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rhosyn_du (rhosyn_du) wrote in fandom_lounge,
@ 2012-02-15 16:11:00

Book recs: Mysteries with female protagonists but without weight/body shaming?
I have recently re-discovered my love of mystery novels, especially ones starring women, but I've also discovered that a distressing proportion of mystery novels with female protagonists involve serious weight-shaming, which pretty much ruins the experience for me. Do any of you have an recs for mystery novels featuring women that do not include the protagonist worrying about the size of her ass or how many calories are in her lunch, any major character making disparaging remarks or having disparaging inner monologues about the size of anyone's body, or the narrative using fatness as shorthand for moral failing? I'll really take anything that fits those qualifications, but I'm particularly fond of police procedural/forensic mysteries, and if it involves serial killers or has a romantic subplot, that would be extra-awesome. Thanks in advance.

(Post a new comment)

	seiberwing 2012-02-16 12:49 am UTC (link)
	Oh, do I have have a series for you. It's not exactly police procedural or a 'traditional' mystery of the puzzle to solve set, but I'm addicted to them. Mma Ramotswe, our main character, refers to herself as 'traditionally built' and bar one short aside in...I want to say the sixth or seventh novel, she is rather proud of this fact. Because she's awesome. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	rhosyn_du 2012-02-16 12:55 am UTC (link)
	Oh, that looks delightful. Thanks! (Reply to this)(Parent)

freezer
2012-02-16 01:47 am UTC (link)

Charlaine Harris is all over this genre. Though I'd recommend the Harper Connelly Mysteries (about a woman who can detect and track down the remains of the dead and see their last moments), the Aurora Teagarden books (think Cold Case meets Murder She Wrote - if Jessica Fletcher was a tiny Southern Belle) or the Lily Bard Mysteries (think True Blood without the supernatural elements {and a less-annoying protagonist}).

(Reply to this)

ekaterinv
2012-02-16 02:31 am UTC (link)

I don't know any police procedural/forensic type mysteries, but...

The Jane Austen mysteries by Stephanie Barron are quite good. When they start out, Jane doesn't do the heavy lifting of mystery-solving herself, but she starts to pretty quickly.

Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael mysteries star a monk, but there is nearly always a young couple in love he has to help, and some very good female characters, who run the gamut from traditional lady of the house to nun to prostitute to rebel. They're set in the 1400s, and Cadfael often pushes back against misogyny within the church and his order.

Also seconding the Lady's #1 Detective Agency recommendation. I haven't gotten around to reading any, but my mom loves them.

(Reply to this)

	magnolia_mama 2012-02-16 03:08 am UTC (link)
	I can't guarantee weight shaming doesn't come up in these because I don't remember any and it's possible I just blocked it out (also because I've only read a couple of them, not the whole series), but you might try Peter Tremayne's Sister Fidelma mysteries (set in 7th century Ireland) and the Merrily Watkins series by Phil Rickman. (Reply to this)

	come_love_sleep 2012-02-16 04:40 am UTC (link)
	If you like Sherlock Holmes, you might try Laurie R. King's Holmes pastiches, about his much younger female apprentice? The first few of those are great fun, starting with The Beekeeper's Apprentice. She also writes a modern-day mystery series, the titles of which I forget, and has several standalones. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	anthologia 2012-02-16 11:19 pm UTC (link)
	Weren't those the super-Mary Sue ones? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

jocelyncs, 2012-02-17 01:01 am UTC

notarose
2012-02-16 05:15 am UTC (link)

You might have to read at least two or three books mostly staring Lord Peter Wimsey first to get enough context to make the book make sense (Strong Poison and Have His Carcass would be most useful), but Gaudy Night by Dorothy L Sayers should meet at least some of these criteria- I don't remember any body-shaming built into the proto-feminist musings, plus it features mostly women characters. I don't want to say more for fear of spoiling all three of the books.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

	miss_eponine 2012-02-16 11:36 am UTC (link)
	Seconding these titles. Dorothy Sayers was awesome. All of her books are great, but these three would be mostly what you're looking for. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

issendai, 2012-02-16 04:36 pm UTC

bienegold, 2012-02-16 06:25 pm UTC

miss_eponine, 2012-02-17 12:06 am UTC

	undomielregina 2012-02-16 10:11 am UTC (link)
	It's possible that I'm misremembering, but I don't recall any body-shaming in the Amelia Peabody mysteries. I especially recommend the first, which has a fantastic romantic subplot. The characters are Victorian Egyptologists, so it's very much more in the amateur detective genre though. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	kosaginolegion 2012-02-18 03:49 am UTC (link)
	I was about to suggest that one. I will note that some of Ms. Peters' other works occasionally have weight related topics, although I don't perceive it as shaming. ("Summer of the Dragon" comes to mind, as the protagonist has a very healthy appetite.) Not sure which side of the line they're on, however, so I just mention it as something to be aware of. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	adverb 2012-02-16 10:18 am UTC (link)
	It's been a while since I've read them, but Meg Cabot's Heather Wells books I think fit well. There is quite a bit of focus on weight, but the main character is definitely against shaming - the first book is Size 12 Is Not Fat (followed by Size 14 is Not Fat Either, and Big-Boned). You can read the first chapter here, although it doesn't get into the mystery there. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	adverb 2012-02-16 10:19 am UTC (link)
	Oh, and there's a definite romantic subplot, with her rock star ex-boyfriend's private detective brother (there's a scene in one of the books where they watch Golden Girls together, which pretty much cemented my love of them). (Reply to this)(Parent)

	nightwithmoon 2012-02-16 02:25 pm UTC (link)
	I don't recall any body-shaming in the Phryne Fisher novels. Phryne is pretty much perfect at everything, though, if that sort of thing bugs you. (Reply to this)(Thread)

melannen
2012-02-16 04:09 pm UTC (link)

I've only read the first Phryne Fisher novel, and while I don't remember any fat-shaming (but then there aren't any fat characters) there's a lot of signaling people's morality by their appearance, and a lot of obsessing over how one of the characters is too thin...

It's possible they get better with that later on, though. It's a pretty common trope in beginner/lazy/old-fashioned detective stories to do that outer-ugliness-reflects-inner-ugliness thing, but some writers grow out of it.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

nightwithmoon, 2012-02-16 04:51 pm UTC

	kannaophelia 2012-03-10 12:00 pm UTC (link)
	A long time since I read them too - IMO they were unbearable Mary Sues - but I remember feeling really uncomfortable about the knife thin=beautiful thing going on with Phryne. (Reply to this)(Parent)

clover_elf_kin
2012-02-16 11:25 pm UTC (link)

Maybe not quite what you're looking for, as it's fantasy, but there's the Circle of Magic books by Tamora Pierce--the second quartet, The Circle Opens, are all stand-alone books that focus on solving mysteries, and three out of four of them are narrated by girls (early teens). Tris is chubby and doesn't care, nor do her friends/siblings, but people do comment from time to time... sometimes learning as a result that it's a bad idea to piss off a weather mage.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

chibikaijuu
2012-02-18 12:02 am UTC (link)

And Daja is very stocky and strong and it's never (that I recall) brought up as a negative. In general, there's a wide variety of appearances (race as well as body type) in protagonists, antagonists, and minor characters, and looks are generally not used to signal whether someone is good or not. (Quick warning - Tris's book in The Circle Opens has a mystery based around the murders of young, pretty, female entertainers, who are not sex workers, but the parallels are easily drawn.)

(Reply to this)(Parent)

	ldymusyc 2012-02-16 11:41 pm UTC (link)
	It's been a while since I read them, so I cannot recall if there's weight/body issues, but Fiona Buckley's Ursula Blanchard series are mysteries set in/around the court of Elizabeth I and were entertaining fun. Seconding the Amelia Peabody series, very awesome. (Reply to this)

	pfflyernc 2012-02-17 05:09 am UTC (link)
	Margaret Maron wrote an 8-book series featuring Sigrid Harald, a NYC detective, that I adored. I don't remember any body shaming in those, unlike her other series, the Deborah Knott mysteries. A great character--a Southern judge--who frequently worries about "the size of her ass." (Reply to this)(Thread)

	rosehiptea 2012-02-17 08:02 am UTC (link)
	I should check those out. I did like the Deborah Knott mysteries until she got married and for some reason that just wrecked them for me. I have no idea why. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

pfflyernc, 2012-02-17 02:56 pm UTC

singe
2012-02-17 08:07 pm UTC (link)

Terry Pratchett's Night Watch series of Discworld novels are mysteries with a male hero, Sam Vimes, but he's married to the extremely kick-ass Lady Sybil Ramekin who ain't petite but it's presented as one of the most beautiful things about her. Also featured in the books are officers Cheery Littlebottom and Angua von Überwald whose only body image problems stem from being a dwarf and a werewolf, respectively.

Also they're frickin' hilarious reads.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

seiberwing, 2012-02-19 03:09 am UTC

singe, 2012-02-19 04:08 am UTC

ekaterinv, 2012-02-20 04:51 am UTC

singe, 2012-02-20 02:33 pm UTC

issendai, 2012-02-19 06:43 pm UTC

singe, 2012-02-20 03:21 am UTC

sepiamagpie, 2012-02-20 02:42 am UTC

singe, 2012-02-20 02:36 pm UTC

sandglass, 2012-02-20 10:36 pm UTC

singe, 2012-02-21 03:27 am UTC

kannaophelia, 2012-03-10 11:58 am UTC

singe, 2012-03-10 03:56 pm UTC

kannaophelia, 2012-03-11 12:12 am UTC

singe, 2012-03-11 03:09 am UTC

	caffeine_fairy 2012-02-19 01:16 am UTC (link)
	I...assume you've already read the Miss Marple books? (Reply to this)(Thread)

sepiamagpie, 2012-02-20 02:43 am UTC

tangentialone, 2012-02-20 08:29 am UTC

singe, 2012-02-20 02:39 pm UTC

ekaterinv, 2012-02-22 03:15 am UTC

singe, 2012-02-22 03:58 am UTC

	jerry_ds_girl 2012-02-20 06:52 pm UTC (link)
	It's been a while since I've read Rita Mae Brown's Hunt Club mysteries, but I don't recall any overt weight-or-woman shaming in them, other than an occasional comment about someone not being a fit enough rider to go foxhunting. (Which is pretty much the case in real life sometimes anyway). They're especially fun if you like horses and other animals. (Reply to this)

waterfall8484
2012-02-25 01:04 am UTC (link)

The "in Death" series by Nora Roberts writing as J.D. Robb are awesome. Kickass heroine, sci-fi crime novels with a definite romantic subplot.

I'd also recommend the Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton, with the strong kaveat that it is definitely not to everyone's taste. Another kickass heroine, plenty of romance and police procedural/forensic stuff, although it tends more towards romance (and later erotica)/horror with crime than the other way around. The first books are more crime-focused, but it changes back and forth with later books. I'm expecting to get flack for this, but it's honestly the best character-development series I've ever read.

(Reply to this)

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