Comparing Sara Paretsky and Marcia Muller

I compare Sara Paretsky to Marcia Muller because they are both early writers who have created a tough female lead. The two authors are only three years apart and both began their mystery series in their mid-thirties. Müller’s first book edwin of the iron shoeshowever, it came out in 1977, five years before Paretsky’s. compensation only. Both authors are well educated and teach us about strong and independent women. None of her characters are silly or manipulative when it comes to their relationships with men or their jobs.

Although I love Muller’s Sharon McCone character and have read almost all of her books, sometimes I feel like something is missing. A bookstore owner recently told me that McCone was too normal, and maybe that’s what leaves me wanting more. When you’re normal, you don’t have to grow up as much as someone who’s on the edge. There is more story and plot with McCone and less drama. Over the course of the series, McCone gradually owns her own business and chooses her own clients, while Warshawski has owned her business for years when we first meet her in compensation only.

Paretsky’s character, VI Warshawski, is more combative, as we see in his first book. He’s more likely to get into a physical confrontation than McCone, and like many hardened private detectives written by men, he doesn’t mince words verbally. His candid but provocative comments remind me of Crais’s early Elvis Cole. He also enjoyed his ease with men. While his character’s violent career drives men away, I don’t doubt for a minute that in Paretsky’s real life, men have felt rejected by both his ambition and his intelligence.

Paretsky’s world, based solely on his first book, seems cruder than Muller’s. Chicago politics and corruption act as another character who clashes and confronts Warshawski. Even rush hour traffic plays a bigger role than in McCone’s San Francisco. Having grown up in Illinois, I understand the history that clouds Midwestern attitudes like the cold, windy, gray skies they live under. In California, life is certainly sunnier, and it’s this newer, more optimistic attitude that shows up in McCone’s steadiness of character and overall outlook.

I like the softer side of Warshawski and his compassion for other characters as much as I like his ability to distance himself to get the job done. This is a lady I hope to get to know better. At the same time, I appreciate the efficiency and cerebral nature of McCone’s approach to problem solving. I respect both authors, not only for their personal achievements, but also for reminding us of the independent nature of the women who emerged in the 1960s. These women can indeed get the job done.