Audio books suggestions - is there such a thing as feminist crime fiction?

[TopTaxisOfSmalltown]

I love a police procedural, but I hate a) gratuitously horrible things happening to women and b) anything that's actually a romance disguised as any other sort of book. I don't GAF about the love lives of the detectives (some incidental mentions is fine but spare me the rest).

I'm embarrassingly non-literary and don't like supernatural elements or anything too ridiculously complicated or things described as "lyrical" etc

There are a few female PI series that whilst perhaps not explicitly feminist probably fit the bill.

My favourites are:

Marcia Muller's Sharon McCone series (originally published in the U.K. by the Women's Press)
Sara Paretsky's VI Warshawski series
Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone series
Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak series

Have you tried Jane Casey’s Maeve Kerrigan series? Romance comes into it later on, but not hugely until the later books and there’s 12, so a decent chunk before it annoys you.

I was going to suggest Sara Paretsky and Sue Grafton too. There is some romantic stuff but it's very much led by the female detective

They are very cosy so might not be to your taste but there's a series by S J Bennett with the late queen as detective. She is in partnership with a private secretary who is ex army and a strong character. No romance, just the occasional scene with Prince Phillip. There are currently 4 in the series. The first one is The Windsor Knot.

Came here to say as @MrsFionaCharming did Jane Casey's Maeve Kerrigan series

Having said that @TopTaxisOfSmalltown sometimes women are the victim and it's graphic, not always

I enjoyed the Windsor Knot series too.

Have you tried Richard Osman's Thursday Murder Club series (light hearted, easy listening).

I can't remember whether I read or listened to Elly Griffiths, but I enjoyed her Harbinder Kaur series.

Also the Kate Brannigan series by Val McDermid. Kind of the Mancunian VI Warshawski, although less overtly feminist.

Lisa Gardener?

Jo Callaghan?

I've enjoyed the Elin Warner series by Sarah Pearse
There's 3 books ,
The sanatorium
The retreat
The wilds - haven't finished this one yet

The Lindsay Gordon books by Val McDermid too. She wrote both series early on & there’s pretty much no gratuitous violence in them that I can think of.

And definitely Kinsey Millhone!

Good question! No answers but watching with interest cos the gratuitous sex murder/ child abuse stuff is a boring nope and frequently not that realistic anyway for all the 'grit.'

Oooh thanks everyone, I'll go through all the suggestions and try to listen to samples of them tonight!

I really enjoyed Kate Hardy’s crime series. Older protagonist. Some romance but still lovely.

Made in Chelsea but with a murder twist - How To Kill Men and Get Away With It.

Another recommendation for Sue Grafton/Kinsey Millhone.
Much as I loved the Elly Griffiths/Ruth Galloway series, I'd avoid if you don't want romance.

Robert Thorogood Marlow Mystery Series. 3 Female protagonists. No romance so far!

Just avoid the romance stuff she's written under another pen name! Also the DD Warren ones are brilliant but can get a bit violent. I would suggest starting with the Frankie Elkin ones. And her name is Gardner not Gardener actually!

I second Sara Paretsky's VI Warshawski series. Actually did a module on feminist crime fiction at university over 30 years ago! It was one of my favourite tours of literature

The strike series by Robert Galbraith (aka JKR) is excellent. First book in series is The Cuckoo's Calling.

And while they might not seem feminist at first, keep going!

Yes I think the series is strongly feminist despite Strike being a bloke.

I love the Strike series and came here to say the same but I don’t think it fits OP’s brief! The violence against women is in the context of a feminist worldview but it’s pretty nasty, I found Career of Evil particularly hard to read. And the romance is definitely a massive part of the stories!

Jackson Brody series by Kate Atkinson.

It's kind of atypical of it's genre. Really recommend.

I really enjoyed the Lady Hardcastle series. A bunch of whodunnits set in the 1910s ish and the two female leads are very much feminist kick ass ahead of their time people, and it’s got a bit of a downton abbey feel due to the era. They’re great!

I think they are still on the kindle unlimited audiobooks list. So you can take out kindle unlimited subscription or free trial on Amazon and listen to as many as you want.

(These are light and enjoyable whodunnits so if you want something heavy and serious then they won’t be your thing.)