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"Well-behaved women seldom make history." ~Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
Independent, unconventional, seductive and highly intelligent. Female master criminals -- women who ran gangs or criminal organisations -- slowly emerged in detective fiction towards the end of the 19th century. Before that, female 'adventuresses' were often portrayed as 'women wronged' out for revenge, or gold-diggers hoping to ensnare an elderly and wealthy husband.
This Great Ladies of Crime Anthology is a collection of 53 tales that feature female master criminals from the late 1800s to the early 1920s. Some are being made available for Kindle for the very first time, and are exclusive to ROH Press.
We start with Meade and Eustace's Mme. Koluchy in The Brotherhood of the Seven Kings (1898), arguably the first female 'mad scientist' in Victorian fiction to become a criminal mastermind. She's followed a few years later by Madame Sara in The Sorceress of the Strand, a collection of stories by the same authors about a "professional beautifier" who combines her scientific and medical prowess to commit all sorts of crimes. Other master criminals include Edgar Wallace's Four Square Jane, Frederick Irving Anderson's Sophie Lang, David Durham's Fidelity Dove, and The Bird of Paradise, a Nick Carter foe who ran an all-female criminal organisation in turn-of-the-century New York. Harry Blyth's Mrs. Pink, though only playing a supporting role in Run to Earth (1895), has been included because she may very well be the first female character running a criminal organisation in Victorian fiction. For comic satire, there is no one finer than John Kendrick Bangs' Henriette Van Raffles, an amateur crackswoman and socialite who takes great pleasure in robbing and mocking the upper classes of her time. The collection ends with part one of Miss Brandt: Adventuress, Margery H. Lawrence's debut novel about a high-society jewel thief.
We've also included the origin stories of the greatest female adversaries of three great detectives: Sherlock Holmes, Sexton Blake, and Nelson Lee. These women were far more than just excellent foils for their male counterparts: Irene Adler's first appearance in A Scandal in Bohemia was instrumental in catapulting Sherlock Holmes to fame and launching 'Baker Street mania'. Mademoiselle Miton, filled the pages of the Nelson Lee Library with international intrigue. La Mascotte was arguably one of Sexton Blake's deadliest female foes, Mademoiselle Justine was his first recurring female nemesis and the glamorous and sophisticated Mademoiselle Yvonne forever changed the way women in crime were depicted in British popular fiction. Enjoy!
The collection includes:
The Victorian Era
Madame Koluchy: The Brotherhood of the Seven Kings (The complete illustrated series - 10 tales)
Madame Sara: The Sorceress of the Strand (The complete illustrated series - 6 tales)
Mrs. Pink: Run to Earth (First Kindle Edition)
On the Lighter Side...
Henriette Van Raffles: Mrs. Raffles Being the Adventures of an Amateur Crackswoman
Matching Wits with the Great Detectives
Irene Adler vs Sherlock Holmes: A Scandal in Bohemia
La Mascotte vs Sexton Blake: The Clique of Death (First Kindle Edition)
Mademoiselle Justine vs Sexton Blake (5 tales, First Kindle Editions)
Mademoiselle Yvonne vs Sexton Blake: Beyond Reach of the Law (First Kindle Edition)
Mademoiselle Miton vs Nelson Lee: The Black Wolf (First Kindle Edition)
The Bird of Paradise vs Nick Carter : Nick Carter's Foxy Adversary (First Kindle Edition)
The Roaring Twenties
Four Square Jane (Complete)
Sophie Lang: The Signed Masterpiece (Origin story) (First Kindle Edition)
Fidelity Dove: A Face and a Fortune (Origin story) (First Kindle Edition)
Miss Brandt: Adventuress (Origin story) (First Kindle Edition)
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