10 Fantastic Crime Novels Written By Women

March 17 2016
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Lisa Lutz is the bestselling author of the “Spellman Files” series and stand-alone thriller, The Passenger. We asked her for her favorite crime novels written by women and she delivered this show-stopping list.

What the Dead Know
by Laura Lippman

In this gripping tale of deception and delusion, wounds and betrayals, a thirty-year-old unsolved mystery is exposed along with the shocking fissures in the foundation of a seemingly solid family.

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What the Dead Know
Laura Lippman

In this gripping tale of deception and delusion, wounds and betrayals, a thirty-year-old unsolved mystery is exposed along with the shocking fissures in the foundation of a seemingly solid family.

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10 Fantastic Crime Novels Written By Women

By Lisa Lutz | March 17, 2016

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The End of Everything
by Megan Abbott

Thirteen-year-old Lizzie and her next-door neighbor Evie are inseparable. So when Evie suddenly disappears, everyone in town comes to Lizzie to find answers. Haunted by dreams of her lost friend and titillated by her own new power at the center of the disappearance, Lizzie uncovers secrets and lies that make her wonder if she knew her best friend at all.

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The End of Everything
Megan Abbott

Thirteen-year-old Lizzie and her next-door neighbor Evie are inseparable. So when Evie suddenly disappears, everyone in town comes to Lizzie to find answers. Haunted by dreams of her lost friend and titillated by her own new power at the center of the disappearance, Lizzie uncovers secrets and lies that make her wonder if she knew her best friend at all.

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10 Fantastic Crime Novels Written By Women

By Lisa Lutz | March 17, 2016

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Laura
by Vera Caspary

Laura Hunt was the ideal modern woman and the ultimate femme fatale: beautiful, elegant, highly ambitious, and utterly mysterious. No man could resist her charms—not even the hard-boiled NYPD detective sent to find out who turned her into a faceless corpse.

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Laura
Vera Caspary

Laura Hunt was the ideal modern woman and the ultimate femme fatale: beautiful, elegant, highly ambitious, and utterly mysterious. No man could resist her charms—not even the hard-boiled NYPD detective sent to find out who turned her into a faceless corpse.

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10 Fantastic Crime Novels Written By Women

By Lisa Lutz | March 17, 2016

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Strangers on a Train
by Patricia Highsmith

The inspiration for Alfred Hitchcock’s classic 1951 film, “Strangers on a Train” proved that Patricia Highsmith is a master at depicting the unsettling forces that tremble beneath the surface of everyday contemporary life. She paints a world filled with ordinary people, all of whom are capable of very ordinary crimes.

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Strangers on a Train
Patricia Highsmith

The inspiration for Alfred Hitchcock’s classic 1951 film, “Strangers on a Train” proved that Patricia Highsmith is a master at depicting the unsettling forces that tremble beneath the surface of everyday contemporary life. She paints a world filled with ordinary people, all of whom are capable of very ordinary crimes.

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MENTIONED IN:

The 13 Best Suspense Novels by Women: From Agatha Christie to Gillian Flynn

By Kerry Fiallo | February 7, 2017

10 Fantastic Crime Novels Written By Women

By Lisa Lutz | March 17, 2016

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We Have Always Lived in the Castle
by Shirley Jackson

Taking readers deep into a labyrinth of dark neurosis, WE HAVE ALWAYS LIVED IN THE CASTLE is a deliciously unsettling novel about a perverse, isolated, and possibly murderous family—and the struggle that ensues when a cousin arrives at their estate.

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We Have Always Lived in the Castle
Shirley Jackson

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Faithful Place
by Tana French

Tana French is skilled at creating richly drawn, complex worlds and makes her novels not mere whodunits but brilliant and satisfying novels about memory, identity, and loss. In FAITHFUL PLACE, we meet Frank Mackey as he wrestles with his own past and the family, the lover, and the neighborhood he thought he’d left behind for good.

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Faithful Place
Tana French

Tana French is skilled at creating richly drawn, complex worlds and makes her novels not mere whodunits but brilliant and satisfying novels about memory, identity, and loss. In FAITHFUL PLACE, we meet Frank Mackey as he wrestles with his own past and the family, the lover, and the neighborhood he thought he’d left behind for good.

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10 Fantastic Crime Novels Written By Women

By Lisa Lutz | March 17, 2016

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The Wicked Girls
by Alex Marwood

On a fateful summer morning in 1986, two eleven-year-old girls, Kirsty and Amber, meet for the first time. By the end of the day, they will both be charged with murder. Twenty-five years later, a series of familiar sickening attacks on young women occurs. Will Kirsty and Amber, now adults with vastly different lives, be able to keep their wicked secret hidden?

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The Wicked Girls
Alex Marwood

On a fateful summer morning in 1986, two eleven-year-old girls, Kirsty and Amber, meet for the first time. By the end of the day, they will both be charged with murder. Twenty-five years later, a series of familiar sickening attacks on young women occurs. Will Kirsty and Amber, now adults with vastly different lives, be able to keep their wicked secret hidden?

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MENTIONED IN:

10 Fantastic Crime Novels Written By Women

By Lisa Lutz | March 17, 2016

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Into the Dark
by Alison Gaylin

Can a stranger share your memories? That’s the question that haunts Brenna Spector when she first sees footage of missing webcam performer Lula Belle. Brenna takes the case—and in her quest for Lula Belle, unravels a web of obsession, sex, guilt, and murder that could regain her family . . . or cost her life.

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Into the Dark
Alison Gaylin

Can a stranger share your memories? That’s the question that haunts Brenna Spector when she first sees footage of missing webcam performer Lula Belle. Brenna takes the case—and in her quest for Lula Belle, unravels a web of obsession, sex, guilt, and murder that could regain her family . . . or cost her life.

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MENTIONED IN:

10 Fantastic Crime Novels Written By Women

By Lisa Lutz | March 17, 2016

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Case Histories
by Kate Atkinson

Private investigator Jackson Brodie is reopening three different, seemingly separate, cold cases from decades ago. During his investigation, he discovers startling connections and revelations that heat up and intertwine these long-forgotten mysteries.

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Case Histories
Kate Atkinson

As Private Detective Jackson Brodie investigates three separate deaths, startling connections and discoveries emerge and he becomes Inextricably caught up in his clients grief, joy, and desire as everyone struggles to expose the truth. The evil of the unfeeling, nasty gorgon of a father to the Land girls seeps through the book.

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MENTIONED IN:

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Women Crime Writers
by Sarah Weinman, editor

The Library of America and editor Sarah Weinman redefine the classic era of American crime fiction with a landmark collection of eight brilliant novels by the female pioneers of the genre, the women who paved the way for Gillian Flynn, Tana French, and Lisa Scottoline.

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Women Crime Writers
Sarah Weinman, editor

The Library of America and editor Sarah Weinman redefine the classic era of American crime fiction with a landmark collection of eight brilliant novels by the female pioneers of the genre, the women who paved the way for Gillian Flynn, Tana French, and Lisa Scottoline.

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MENTIONED IN:

10 Fantastic Crime Novels Written By Women

By Lisa Lutz | March 17, 2016

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