Women Who Kill: The Image of Postfeminist Success as Motive in the Novels of Ann Cleeves and Val McDermid

Article

Helwig, Lindsay. 2024. "Women Who Kill: The Image of Postfeminist Success as Motive in the Novels of Ann Cleeves and Val McDermid." Crime Fiction Studies. 5 (2), pp. 121-135. https://doi.org/10.3366/cfs.2024.0119
Article Title

Women Who Kill: The Image of Postfeminist Success as Motive in the Novels of Ann Cleeves and Val McDermid

Article CategoryArticle
AuthorsHelwig, Lindsay
Journal TitleCrime Fiction Studies
Journal Citation5 (2), pp. 121-135
Number of Pages14
Year2024
PublisherEdinburgh University Press Ltd.
Place of PublicationUnited Kingdom
ISSN2517-7982
2517-7990
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.3366/cfs.2024.0119
Web Address (URL)https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/10.3366/cfs.2024.0119
Abstract

Within the crime genre, women who kill are provided with motivations that echo points of tension in society, killing to gain or retain something necessary for the successful life that they believe they cannot attain using any other method. The recent appearance of the image of postfeminist success, as outlined by Angela McRobbie, as a motive for murder in the novels of Ann Cleeves and Val McDermid is significant as it indicates a critical engagement with the neoliberal expectation that women need to achieve the postfeminist image of success to reach a feminine version of the good life. This article will examine how the image of postfeminist success becomes a motive for murder in Cleeves's and McDermid’s novels, highlighting societal concerns over the impact on women of the expectations of the postfeminist image of success.

Keywordscrime fiction; Ann Cleeves; Val McDermid; postfeminism
Contains Sensitive ContentDoes not contain sensitive content
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020470504. British and Irish literature
Public Notes

The accessible file is the submitted version of the paper. Please refer to the URL for the published version.

Byline AffiliationsUniversity of Southern Queensland
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