A lot of dime novels with women were romances, but there were some detective and adventure type titles.
These notes have been moved from “Nick Carter c 1917” about the detective series. https://genderdesk.wordpress.com/2022/09/01/nick-carter-c-1917/
It’s probably too early to say these are red links, some more poking around is needed, and with any luck, a list of free online titles.
~~~~
Notes:
~~~~
Ethel King
A description of some of the stock characters by a pulp fan here: “Meet Nick Carter“, it also notes that “he was popular enough that rival characters were created, like Ethel King, “the female Nick Carter”, and Miss Boston, noted as a former associate (collections of both reprinted by Black Coat Press).”
According to Black Coat Press:
There were only two women sleuths in French popular literature before the mid-20th century. The first, Miss Boston, was created by Antonin Reschal and appeared in 1908-1909. Jean Petithuguenin (1878-1939) wrote the second, Ethel King, shortly thereafter (1911-1914). This professor at the Faculty of Sciences was the official translator of the Nick Carter series. Ethel King ran for more than 100 bi-weekly issues in France, then was continued in Germany by other authors.
~~~~
Miss Madelyn Mack, Detective
And then there was Miss Madelyn Mack, Detective, by Hugh C. Weir, 1914.
There is a good writeup here: https://thrillingdetective.com/2019/01/22/miss-madelyn-mack/
Read it here: https://archive.org/details/missmadelynmack00massgoog/page/n15/mode/2up
~~~~
Sources
- The Dime Novel Companion, a source book: https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Dime_Novel_Companion/CACooIgEYF8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%E2%80%9CThe+Old+Detective%E2%80%99s+Pupil%3B+or,+The+Mysterious+Crime+of+Madison+Square%E2%80%9D&pg=PA51&printsec=frontcover
~~~~
Bertha M. Clay
John Russell Coryell also wrote dime novels under the Bertha M. Clay house pseudonym. Wikipedia says “Street and Smith’s ‘new Bertha M. clay Library’ ran to more than four hundred volumes. Eighty-eight Clays are known to be extant.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertha_M._Clay
~~~~
French
Here is an Ethel King dime novel in French https://digital.library.villanova.edu/Item/vudl:486601#?c=&m=&s=&cv=&xywh=-2979%2C-167%2C7922%2C3333
~~~~
New York Nell
And another female protagonist, “New York Nell, The Boy-Girl Detective.” She dressed as a boy and sold newspapers. This is one of the least terrible scans: https://dimenovels.lib.niu.edu/islandora/object/dimenovels%3A22063#page/2/mode/1up Here, this one is better: https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1036&context=deadwood_dick
More about New York Nell and link to more scans: https://www.dbborton.com/new-york-nell/ https://elizabethcbunce.com/2021/01/18/myrtlemondays-the-girl-detective-part-i/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girl_detective_(genre)
~~~~
More women in dime novels:
“No less than six of these dime novel heroines are the creation of Edward Lytton Wheeler who described himself as a “sensational novelist.” In addition to his hallmark anti-hero Deadwood Dick, he created Hurricane Nell, Denver Doll, Baltimore Bess, New York Nell, Cinnamon Chip, and the fictional iteration of Calamity Jane. The author/creator of two other characters were women, Mary A. Denison (Captain Molly) and Metta Victoria Fuller Victor (Maum Guinea).” and “…But Maum Guinea, as a dime novel heroine, deserves some attention as a rare Black character of the period…” https://www.markcarlson-ghost.com/index.php/category/womens-history/
~~~~
Gender Desk 