# Book Series with Female Protagonists - recommendations? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 1, 2012, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-series-with-female-protagonists-recommendations/630067 "2012-08-01T16:18:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2012, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-series-with-female-protagonists-recommendations/630067/41 "2012-08-02T19:26:39Z")
> [@tim-n-va](#): > > Lisa Scottoline might be a good option. The ones I’ve read have a female lead, most but not all are legal thrillers. Yes, the series set in the Rosato & Associates law firm are great. Her more recent standalone books are a little too formulaic urban-mom-in-danger for me. The OP asked for series, and I definitely recommend the Rosato series. Each member of the all-woman firm is featured in various books. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2012, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-series-with-female-protagonists-recommendations/630067/42 "2012-08-02T20:07:26Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > _The Curse of Chalion_ has a male protagonist. I suppose that Iselle and bertriz are crossdressers? There are more than enough strong female characters to balance out Cazaril. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2012, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-series-with-female-protagonists-recommendations/630067/43 "2012-08-02T20:21:04Z")
Terry Pratchett’s YA Tiffany Aching series; _Wee Free Men, Hat Full of Sky, Wintersmith & I Shall Wear Midnight_. Very easy to read, very funny. If you like them enough, you can move into the Discworld proper and read the other Witch books. Really though, all the books are very good (and there’s \*heaps \*of them) and as there’s usually a good straong female character lurking about somewhere if they’re not centre page. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2012, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-series-with-female-protagonists-recommendations/630067/44 "2012-08-02T20:27:39Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > I see that Sharing Knife and Cordelia’s Honor already got mentions, so I’ll just toss in **Sabriel** by Garth Nix; There are other books in the series, but this one is far and away the best, and the protagonist is completely awesome. Second this. Sabriel is awesome. How about a vicous female anti-hero, set out on a noir-tinged soul-destroying quest for bloody vengence? If anyone wants that, I recommend _Best Served Cold_ by Joe Abercrombie. You can’t have all these upright, empowering heroines without a little antidote … 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2012, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-series-with-female-protagonists-recommendations/630067/45 "2012-08-02T20:34:00Z")
> [@Missy2U](#): > > Diane Mott Davidson has a series of cooking related murder mysteries featuring Goldy the caterer that I truly LOVE! Google “culinary mystery” and you’ll have series to read for the rest of your life and then some. I like Joanne Fluke, Cleo Coyle, Joanna Carl, Laura Childs, Ellen Crosby & Michelle Scott, for starters. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2012, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-series-with-female-protagonists-recommendations/630067/46 "2012-08-02T20:47:21Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > I suppose that Iselle and bertriz are crossdressers? There are more than enough strong female characters to balance out Cazaril. They aren’t the protagonist in _The Curse of Chalion_, however. > [@Malthus](#): > > Second this. Sabriel is awesome. > > How about a vicous female anti-hero, set out on a noir-tinged soul-destroying quest for bloody vengence? If anyone wants that, I recommend _Best Served Cold_ by Joe Abercrombie. > > You can’t have all these upright, empowering heroines without a little antidote … 😃 I also recommend _Sabriel_. The main protagonist of Brandon Sanderson’s excellent _Mistborn_ is a girl named [Vin](http://inkthinker.deviantart.com/art/Mistborn-Vin-II-v-2-122875838?offset=10), who is also more towards the badass end of the spectrum. “I’m not a good person or a bad person. I’m just here to kill things.” ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2012, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-series-with-female-protagonists-recommendations/630067/47 "2012-08-02T21:26:44Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > They aren’t the protagonist in _The Curse of Chalion_, however. Yeah, you really can’t make a case for anyone other than Cazaril being the protagonist of Curse of Chalion; The whole story is from his point of view. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2012, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-series-with-female-protagonists-recommendations/630067/48 "2012-08-02T21:31:32Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > The main protagonist of Brandon Sanderson’s excellent _Mistborn_ is a girl named [Vin](http://inkthinker.deviantart.com/art/Mistborn-Vin-II-v-2-122875838?offset=10), who is also more towards the badass end of the spectrum. “I’m not a good person or a bad person. I’m just here to kill things.” Cool. I’ll check that out. I like badass protagonists! ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2012, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-series-with-female-protagonists-recommendations/630067/49 "2012-08-02T21:51:09Z")
I recommend anything by Barbara Michaels/Elizabeth Peters. They are mostly stand alone books, but there are one or two that feature the same character. They are easy reads, and there is usually an element of humor to them. ---
**Author:** ![denquixote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@denquixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/denquixote)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2012, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-series-with-female-protagonists-recommendations/630067/50 "2012-08-02T22:03:43Z")
Starting in 1942 Helen MacInnes wrote a series of 20 plus novels with similar themes. They were generally spy stories often with a woman protagonist and usually some romantic escapade as well. She wrote until 1984 and was widely praised with many N.Y. Times best sellers among her works. They are not, however, a series. Another contemporary author with woman protagonists is Susan Isaacs who has written 12 novels, counting her first which is “Compromising Positions” which was made into a move. They are not a series but they usually involve a housewife or career woman thrown into an unusual criminal situation or voluntarily thrusting herself inot one. She is extremely funny and her stories are very good reads. Her books are also widely anticipated and best sellers. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-series-with-female-protagonists-recommendations/630067/51 "2012-08-03T01:01:38Z")
Thomas Perry has the _Jane Whitefield_ series. She is a native American who helps desperate people on the run create new identities and go underground. Fun thrillers, a little bit different. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-series-with-female-protagonists-recommendations/630067.md?page=2)