Anyone noticed how often in crime TV and books it's a woman 'whodunnit'?

[dollybird]

I'm watching the first series of The Good Ship Murder (I know, crap cheesy telly, but it's an easy watch!). I've watched 6 out of 8 episodes and all of them have been a woman who committed the crime(5 murders and 1 fake kidnapping & blackmail).

I'm noticing this more and more often, that women are being portrayed as murderers and violent criminals, when we know that generally this isn't the case, and men commit the vast majority of violent crime.

It's not new. It happens a lot in Golden Age whodunnits. It's because if fiction reflected reality over 80% of murders would be committed by the males in the closed group of suspects so there would be little point in having female characters. Vera, Midsomer Murders, Death in Paradise and so on all have around 50:50 male/female murderers. It's misleading but that's fiction for you.

I think it's the writer trying to surprise you, as most murderers are men.

There's a series of books that I got fed up with (I won't say which as it's a bit spoilery) with an excellent female lead but too many of the books the victim was a young woman or teenaged girl, and the murderer was an older woman. Written by a man - he clearly didn't know that we perimenopausal women can't be arsed with murdering.

Same with serial killers. Fiction/TV overrun with them. Real life not so much.

It’s meant to be a plot twist. If it was like reality, it would always just be the victim’s violent ex husband wouldn’t it? Not much detectiving to do there.

Yep. It’s a “plot twist”.

most murderers are men, so the writer is attempting to play into your bias before revealing a female murderer.

I've noticed this. I know it's a plot twist but some authors do it so often that you know it will be a woman. I find it annoying & unrealistic tbh.

Plot twist yes (although not really new - Agatha Christie was a big fan of the femme fatale and the female poisoner) but I think it is contributing to the narrative that women are just as bad/violent as men which has a firm grip on social media.

Fictional murders are unrealistic full stop, aren't they? If it was like real life the Murder Squad would be investigating one case after another of death following a drunken brawl in the city centre, armed robbery gone wrong, partner or ex-partner's attack on woman, often in spite of restraining order, parent or step-parent's abuse of child, and so on. Grim and depressing. Murder involving a closed circle of suspects, mostly very rich, with a novel murder method, taking place in a country house or on an island or luxury train cut off by storm - not so much.

Detective novels/TV are typically escapist fiction. The prototypical real life murderer is too grounded and depressing for the genre. I think that’s fair enough- murder mystery novels function as puzzles, they don’t have to bear any relation to real life crime.

Yes, I think this is why it's bugging me so much. Although also agree with others POV that real murder would not make lightheaded TV.

So having finished the series plus Xmas special, 7 female murderers, 1 female blackmailer and 1 male murderer. Not even trying to be balanced, let alone true to life 😤

This always happens in Shetland and it’s a spoiler in itself as you know the murderer is always a female. Completely ridiculous