Recommendations for books/series with a strong female protagonist

[Chrestomanci3]

Having realised how many of my reading choices are books recommended by people on mn, can anyone recommend a good series or standalone stories with strong, female leads? Having looked back through the books I read last year, I kept coming back to Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak books, and Tanya Huff's Torin Kerr series. Although I re-read old favourites, I'm looking for some new ones. I read quite widely, but what I like about both of those series is that the heroines are physically and emotionally capable and quite independent. I also liked the world-building aspects within those sets of stories (one set in Alaska, the other in space). I generally don't read crime books (although I guess the Shugak books could count as the main character is an investigator, and I did also like MC Beaton's Agatha Raisin books) but will happily read sci-fi, fantasy, gothic, modern fiction, classics, etc.
What would you recommend?

How long a list would you like?

Crime (mostly PI investigators).

Nevada Barr
Sue Grafton
Jan Burke
Marcia Mueller
Tami Hoag’s Dark Horse and sequel
Sara Paretsky
Julie Mulhern’s Poppy Fields (international spy capers)
Zoe Sharp (thrillers)

Historical mystery

Laurie King’s Mary Russell books, but also her standalone Folly, which is not historical, nor a mystery, but a lovely book.

Deanna Raybourn

Fantasy

Sarah Painter - Fox Investigations
Ilona Andrews - Kate Daniels, but all their series really.
TA White - all of her series
Jesse Mihalik (space opera and great fun)
Linnea Sinclair

Contemporary

Susanna Kearsley

Jennifer Crusie if you enjoy romance. Her books are very funny and the heroines very capable.

Also Loretta Chase’s The Last Hellion, which is very funny.

Happy with a very long list!
I've read Sarah Painter's first Crow Investigations book already, but aren't familiar with the other names - I'll download some samples on kindle amd get reading - thank you!

Lisbeth Salander in the Millennium series (now 6 books).

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

Anything by Marian Keyes for Modern Fiction

The Seven Sisters series by Lucinda Reiley

Ooh I love Dana Stabenow. (Sp?!)

I'm following this list with interest.

I would definitely think the Kate Shugak books are crime - I must return to that series- wondering where I left off.

Although Laura Lippman's Tess Monaghan series, mostly set in Baltimore, Maryland, (where the author and her character both live), is crime fiction, I think you might like it if you like Kate Shugak. The first one is Baltimore Blues.

M J McGrath has also published several non fiction works and other fiction as Melanie McGrath, but I suggest her three book series set in the Arctic if it's the isolated cold settings of Alaska that appeal to you in the Kate Shugak books.

Thanks for the recommendations! I've downloaded the first Edie Kiglatuk book by MJ McGrath - I haven't heard of either the author or those books before, but the blurb is intriguing. And I do love the descriptions of Alaska in the Kate Shugak books, but I think it is the combination of place and character that I like. I've read Dana Stabenow's other Alaska-set series (Liam Campbell) and didn't take to them as much.
I'm very grateful that Kindle allow you to try a bit of each book for free before deciding if you want to buy it - I've downloaded lots of samples (post-Christmas penny-watching) from the recommendations above.

Not actually a book, but there is a series on BBC Sounds called Tracks, has my favourite female lead character, Dr Helen Ash.

I know they're crime, but JD Robb, SR Garrae, Janet Evanovich.
Fantasy - The Mirror of Her Dreams by Stephen Donaldson.
Space Opera (basically naval/political in space) David Weber's Honor Harrington series.

Maia by Richard Adams - he wrote Watership Down, but Maia is very much for adults. It's an epic fantasy, and is really good.

Lindsey Davis - the Flavia Albia mysteries. (Daughter of Falco and Helena of the Falco series in which Helena is a strong participant. And don't miss his mother!)

Only two so far, hoping for more - Patricia Finney James Enys mysteries, Do We Not Bleed and Priced Above Rubies. Elizabethan lawyer masquerading as her missing brother, and the day-to-day problems of women add an interesting dimension.

Definitely Sue Grafton and Sara Paretsky.
You might enjoy the Tiffany Aching books by Terry Pratchett.
The Lindsey Davis books about Flavia are good.
And maybe try the Rivers of London series as it features a lot of very strong women who shape the story even if they aren't the narrator.
Also the Golden Compass might be one to try.
Or The Rowan by Anne Mccaffery for some pure Sci-Fi.

Grass by Sheri Tepper

The Roads of Heaven - the Silence Leigh trilogy by Melissa Scott

The Gate to Women's Country - Sheri Tepper (or indeed most of her books)
Shards of Honour and Barrayar, Lois McMaster Bujold, and her Sharing Knife series (sci-fi/fantasy)
Any of the Witches books by Terry Pratchett (Equal Rites is a good start).

I recommend Girl in the Box series by Robert J Crane. The first three are free on Kindle Unlimited or 99p. His other series have strong female characters too (Southern Watch and Sanctuary) and there is wit aplenty. I read a lot and like all different genres; I pre-order these and have been known to take a day off from work when a book I'm waiting for is released. (I'm not Mrs Crane, although I think Sienna's character is based on her).

Sienna Nealon was a 17 year-old girl who had been held prisoner in her own house by her mother for twelve years. Then one day her mother vanished, and Sienna woke up to find two strange men in her home. On the run, unsure of who to turn to and discovering she possesses mysterious powers, Sienna finds herself pursued by a shadowy agency known as the Directorate and hunted by a vicious, bloodthirsty psychopath named Wolfe, each of which is determined to capture her for their own purposes...

(Author's Note: Due to the long-running nature of these series - and the fact that the stories confusingly unfold across two different series, Girl in the Box and Out of the Box, I've broken them into story arcs akin to television seasons/series for reader convenience and easier readability.)

Season One: Alone

1. Alone: The Girl in the Box, Book 1
2. Untouched: The Girl in the Box, Book 2
3. Soulless: The Girl in the Box, Book 3
4. Family: The Girl in the Box, Book 4
5. Omega: The Girl in the Box, Book 5

Alone, Untouched and Soulless - Books 1-3 Box Set

Season Two: Power

1. Broken: The Girl in the Box, Book 6
2. Enemies: The Girl in the Box, Book 7
3. Legacy: The Girl in the Box, Book 8
4. Destiny: The Girl in the Box, Book 9

10. Power: The Girl in the Box, Book 10

Season Three: Vengeful

11. Limitless: The Girl in the Box, Book 11 (Out of the Box 1)
12. In the Wind: The Girl in the Box, Book 12 (Out of the Box 2)
13. Ruthless: The Girl in the Box, Book 13 (Out of the Box 3)
14. Grounded: The Girl in the Box, Book 14 (Out of the Box 4)
15. Tormented: The Girl in the Box, Book 15 (Out of the Box 5)
16. Vengeful: The Girl in the Box, Book 16 (Out of the Box 6)

Season Four: Unyielding

17. Sea Change: The Girl in the Box, Book 17 (Out of the Box 7)
18. Painkiller: The Girl in the Box, Book 18 (Out of the Box 8)
19. Masks: The Girl in the Box, Book 19 (Out of the Box 9)
20. Prisoners: The Girl in the Box, Book 20 (Out of the Box 10)
21. Unyielding: The Girl in the Box, Book 21 (Out of the Box 11)

Season Five: Nemesis

22. Hollow: The Girl in the Box, Book 22 (Out of the Box 12)
23. Toxicity: The Girl in the Box, Book 23 (Out of the Box 13)
24. Small Things: The Girl in the Box, Book 24 (Out of the Box 14)
25. Hunters: The Girl in the Box, Book 25 (Out of the Box 15)
26. Badder: The Girl in the Box, Book 26 (Out of the Box 16)
27. Nemesis: The Girl in the Box, Book 27 (Out of the Box 17)

Season Six: Hero

28. Apex: The Girl in the Box, Book 28 (Out of the Box 18)
29. Time: The Girl in the Box, Book 29 (Out of the Box 19)
30. Driven: The Girl in the Box, Book 30 (Out of the Box 20)
31. Remember: The Girl in the Box, Book 31 (Out of the Box 21)
32. Hero: The Girl in the Box, Book 32 (Out of the Box 22)
33. Flashback: The Girl in the Box, Book 33 (Out of the Box 23)

Season Seven: Control

34. Cold: The Girl in the Box, Book 34 (Out of the Box 24)
35. Blood Ties: The Girl in the Box, Book 35 (Out of the Box 25)
36. Music: The Girl in the Box, Book 36 (Out of the Box 26)
37. Dragon: The Girl in the Box, Book 37 (Out of the Box 27)
38. Control: The Girl in the Box, Book 38 (Out of the Box 28)

Season Eight: Home

39. Second Guess: The Girl in the Box, Book 39 (Out of the Box 28)* Coming April 2020.

Secret life of bees
A brief history of tractors in Ukrainian
Vilette is good but it’s a brontë so depends if you like that style
Emma
Most Margaret Atwood tends to have very strong and interesting female characters too

Judith Merkle Riley: A Vision of Light and In Pursuit of the Green Dragon (Margaret of Ashbury, 14th Century); and The Serpent Garden (Tudor miniaturist) are my favourites.

Sorry - Green Lion, not Dragon

Some great recommendations here.

I've read (and re-read) all of Terry Pratchett's books - Granny Weatherwax is a great example of a strong woman! I enjoy the Tiffany Aching stories too. I haven't yet read The Testaments but have loved a lot of Margaret Atwood's books. Oryx and Crake is probably my favourite. Jane Austen is a permanent favourite, but there are only so many times I can (re-) read them. Most of the rest are new, so I'll investigate - thank you all for the recommendations.

SM Reine - all of her series have strong female characters. I like all of her books.

Margaret Thatcher : The Downing Street Years.

Lindsey Davis - the Flavia Albia mysteries. (Daughter of Falco and Helena of the Falco series in which Helena is a strong participant. And don't miss his mother!)

Yes indeedy - the mother that throws rope dancers out of his bed (but brings food for him). I reckon rope dancers where the pole dancers of their day!

Fantasy / Sci-fi 'in a contemporary setting': The Chronicles of St. Mary's series by Jodi Taylor.