Introduction: Look for the Women

Abstract

‘Cherchez la femme’ is an oft-repeated phrase in mystery and detective fiction. It first appeared in Alexandre Dumas’ 1854–7 novel Les Mohicans de Paris as ‘Cherchons la femme’, words spoken by M. Jackal, a police detective. The subsequent popular listings could fill a book: they range from James Ellroy’s The Black Dahlia to Churchy La Femme in the comic Pogo. Typically the phrase has a function. It signals the entry of a female character — into a narrative previously masculine in content. The (male) detective has not solved a mystery, and the answer lies with a woman. ‘Cherchez la femme’, the search for her, re-genders the text.