From stories of crime to tales of espionage, male protagonists have historically dominated the thriller genre. Following in the footsteps of so many iconic characters, from Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot to James Bond and Jason Bourne, the thriller world is teeming with countless calculating heroes in three-piece suits.
That’s not to say that there haven’t been iconic leading ladies — Miss Marple and Dominika Egorova come to mind — but it’s largely been the men who are staples of the thriller world. Today, we’re here to highlight eight women protagonists in international thrillers. While some may already be familiar to many readers, others are unsung heroines who deserve their time in the spotlight (although that might get in the way of their top-secret missions).
The Girl in the Eagle’s Talons by Karin Smirnoff
If you read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, you no doubt remember Lisbeth Salander, the punk hacker who came to journalist Mikael Blomkvist’s aid. The late author Stieg Larsson’s series has been continued by David Lagercrantz, and now Karin Smirnoff has been passed the torch. Her addition breathes new life into the series, with author Lee Child saying that “Lisbeth Salander is back — and maybe better than ever.”
High in the Norrland region, untapped natural reserves are tempting Swedes to move north and strike gold, and the criminal underground wants in. Lisbeth’s not there for the gold, though — she’s there to look after her niece, Svala, whose mother has just gone missing. Something nefarious has settled deep into the small town of Gasskas, bringing on a chill that isn’t just from the bitter cold — and with precious metals under the permafrost, greed is just a moment away from bringing violence to the woefully unprepared town.
To read more, check out our interview with Smirnoff here.
The Moscow Sleepers by Stella Rimington
Grab your passport and buy a plane ticket because this book spans countries and continental divides. Top MI5 counter-espionage agent Liz Carlyle is hard at work in London when she gets a call from the FBI. They have a shared person of interest: a Russian immigrant laying in hospice in Vermont, who’s just received a mysterious visitor claiming to be a childhood friend — someone who just might happen to have connections to Russian operatives. Liz and her colleague Peggy Kinsolving soon unearth an entire network of Kremlin agents who are primed to destabilize the German government. Armed with this knowledge, the two women set out on an international chase from London to Montreal to Moscow, all in the hopes of tracking down the agents and putting a stop to the plan before Germany pays the price.
The tenth book in the bestselling Liz Carlyle Novels, The Moscow Sleepers is a wild, fast-paced ride filled with political intrigue and riveting espionage.
The Missing Diary by Tasmin Turner
Idealistic young lawyer Kit Chase has a comfortable life with her fiancé in New Zealand, but decides she wants to experience more adventure before she gets married. She takes a temporary job with an international law firm in Kosovo just a year after the region’s devastating conflict, hoping for an exciting life experience. But when her first assignment brings her at odds with a brutal crime boss, it seems Kit’s about to find much more adventure than she ever anticipated — enough to maybe even get her killed.
In her efforts to bring justice down upon the crime boss Raco, Kit manages to find the diary of one of his accomplices. The writing details the politically motivated sexual assault and abduction of a local woman. The diary is a cache of crucial details about the organization’s crimes — which is why it’s so disastrous that said diary soon goes missing. Now determined to find both the information and the kidnapped woman, Kit casts self-preservation aside and goes full tilt into the investigation. This electrifying thriller weaves together real-life events and the author’s boundless imagination to tell a story that pulls readers into its pages.
To read more about The Missing Diary, read our full review here.
The Absence of Light by Zoë Sharp
Lee Child weighs in once again, telling us that if the beloved titular character of his Jack Reacher novels “were a woman, he’d be Charlie Fox.” High praise from a New York Times bestseller, and reviewers agree, bolstering the eleventh book in the Charlie Fox series with 5-star ratings. The Absence of Light follows Charlie as the ex-Special Forces soldier embarks on her journey to Colombia and the scene of a devastating earthquake. Providing aid with her relief effort team is only half of her mission, though — just before the quake, the security advisor before her died under mysterious circumstances. Now Charlie must sift through the rubble not only for survivors, but for clues about whether his death was a tragic accident or a sign of a bigger, more nefarious plot. Just as explosive as the previous books in the Charlie Fox series, The Absence of Light is a claustrophobic tale of international conspiracy.
Mistaken Identity by Michael W. Sherer
When Jenny Roberts saved her fellow FBI agent on a counterterrorist mission, she doesn’t expect to be fired for her actions. Thrown under the bus as the scapegoat for the team’s unsanctioned actions, Jenny leaves Iraq and gets on an Amtrak train bound for her childhood home in Wisconsin. But a chance case of mistaken identity soon results in a killer on her trail — and on her very train. On her own without any of her former FBI connections, Jenny must find the woman she’s mistaken for and warn her of the danger before the Amtrak becomes a crime scene on wheels. And it might only be that by sticking together will the two have a chance at surviving the ride.
Readers will be sure to love Mistaken Identity with a setting reminiscent of Murder on the Orient Express, as well as its high stakes and modern political intrigue. Check out our full review of Mistaken Identity here.
City of Veils by Zoë Ferraris
It’s not expected for a woman in Saudi Arabia to be a medical examiner, but Katya Hijazi is determined to prove herself amongst her peers and serve her community as a part of the Jeddah forensics team. So when a brutalized body is found on a beach, Katya strives to find justice for this unknown woman. With the help of her friend Nayir Sharqi, first introduced in the series’ previous novel, Katya soon discovers the woman’s identity — Leila, a controversial young filmmaker whose exposé documentaries made her several enemies.
Add to the mix a local disappearance — this time an American expat and ex-soldier, Eric Walker. His wife Miriam, now stranded in an unfamiliar society and confused by her husband’s distant behavior before his disappearance, desperately appeals to Katya for help. Armed only with Leila’s documentary footage, Miriam’s recollections and Nayir’s help, Katya sets out into Jeddah’s underbelly of crime and corruption where it’s all too easy to make a person disappear.
To the Lions by Holly Watt
A Londonite reporter for the Post, Casey Benedict is no stranger to tracking down well-hidden information. No matter how hidden or dangerous — if it has the potential to be the next big story, Casey’s on it. So when she overhears a conversation in a private club — a conversation about a young British patrician dead from a rather suspicious suicide — she dives headfirst into the investigation. The clues soon lead her to a group of the wealthiest men not only in the United Kingdom, but the world — many of whom are gathering in Libya for an exclusive wildlife hunt. With every moment, it becomes less likely that this young socialite’s death was an accident. But the answers to this mystery lie in North Africa — so with her fellow reporter Miranda and veteran friend Ed for company, Casey heads into the lions’ den.
The Company of Saints by Evelyn Anthony
A romantic getaway in Venice is everything Davina Graham needed. As the first female head of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, she’s been under unbelievable pressure, and this vacation is sorely overdue. But the rest and relaxation come to an abrupt end when the US Secretary of the Defense and his daughter are killed in a bombing on one of the gondolas. Blame is immediately being put on the Red Brigade or the Palestine Liberation Organization — but Davina has her own suspicions. She knows that it was KGB head Igor Borisov who previously ordered a hit on the Secretary’s late husband, and she suspects that this was another attack to finish taking out the rest of the family.
Three more political deaths soon follow, one from France, one from the Soviet Union and one from Britain. Searching desperately for answers, Davina soon finds a lead on an underground group called the Company of Saints that might be in collusion with Borisov. But Davina has to work fast — it is only a matter of time before Borisov strikes again, and for all she knows, she might be the next target.
