Thanks so much. As for casting, I would like to play all of them, but until we can come up with a time machine, I'm past it for Anna Lee and Tuppence. From Viccy Kemp I didn't vote on worst P.I. because I never read the books if I don't like the characters. I also subscribe to DorothyL, a listserv from Kent State which I highly recommend to anyone who loves mysteries. I came up with were cops.
Some new voices are consistently good.
From Beeper There aren't any purely intellectual female P.I.'s , a la Nero Wolfe . They all need to be kick boxers, or know some martial arts. Female spies, likewise. Too many female PIs in fiction come across as Mike Hammer with feminine anatomy. Having said that, I eagerly look forward to every Kinsey Millhone book, and I eagerly awaited every issue of Ms. Tree .