SOURCE: Robbins, Joan Hamerman. “Living Dangerously.” Women's Review of Books 8, nos. 10–11 (7 July 1991): 32.

In the following review, Robbins examines the role of the professional female sleuth in the mystery genre and how Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta fits into that tradition.

I'm a novice reader of detective fiction, drawn in by my curiosity about the new women private investigators I'd heard about: Sharon McCone, Kinsey Millhone and V. I. Warshawski. Women professionals, all earning their livelihood by solving crimes. New independent, hard-working female role models.

As I've read in this genre, I've discovered that professional female sleuths also include attorneys, chief medical examiners and police officers. None of these women is sitting on the sidelines, waiting for adventure to overcome boredom. Each is actively engaged in her life. While concerned with the traditional issues of detective fiction—getting to the truth, righting the balance between justice and injustice, championing the underdog...