Women of Mystery: Three Writers Who Forever Changed Detective Fiction

First we read Nancy Drew, girl detective. Then what? Women of Mystery explores the writing lives of three authors (Sara Paretsky, Sue Grafton & Marcia Muller) who started a literary revolution and, in the process, captured readers' imaginations around the world. With V.I. Warshawski, Kinsey Millhone and Sharon McCone, the female private eye entered the scene of detective fiction. Diving into the wilderness of the unknown, she saw what no one else had seen and told a new story. Women of Mystery includes dramatizations that capture familiar characters and themes from the novels, engaging scenes with each author exploring her heroine's home turf, and intimate interviews that reveal the complex relationship between author and heroine. The film is the perfect way to inspire lively discussion in classrooms, public libraries and book groups.

"The biggest changes in the detective fiction genre over the past quarter-century occured when American women like Sara Paretsky, Sue Grafton and others entered the field and the convention of Heroic Man rescuing Helpless Maiden had to be overhauled." - Marilyn Stasio, editor and reviewer of the New York Times' Crime column (9/22/13)