Historically, it would be tricky to define exactly when the concept of the Female Private Investigator first appeared in fiction. But The Female Detective and Revelations of a Lady Detective -both published in 1864, independent of each other-proves that it was a genre whose time had come. And while Miss Gladden may be the first by all of 5 months, it's Mrs. Paschal who is more the not-so-frail ground breaker -and it should be noted that Conan Doyle was only 5 when these ladies hit the streets. So what better way to present the modern female investigator than by gathering 15 top class authors and letting them tell you all about the exploits of their creations. Featuring Debra H. Goldstein, John B. Elliott, Steve Liskow, Sandra J. Cady, Debra Bliss Saenger, Kathleen Marple Kalb, Wil A. Emerson, Karen Odden, John W. Salvage, Michael J. Ciaraldi, Shannon Lawrence, Elle Higgins, Bonnar Spring, N.M. Cedeño and Adam Meyer.

本書は1864年に産声を上げた女性探偵小説の系譜を継ぐ、現代の旗手たちによる珠玉のアンソロジーです。ホームズ誕生以前に現れた「か弱くない」先駆者たちの精神を、15名の精鋭が鮮やかに蘇らせました。社会の境界線に立ち、独自の観察眼で闇を暴く女性たちの強靭な知性と矜持が、作品全体に高潔な魂を吹き込んでいます。 それぞれの物語は既存の枠組みを軽やかに超越する文学的な豊かさに満ちています。弱さを武器にし、あるいは力強く跳ね除けながら真実に辿り着く彼女たちの姿は、深い人間賛歌として胸を打ちます。多様な感性が交差する本作は、ミステリの進化の最前線を鮮烈に描き出した、全読書家必携の野心作といえるでしょう。