Tough Guise: The Female Detective in Detective Fiction Although the plots may essentially stay the same, the detective fiction genre is far from repetitive. Since the first detective fiction story was published in Black Mask over fifty years ago, the role of the detective has undergone significant changes, namely in regards to the inclusion of females in the rough and tumble industry of investigating. The 1960s saw a short lived but widely liked female detective heroine in Honey West and the 1980s gave birth to female detective sensations, Christine Cagney and Mary Beth Lacey and the turn of the twenty-first century saw V.I. Warshawski. V.I. is a completely different breed of female detective, which makes her story so much more interesting to read and becomes a part of. By balancing the stereotypical elements of the male, hardboiled detective and a fresh, feminine perspective on detective fiction, V.I. Warshawski is indeed a revamped version of the hardboiled detective. To begin, unlike the hardboiled, male detectives, female detectives create bonds with people and do not hesitate to use said bonds to further their investigations. Quite simply, male detectives use facts and female detectives use people. In The Long Goodbye, Marlowe goes above and beyond the call of duty to prove that he is a self-sufficient, lone cowboy, figure. He follows the evidence, and the evidence alone, to eventually discover the villain. On the other hand, Sara Paretsky’s female detective, V.I. Warshawski, is a fresh take on the hardboiled detective archetype. V.I., while possessing many of the classical hardboiled male detective traits, manages to emerge as a completely different, re-vamped and modernized detective. Unlike Philip Marlowe or Sam Spade, V.I. builds emotional connections and bonds with the characters in the novel and uses those connections and bonds to her advantage in her investigation. When encountered with the initial roadblock of being blamed for Nicola’s death, V.I. uses her friendship with Lotty, a hospital worker, to gain access to Nicola’s clothing so she can prove that her car was not the one responsible for her death. As well, V.I., in an incredibly maternal move, forms an emotionally based friendship with Robbie, Robert Baladine’s emotionally and mentally abused son. Robbie, in turn, gives V.I. the code to Robert’s briefcase, which allows V.I. to access Baladine’s computer and discover her elaborate set up. Yet, the bonds V.I. makes are not superficial and single serving. V.I. genuinely cares about the people that help her, which is a clear distinction from the male detective. After explaining her ordeal with Nicola and the police, V.I. emphasizes her connection with Lotty and says, “her warmth and concern flowed through the line, making me feel better at once” as well as “I held her for a moment, drawing comfort from her embrace” (Paretsky 52, 54). As well, V.I. defends Robbie. It would be incredibly easy to dismiss the feelings of a young boy in a novel that deals with murder, corruption and the inhumane treatment of females in the penal system, yet V.I. protects Robbie, shielding him form his father’s verbally abusive cruelty. When Robbie calls V.I., and tells her about his dad’s malicious reaction to his request to attend Nicola’s funeral, V.I. reveals her emotional side and responds: “I’m sorry, honey” (Paretsky 192). Moreover, when Eleanor pokes fun at Robbie weight, V.I., in a rather snippy tone, states, “so he’s not as addicted to lettuce and workout machines as you and your pals - but he seems like an attractive boy. Don’t keep running him down in front of strangers” (Paretsky 81). Likewise, it is V.I.’s empathy for the other characters that makes her such a compelling detective. This can be seen when V.I. says, “Lotty had almost been killed once, helping me in a crisis once, and Mr. Contreras had been shot. Conrad had left me after a similar episode. I couldn’t bear to have one more person maimed on my account” (Paretsky 254). V.I.’s concern for individuals becomes a definitive fracturing-off from the typical, hardboiled detectives. As Ebert notes, hardboiled, male detective are a marginal figures who move within, but works outside, of the social order, deliberately isolating themselves from society. The bonds that V.I. forms with people remove her from the infallible, godlike pedestal that the male detectives in early detective fiction sit on. By associating and interacting with characters, V.I. is humanized in a way that Marlowe and Spade never were. Smith notes the archetypal differences and states: "Sara Paretsky…rework[s] the traditionally masculine role of hard-boiled detective by putting women in it…give[s] women detectives the kind of emotional baggage - conflicted friendships, troubling memories of dead parents - unknown to the hardboiled, masculine, sturdy-individualist PI" (80). This humanization brings warmth to the detective and allows readers to finally connect with the detective, instead of feeling like a tag-along sidekick. V.I. makes mistakes: she’s accosted and belittled and traumatized, and the reader forms such a visceral bond with her due to this, that they almost palpably feel her violation and anger. With Marlowe and Spade, viewers could only appreciate their genius, yet never their personality. It is through this, that Paretsky brilliantly critiques the nature of the male, hardboiled detective by creating a detective that embodies all the trope elements of a male detective – the gritty language, the street toughness, the brilliant and calculating, deductive mind – yet includes the emotional element that allows readers to seamlessly meld into the detective’s perspective. As Ebert says, "detective fictions are narratives of crisis in patriarchy. The detectives - particularly in the American ‘tough-guy’ detective narratives - are agents of patriarchy who act on behalf of the ‘Law-of-the-Father’ to restore the patriarchal order disrupted and threatened by crime" (6). Essentially, V.I. is a tough guise. She’s simultaneously masculine for male readers while being feminine for female readers. V.I. exhibits enough machismo to be taken seriously as a female detective, yet never undermines her femininity. As well, V.I. portrays herself as competent and highly intuitive and tends to ponder all the unanswered questions in her case through a constant series of circular questions that manages to address all of the possibilities in her case, which make the trajectory of her thought process much less linear. She thinks outside the box, which makes her compelling and interesting and her logical deducing is without a doubt on par with Marlowe and Spade. V.I. truly does stand apart in the detective fiction circles. By being strong and independence, yet concerned and empathetic, V.I. manages to appease both sides of the detective fiction spectrum. Her close relations with people give her the sense of humanity that the classic, hardboiled male’s lack, as well her brilliance and logic make her a definite force to be reckoned with. Works Cited Ebert, Teresa L. 1992. “Detecting the Phallus: Authority, Ideology, and the Production of Patriarchal Agents in Detective Fiction.” Rethinking Marxism. 5:3. 6-28. Paretsky, Sara. Hard Time. New York: Dell. 1999 Smith, Johanna. “Hardboiled Detective Fiction: Gendering the Canon.” Pacific Coast Philosophy. 26:12. 78-84.