(no subject)

[melannen]

Anybody know any (fictional, but RL would also be great) female detectives who aren't white from the period between ~1880 and 1940? Anywhere in the world, in any period in any medium by anyone (in any language, though the existence of an English translation would be nice)? If she's not the actual detective, at least a major supporting character in a mystery novel or series? Preferably non-faily?

There's Judah Daniel, and some of Benjamin January's friends & family, but they're too early.

Kogoro Akechi was married, but I can't find anything in English about his wife. And a few minor characters in Amelia Peabody, but as far as I can tell they aren't really actively involved in the detectiving.

...surely there are some and I just don't know how to look?

Comments

Okay, WRITTEN between 1880 and 1940, or SET then?

[kathmandu]

Because when I went to the library this week I found one of those encyclopedias of mystery fiction, and I read the entries on Black Detective Stories, Gay/Lesbian Detective Stories, and Women Detective Stories, and the only female nonwhite detective having anything to do with that time period was written in 1901-1902, but set in the Civil War era.

It was a novel called Hagar's Daughter, serialized in Colored American Magazine. According to my notes, the author, Pauline Hopkins, "introduces 'Venus Johnson, a black female detective, in this novel about a black woman 'passing' as white."

All the other combinations of black-and-female were written no earlier than the nineteen-sixties, and usually set in the time they were written. Of course, the encyclopedia only really covered English-language publications; other countries may be a better bet.

Re: Okay, WRITTEN between 1880 and 1940, or SET then?

[melannen]

I was hoping for "set", but "written" is better than nothing. Yay! I will have to see if I can find a copy anywhere. Thank you! Actually, Pauline Hopkins sounds fairly deeply awesome, and not nearly well-known enough; I might have to look into *her* instead. And searching on "Venus Johnson" has got me some more overviews to check.

(Though it is sad how many of the stories about black women I found from that period are about women passing as white. Some of them are even fairly good, on their own, but as a pile it gets depressing fast.)