Frederick Zackel (fzackel@wcnet.org)
Mon, 14 Jun 1999 09:03:47 -0400
Just about a year ago Sue Grafton was interviewed in
Publishers Weekly. She said she started writing PI books by
fantasizing what she would be like as a PI. My favorite quote
from the interview was that "Fantasy is the great equalizer."
Which I think is a key phrase to understanding what the new
breed of lady dicks are doing in the genre. They are using
the PI mythology, deconstructing it for all your academics,
and reconstructing the fantasy in terms of gender equality.
The lady dicks, I think, are about as successful as most male
writers. That is, too many are formulaic fantasy; daydreaming
about walking down mean streets they never would be found
dead in (bad sick joke.) Some however are very good at what
they are doing.
I think Grafton used to be much better. Her early books were
carefully crafted PI books with relatively solid plots. Her
later books have attempted to move beyond the Grafton
formula. (For example, 99% of K is for Killer takes place
during the night. L is for Lawless is her homage to Elmore
Leonard's crime fiction. How successful she is can be
debated.) But her last couple of books--which even her fans
might agree upon--were much weaker, certainly the weakest in
her series. Kinsey Milhone is SUPPOSED to be an ex-cop, but
in N is for Noose the woman in the dark cabin who gets
attacked may have the same name but certainly has none of the
abilities one would come to expect from an ex-cop. She acts
"out of character" not just for any PI, but also for the
abilities the detective had before.
I contend that Grafton has lost (misplaced?) that fantasy
connection because of all her successes. Will she regain it?
Well, she has another book due this fall. O is for Octopus?
for Octagon?
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