List of Female Detective Characters - B

B

• Molly Morganthau Babbits is an amateur detective who picks up clues in her job as switchboard operator (The Girl at Central, 1915) and subsequently occasionally works as an undercover private eye for a team of lawyers in books by Geraldine Bonner.
• Allie Babcock is a dog therapist in Boulder, Colorado, in a cosy series begun 1998 by Leslie Kane.
• Kate Baeier is a journalist and private investigator in London in a series by Gillian Slovo, started 1984.
• Kate Banning is a former journalist, now editor, in Nashville, in three country music-themed mysteries 1997-1999 by Cecilia Tishy.
• Lily Bard is a cleaning woman and karate expert in Shakespeare, Arkansas, in a series by Charlaine Harris, debuted 1996, now ceased.
• Natalie Barnes is the owner manager of a Bed & Breakfast on an island off the coast of Maine in a cozy series debuted 2006 by Karen MacInerney.
• Carolyn Barek is a New York City detective played by Annabella Sciorra on the NBC series Law & Order: Criminal Intent from 2005 to 2006.
• Temple Barr is a public-relations consultant and amateur detective in the Midnight Louie series by Carole Nelson Douglas (debuted 1992).
• Vicki Barr, flight stewardess, is the heroine of a series of 16 mystery books for girls, published 1947-1964, by Helen Wells and Julie Campbell Tatham.
• Hercule "Elly" Barton (エルキュール・バートン Erukyūru Bāton?) is a girl detective with the gift of superhuman strength, working with the Milky Holmes Detective Agency to combat people who use their gifts for evil, in various products by the Tantei Opera Milky Holmes media franchise.
• Alma Bashears is an attorney called home to Appalachia after her brother is arrested for murder, at the outset of the Appalachian Trilogy (published 1997-2003) by Tess Collins.
• Lucille "Lucy" Bates is an Eastern city police officer (later sergeant) played by Betty Thomas on the NBC series Hill Street Blues from 1981 to 1987.
• Tory Bauer is a waitress and later an owner of a diner in Delphi, South Dakota in four books with a raunchy theme by Kathleen Taylor, the first in the series The Missionary Position (1995) republished as Funeral Foods (1998).
• China Bayles is an herbalist and ex-lawyer in a series by Susan Wittig Albert (debuted 1992).
• Madeline Bean is a Hollywood caterer who solves murders in a series by Jerrilyn Farmer (debuted 1998).
• Amanda and Lutie Beagle are spinster sisters who inherit a detective agency in two books 1940 and 1941 by Torrey Chansler (pen name of Marjorie Torrey) better known as a children's author and illustrator.
• Olivia Beaumann is an amateur sleuth in an Australian culinary series by Goldie Alexander (debuted 2002).
• Danielle "Dani" Beck is a New York City detective played by Connie Nielsen on the NBC series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 2006.
• Jo Beckett is a ‘deadshrinker’ or forensic psychiatrist brought in to examine the lives of murder victims to look for reasons for their deaths, in a series of books commenced 2008 by Meg Gardiner.
• Kate Beckett is a New York City homicide detective played by Stana Katic on the 2009-present ABC series Castle.
• Jane Bee is a housemaid in the Royal Household in three books by C.C. Benison, the first of which was Death at Buckingham Palace (1996).
• Aphra Behn the 17th century playwright and spy, is the protagonist in Invitation to a Funeral by Molly Brown (1995).
• Trixie Belden is a girl-detective starring in a multi-author series created by Julie Campbell Tatham (debuted 1948; last book 1986)
• Fran Belding is a detective (played by Elizabeth Baur) on "Ironside" (1971–75)
• Annika Bengzton is a crime reporter in a series commenced 1998 by Swedish writer Liza Marklund.
• Lilly Bennett is private investigator in Wyoming in a book series debuted 1996 by Marne Davis Kellogg.
• Olivia Benson is a New York City detective played by Mariska Hargitay on the 1999-present NBC series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
• Tuppence Beresford solves crimes with husband Tommy in a series of novels and short-stories by Agatha Christie (debuted 1922). The Secret Adversary, the book which introduced the characters, became a silent film in 1929, filmed in German and with character names changed - Tuppence became Lucienne Fereoni, played by Eve Gray. Tuppence was subsequently played by Francesca Annis in Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime (1983–1984); by Greta Scacchi in a 2006 episode of Agatha Christie's Marple where the detectives join forces; and by Catherine Frot in French film adaptations 2005 and 2008.
• Myka Ophelia Bering is a Secret Service agent played by Joanne Kelly on the 2009-present Syfy series Warehouse 13.
• Jill Bernhardt is a Deputy DA and one of the four women crime solvers in 'The Women’s Murder Club' books by James Patterson; played by Laura Harris on the 2007-2008 ABC series Women's Murder Club.
• Verity Birdwood is a TV researcher who solves murders in six books 1987-1995 by Australian Jennifer Rowe.
• Angela Bivens is an FBI special agent and lawyer in Washington D.C. in two books by Christopher Chambers. 2001 & 2003.
• Helen Black is an ex-policewoman and private investigator in California in novels 1990 to 2000 by Pat Welch.
• Nora Blackbird is a society columnist and amateur sleuth in a book series by Nancy Martin, commenced 2002 with "How to Murder a Millionaire".
• Sonora Blair is a homicide detective in Cincinnati in four books by Lynn S. Hightower published 1995 to 2000.
• Modesty Blaise retires from the underworld and puts her unusual skills to work assisting British intelligence and others in a comic series (1963-), three films and a series of novels and short stories (1965-).
• Anita Blake is a vampire hunter in a fantasy series by Laurell K. Hamilton (debuted 1993).
• Clare Blake is the Commander of a detective murder squad, played by Amanda Burton, in the British TV series The Commander, screened 2003-2008 on ITV.
• Eliza Blake is a TV anchor and sleuth is a series by Mary Jane Clark, commenced 1998.
• Naomi Blake is a blind ex-policewoman who solves crimes with her policeman husband, Alex, in a British series by Jane Adams, commenced 2005.
• Ursula Blanchard is a young widow and lady in waiting at the court of Queen Elizabeth I in a book series by Valerie Anand writing as Fiona Buckley, debuted 1998.
• Cassidy Blair becomes a private investigator in a series of books beginning 2003 by Kirsty Brooks.
• Vicky Bliss is an art historian in a book series by Barbara Mertz, debuted 1973 with Borrower of the Night.
• Molly Blume is an Orthodox Jewish true-crime reporter and author who appears in a series of books by Rochelle Majer Krich.
• Kensi Blye is an NCIS Special Agent (played by Daniela Ruah) on "NCIS: Los Angeles (debuted 2009).
• Judy Bolton is a "girl-detective" in a series created by Margaret Sutton in 1932. She has been called a "more complex and believable role model for girls." While never quite as popular as Nancy Drew, the series lasted through 1968 with 38 sequential title/adventures.
• Stella Bonasera is a crime scene investigator played by Melina Kanakaredes on the CBS series CSI: NY from 2004-2010.
• Theolinda "Dol" Bonner was a private detective in The Hand in the Glove and several Nero Wolfe myseries created by Rex Stout (debuted 1937).
• Laura Bow is a Tulane University student and daughter of a detective in the 1920s, and the player character in Sierra On-Line's 1989 computer game "The Colonel's Bequest" and its 1992 sequel "The Dagger of Amon Ra."
• Victoria Bowering is an actress in New York city in a series debuted 1995 by Dorian Yeager.
• Lindsay Boxer is a police detective in the Women's Murder Club series by James Patterson (debuted 2001); played by Angie Harmon on the 2007-2008 ABC series Women's Murder Club.
• Rosemary Boxer is a gardening sleuth in the UK television series Rosemary and Thyme. Each new gardening commission brings a new mystery for Rosemary and her fellow gardener Laura Thyme to solve.
• Joanna Brady is a sheriff in Cochise County, Arizona, debuted 1993 in a series by J. A. Jance.
• Beatrice Adela Lestrange Bradley is an elderly private detective and polymath psychoanalyst in a series of 65 novels by Gladys Mitchell (debuted 1929). Diana Rigg starred in a 1998-1999 BBC television series based on the books.
• Bo Bradley is a bipolar child abuse investigator in San Diego, California in a series by Abigail Padgett, debuted 1993, ceased in 1997.
• Theodora Braithwaite is a deaconess in the Anglican church in a series by D M Greenwood, started 1991.
• Smokey Brandon is an ex-stripper and a forensic scientist in a series by Noreen Ayres debuted 1992.
• Sarah Brandt is a midwife in 1890's New York(generally while future President Teddy Roosevelt is Police Commissioner) in the ‘Gaslight mystery’ book series started 1999 by Victoria Thompson.
• Nell Bray is a suffragette in a series commenced 1991 by Gillian Linscott.
• Aya Brea is a New York City police detective in the 1998 video game Parasite Eve and its 2000 sequel Parasite Eve II.
• Temperance Daesee Brennan is a forensic anthropologist in a series of novels by Kathy Reichs (debuted 1997); played by Emily Deschanel on the 2005-present Fox series Bones.
• Amy Brewster is an upper class, overweight lawyer and financier who solves crimes for her friends in three books by Sam Merwin Jr. published 1945-1946.
• Lily Brewster appears with her brother Robert and runs a guest house in New York whilst solving mysteries in a novel series by Jill Churchill introduced in 1999.
• Sydney Bristow is a CIA agent played by Jennifer Garner on the 2001-2006 ABC series Alias.
• Charlotte Bronte, the author, sleuths in a series by Laura Joh Rowland, commenced 2008.
• Loveday Brooke is an early "lady detective" created by Catherine Louisa Pirkis (debuted 1894). In the BBC Radio 4 adaptation of the story "The Redhill Sisterhood", she was played by Gayanne Potter and in "The Mystery of Redstone Manor" (an original story by Chris Harrald) on the BBC Radio 4 series The Rivals she was played by Honeysuckle Weeks.
• Verity Browne is a left-wing journalist who sleuths with Lord Edward Corinth in a cosy series set in the period between the wars, commenced 2002 by David Roberts.
• Dusty Buchanan is a policewoman in northern Australia in "The Build Up" by Phillip Gwynne (2008).
• Sister Cecile Buddenbrooks is wealthy nun combining her vocation with a practice as a private investigator in four books 1993-2000 by Winona Sullivan.
• Anita Burgess is an operative with the Douglass Detective Agency in the novella Sign Of The Dragon by C. M. Eddy, Jr.
• Sarah Burke is a Tucson homicide detective in a police procedural series commenced 2008 by Elizabeth Gunn.
• Aiden Burn was a New York City detective and forensic scientist played by Vanessa Ferlito on the CBS series "CSI:NY" from 2004 to 2005.
• Mary Louise Burrows is a 15 year old who sets out to prove her grandfather not guilty of treason, in Mary Louise (1916) by L. Frank Baum (author of The Wizard of Oz) under the pseudonym Edith Van Dyne. This was the first in a series of ten stories for adolescents known as The Bluebird Books in which Mary Louise and her friend Josie O'Gormon take on tough challenges.
• Filomena Buscarsela is a single mother, ex-policewoman and administrator of am environmental organization in New York City in three books beginning with "23 Shades of Black" (1997), by Ken Wishnia.
• Amelia Butterworth is a nosy society spinster who assists Ebenezer Gryce of the New York Metropolitan Police Force in “That Affair Next Door” (1897) and three other novels by detective fiction pioneer Anna Katherine Green.