A Suitable Job for a Woman - by Val McDermid (Paperback)

About the Book

A series of intervies with women private eyes from both sides of the Altantic (Great Britain and United States).

Book Synopsis

"But down these mean streets must go a man who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished or afraid". When Raymond Chandler wrote these words in his classic The Simple Art of Murder, he drew a blueprint for the male private eyes who descend from Philip Marlowe to populate the world of crime fiction.

But what if the private eye is a woman? And what if she is not a character in a novel but a real, working investigator testing not only the meanness but the absurdity of life on seamy streets? Who will tell her story?

Enter Manchester's Val McDermid, herself a skilled writer of the P.I. novel but for years a professional journalist. In an effort to plumb the real world of working women -- and throw new light on her own craft -- she has interviewed women private eyes from both sides of the Atlantic and assembled their stories with an eye for the absurd and a keen grasp of the gritty nuts and bolts of the profession. As fascinating as fiction, A Suitable Job for a Woman is, in the words of Edgar-winning author Nevada Barr, "a concise and eye-opening trek through the competence, humor, and humanity of women".

Review Quotes

. . . I don't know if there are other books that focus on women in private investigation. If there are, I've not run across them. A Suitable Job for a Woman is a wonderful read, a concise and eye-opening trek through the competence, humor and humanity of women. -Nevada Barr