Women in STEM has been a hot topic in recent years. Whether it’s medical advances or landing spacecraft on the moon, women are proving what the fairer sex has known all along: female scientists kick ass. In fiction, too, I’ve seen a turn toward setting women in scientific fields recently, particularly in romance. The mystery genre, however, has a long-standing tradition of lady sleuths in the sciences. The heroine of my 1920s mystery series, Saffron Everleigh, is a botanist. Botany may seem like a lot of strolling through fields and observing pretty flowers, but Saffron finds herself frequently elbows deep in dirt, poisonous plants, laboratory samples, and, of course, clues as she solves the crimes she gets tangled up across London and beyond.
My new novel, A Botanist’s Guide to Tradition and Treachery, places Saffron in the midst of a research expedition to Smyrna, Turkey,
to carry out research in an ancient marketplace but also in the middle of a murder investigation. When it’s revealed poison was involved, the resident poisons expert, Saffron, falls under suspicion. She and her fiancé, Alexander (also a scientist!), must prove her innocence and find the real killer using only the resources they can scrape together in a foreign land, including their scientific knowledge and a good deal of British stiff upper lip.
Saffron’s not alone in using her scientific skills and insights to solve crimes. If you, like me, plan on making this summer a Hot Sleuth in STEM Summer, here are four more mystery series with female detectives that marry science with sleuthing and always catch their bad guy.
Veronica Speedwell Series by Deanna Raybourn
I’m an unapologetic fan girl of Deanna Raybourn and her long-running series of mystery romps set in Victorian London starring lepidopterist Veronica Speedwell. Butterflies are rarely a part of the mysteries, but Veronica’s agility both in mind and body as one who studies them in far-off places often gives her an advantage over villains. Both Veronica and her eventual love interest and guy Friday, Stoker, are scientists, and their nerdy banter delights as well as lends them a unique perspective on crime-solving.
Flavia de Luce Series by Alan Bradley
A precocious poisons expert? Count me in. This series, beginning in the English countryside in the 1950s, follows the adventures of 11-year-old Flavia as she solves crimes armed with her very own laboratory and a lot of spunk. A large and loveable cast of characters supports (or hinders) her in her exploits, lending a classic golden age of mystery vibe that I find irresistible. This series has recently been produced into a movie, Flavia, and I can’t wait to see how they translated her onto the screen.
Temperance Brennan Series by Kathy Reichs
Speaking of television adaptations, no list of lady scientist sleuths would be complete without Temperance Brennan, the character now more commonly known as Bones, thanks to the successful and long-running TV show inspired by the book series and Kathy Reichs herself. Temperance is a crime-solver rather than a more traditional sleuth, and she uses her expertise in forensic anthropology to find the clues to catch the bad guys. There’s a lot of lab work, cool equipment, appreciation for adhering to protocol and family drama, as well as fascinating mysteries in each book.
Ruth Galloway Series by Elly Griffiths
If contemporary forensics is your vibe, the Ruth Galloway series featuring a female forensic scientist is right up your alley. Dr. Ruth Galloway is a forensic archaeologist solving crimes both past and present over a long-running series. It gives readers a chance to admire the many applications of forensic archaeology and pull out their hair over the will-they-won’t-they dynamic of Ruth and her police counterpart, Nelson.
