•
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. •
Kate Baeier is a journalist and private investigator in London in a series by
Gillian Slovo begun in 1984. •
Renée Ballard is an LAPD detective who works "the late show" out of the Hollywood Station in a series by novelist
Michael Connelly. The series includes
The Late Show (2017),
Dark Sacred Night (2018), and
The Night Fire (2019). •
Lily Bard is a cleaning woman and karate expert in Shakespeare,
Arkansas, in a series by
Charlaine Harris begun in 1996. •
Natalie Barnes is the owner manager of a Bed and Breakfast on an island off the coast of
Maine in a cozy series by
Karen MacInerney begun in 2006. •
Carolyn Barek portrayed by (
Annabella Sciorra) is a
New York City detective in the Major Case Squad on the
NBC series
Law & Order: Criminal Intent, 2005–06. •
Temple Barr is a public-relations consultant and amateur detective in the
Midnight Louie series by
Carole Nelson Douglas begun in 1992. •
Vicki Barr, flight stewardess, is the heroine in a series of 16 mystery books for girls, published 1947–1964, by
Helen Wells and
Julie Campbell Tatham. •
Hercule Barton (エルキュール・バートン Erukyūru Bāton?), named after Hercule Poirot, is one of four girl detectives at the Milky Holmes Detective Agency. Her special gift ("Toy") is superhuman strength. They work to combat people who use their gifts for evil in various products by the
Tantei Opera Milky Holmes media franchise. •
Friday Barnes. •
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. •
Bast is a graphic artist by day, and an active urban Witch in her private life, who solves murders within the Pagan community in a series of three books by
Rosemary Edghill, beginning in 1994. •
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. •
China Bayles is an herbalist and ex-lawyer in a series by
Susan Wittig Albert begun in 1992. •
Madeline Bean is a Hollywood caterer who solves murders in a series by
Jerrilyn Farmer begun in 1998. •
Amanda and Lutie Beagle are spinster sisters who inherit a detective agency in two books (1940 and 1941) by Torrey Chansler (writing as
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 begun in 2002. •
Danielle "Dani" Beck portrayed by (
Connie Nielsen) is a
New York City detective in the Manhattan Special Victims unit on the
NBC series
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, 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 by
Meg Gardiner begun in 2008. •
Kate Beckett portrayed by (
Stana Katic) is a
New York City homicide detective on the
ABC series
Castle, 2009–2016. •
Jane Bee is a housemaid in the Royal Household in three books by Douglas Whiteway (writing as C.C. Benison) begun in 1996. •
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 Bengtzon is a crime reporter in a series by Swedish writer
Liza Marklund begun in 1998. •
Mary Bennet from
Jane Austen's
Pride and Prejudice acts as a spy for the British government in The Secret Life of Mary Bennet series by
Katherine Cowley. •
Olivia Benson portrayed by (
Mariska Hargitay) is a
New York City police detective & later promoted to Sergeant, Lieutenant & Captain for the Manhattan Special Victims Unit of the NYPD on the
NBC series
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit 1999–. •
Tuppence Beresford solves crimes with husband Tommy in a series of novels and short-stories by
Agatha Christie debuting in 1922.
The Secret Adversary, the book which introduced the detectives, 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. •
Fredrika Bergman is a civilian working with a police unit in Sweden in this series by
Kristina Ohlsson. Books in the series are: Unwanted, Silenced, The Disappeared and Hostage. •
Siri Bergman is a psychologist with problems of her own in this series by sisters
Camilla Grebe and Asa Traff. Set in Sweden, books in the series are: Some Kind of Peace and More Bitter Than Death. •
Myka Ophelia Bering is a Secret Service agent (played by
Joanne Kelly) on the
Syfy series
Warehouse 13 (2009–). •
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''. •
Mirabelle Bevan is an ex-Secret Service agent turned debt collector who solves mysteries in a series set in 1950s Brighton by Scottish author
Sara Sheridan begun in 2012. •
Verity Birdwood is a TV researcher who solves murders in six books by Australian
Jennifer Rowe (1987–1995). •
Eleanor Raye "Ellie" Bishop a former analyst for the NSA and who is now a Probationary Agent with NCIS played by
Emily Wickersham on
NCIS (2013–21) •
Modesty Blaise retires from the underworld and puts her unusual skills to work assisting British Intelligence and others in a comic series (1963–2001), three films (1966, 1982, 2003), and a series of novels and short stories beginning in 1965. •
Anita Blake is a vampire hunter in a
fantasy series by
Laurell K. Hamilton begun in 1993. •
Clare Blake is the Commander of a detective murder squad (played by
Amanda Burton) in the British TV series
The Commander on
ITV (2003–2008). •
Eliza Blake is a TV anchor and sleuth is a series by
Mary Jane Clark begun in 1998. •
Naomi Blake is a blind ex-policewoman who solves crimes with her policeman husband, Alex, in a British series by
Jane Adams begun in 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) begun in 1998. •
Torchy Blane is a spunky girl detective, played by Glenda Farrell, in a series of 1930s movies. •
Vicky Bliss is an art historian in a book series by
Barbara Mertz beginning in 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 (2002–2005). •
Kensi Blye is an
NCIS Special Agent (played by
Daniela Ruah) on
NCIS: Los Angeles (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 titles/adventures. •
Stella Bonasera is a crime scene investigator (played by
Melina Kanakaredes) on the
CBS series
CSI: NY (2004–2010). •
Lacy Bond is a detective played by
Sondra Currie in the 1974 film
Policewomen. •
Theolinda "Dol" Bonner was a private detective in
The Hand in the Glove and several
Nero Wolfe mysteries created by
Rex Stout (debuted in 1937). Her first name is really Theodolinda, from which the Dol comes. See "Nero Wolfe of West Thirty-Fifth Street" by William S. Baring-Gould, Viking 1969. •
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." •
Lindsay Boxer is a
San Francisco police Inspector in the ''
Women's Murder Club series by James Patterson (debuted 2001). Later portrayed by Angie Harmon on the ABC series Women's Murder Club'', 2007–2008. •
Rosemary Boxer is a gardener and amateur sleuth with her business partner Laura Thyme in the UK television series
Rosemary and Thyme (2003–2006). •
Joanna Brady is a sheriff in Cochise County,
Arizona in a series by
J. A. Jance begun in 1993. •
Beatrice Adela Lestrange Bradley is an elderly private detective and
polymath psychoanalyst in a series of 65 novels by
Gladys Mitchell begun in 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 (1993–1997). •
Nell Bray is a suffragette in a series by
Gillian Linscott begun in 1991. •
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 begun in 1997; Later portrayed by
Emily Deschanel on the
Fox series
Bones, 2005–2017. •
Amy Brewster is an upper class, overweight lawyer and financier who solves crimes for her friends in three books by
Sam Merwin Jr. (1945–46). •
Lily Brewster runs a guest house in New York with her brother Robert in a series by
Jill Churchill begun in 1999. •
Sydney Bristow portrayed by (
Jennifer Garner) is a clandestine
CIA officer on the
ABC series
Alias, 2001–2006. •
Charlotte Brontë,
the author, sleuths in a series by
Laura Joh Rowland begun in 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 10-book cosy series set in the period between WWI and WW2 by
David Roberts (2001–2009). •
Anita Burgess is an operative with the Douglass Detective Agency in the novella
Sign Of The Dragon by
C. M. Eddy, Jr. published by
Mystery Magazine in 1919. •
Sarah Burke is a Tucson homicide detective in a police procedural series by
Elizabeth Gunn begun in 2008. •
Aiden Burn portrayed by (
Vanessa Ferlito) was a
New York City police detective and forensic scientist on the
CBS series
CSI: NY, 2004–05. •
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. •
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 Katharine Green. ==C==