In 1977, Marcia Muller invaded the all-male domain of detective literature and within in a decade was established as the mother of the contemporary female hardboiled private eye. She is now the author of four detective series, including the critically acclaimed ""Sharon McCone"" series, which totals twenty-five titles to date.The objective of this collection is to provide critical assessment of Marcia Muller's writing and to reevaluate current critical views on women's detective fiction in general. In the first two of the book's three sections, essays explore Muller's engagement with modern and postmodern feminism, with ethnicity, and with the socially underprivileged. The third section focuses on one of Muller's major themes, the trauma of history. Drawing from the feminist, historicist, mythic, psychoanalytic, and cultural approaches found in all three sections, the conclusion creates a panoramic perspective on Muller's accomplishments.