience, she created "The Big Killing" (Replica Books, 1998) the first of the "Smith and Wetzon" series. Here, Leslie Wetzon, former Broadway dancer and now successful Wall Street headhunter, gets embroiled in one mystery after another along with her partner, Xenia Smith.

 

In each of the books, such as "The Groaning Board" (Doubleday Books, 1997) where the partners explore the connection between some fatal poisonings and an upscale catering firm and "These Bones Were Made For Dancin’" (Replica Books, 2000) in which the skeleton of a woman dead for over 15 years is found, she reveals the sexist environment of the business world.

 

When the books first hit the stands, "Women started to call me and tell me their stories," said Meyers. "You have to know that everything I write about on Wall Street, no matter how bizarre, is all true...anything you read about in sexual harassment [in my mysteries] is absolutely true…"

 

Meyers’ latest mystery, "Free Love" (Mysterious Press, 1999), is a sharp departure from the modern world of finance, but also deals with feminist themes. A young poet from the turn of the century stumbles over a dead body whose face quite shockingly resembles her own. In between penning the verses that earn her a living and breaking hearts left and right with her refusal to settle down to one lover, she decides to do some sleuthing to uncover the mystery.

 

"I had always wanted to live in Greenwich village and be a bohemian writer and artist...it was a time of such enormous freedom, the bohemian feminist knew what she wanted, she knew where she was going, and she reversed the traditional male/female roles," said Meyers.  "She said ‘I will not marry until I have played and played and played and played.’

 

In a different twist on the feminine mystery, SJ Rozan [http://www.sjrozan.com], winner of both the Anthony Award (given at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention) and the Shamus Award, uses a female/male duo to explore gender types. The seasoned male private investigator, Bill Smith, considers himself to be a “failed feminist,” not treating women as well as he’d like. His partner, Lydia Chin, a young female Chinese-American investigator, disagrees with him. Chin struggles with her family’s fierce criticism of her “unlady-like” profession, her fear of bringing dishonour upon them, whilst trying all the while to win their approval.

 

So with such true to life female characters why haven’t these mysteries done better? Barbara Neely points out the unfortunate fact that whilst women will read books by men and women, men will not necessarily read books by women.

Adds Drury: “‘Bestseller’ is relative. In the mainstream we are not bestsellers because we are women. Women write more mysteries than men, but [men] are reviewed more. They also write more bold, gory novels. You know, I just couldn’t bring myself to write about fishing, hunting and fucking.”

 

Whether they have succeeded with the readers, some of these writers believe they influenced the mystery genre. The characters of male mystery writers no longer sit in bars but have to deal with family, children, full lives outside of their work, they assert.

By not “writing about booze butts and bimbos we helped the male writer expand,” said Meyers.