SOURCE: “Funny, Isn't It?: Testing the Boundaries of Gender and Genre in Women's Detective Fiction,” in Look Who's Laughing: Gender and Comedy, edited by Gail Finney, Gordon and Breach Science Publishers, 1994, pp. 231-51.

In the following essay, Biamonte traces the use of humor in Paretsky's fiction and in the work of other women writers within the detective genre.

Laughter Among the Corpses

My theory of detection resembles Julia Child's approach to cooking: Grab a lot of ingredients from the shelves, put them in a pot and stir, and see what happens.

V. I. Warshawski, Killing Orders

Surviving the numerous attempts on her life and the nearly ritual demolition of her apartment and car, private investigator V. I. Warshawski, better known as Vic to those close to her, is a bit more careful about her detecting than her glibly stated theory might suggest. With intelligence, toughness, tenderness, and, yes...