Reclaiming the Female Tradition of the Classic Detective Novel in Teresa Solana's Crime Fiction

This article explores the reclaiming of the female tradition of the classic detective novel in three crime novels by Catalan author Teresa Solana: Un crim imperfecte (2006), Drecera al paradís (2007) and L’hora zen. Un crim refinat (2011). Using as a starting point recent feminist criticism that has reinterpreted the work of Christie, Sayers and other women writers of classic detective fiction, the article proposes that Solana recovers and reclaims this female tradition in order to make a political and cultural critique of contemporary Barcelonan society. Furthermore, Solana’s novels invite a re-reading and a new appreciation of a sub-genre that has traditionally been disparaged by male writers and critics.