This is a bit of a spoiler, but there is a very significant
transgender character in The Mermaids Singing, by Val
McDermid, which has been nominated for the Crime Writers'
Association Dagger of Daggers award. I got the write-up below
from <http://www.thecwa.co.uk>www.thecwa.co.uk.
I've never been able to look at lemon reamers the same since
reading this book.--Karin
1995 Val McDermid - The Mermaids Singing
'This is both superbly easy and remarkably difficult to read.
Easy because Val McDermid's beautifully drawn characters and
effortless prose mean you can't put it down. Difficult
because the compelling and unsettling narrative about a
serial killer whose victims are horrifically tortured, told
partly through the killer's own diary, grips your attention
with appalled fascination. An emotional car crash of a story,
violent and powerful, but you just can't tear your eyes
away.
'The book is all the more challenging for the fact that
McDermid seems to slip into the skin of her cruel and damaged
killer so shockingly well. Under her deft touch, the
perpetrator is brought to gruesome life as an entirely
understandable and human monster. But this is balanced by
characters you can really root for clinical psychologist Dr
Tony Hill and his police liaison, DI Carol Jordan. In
particular, Tony Hill is a unique protagonist, in some ways
as deeply flawed as the deranged minds he studies.
'This book, McDermid's tenth, also marks a turning point in
the career of one of the most successful British crime
writers. It heralds her masterful entrance into the world of
the deeply disturbing psychological chiller. A worthy
winner.' Zo렓harp
At 00:58 31/10/05 -0500, Mark wrote:
>This raises a question -- are there any transgender
protagonists (not
>just walk-ons) in noir or hardboiled lit? I'm aware
of plenty of gay
>and lesbian (I've often wondered why lesbian has to
be added -- isn't
>gay gender neutral?) protagonists, but no
transgendered. I bet a pretty
>interesting book could be done from such an outsider
perspective.
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