Warrior Sleuths : How History's Hidden Heroines Brought the Wicked to Justice

Homicide investigator and criminal behavioralist Sarah Cailean highlights eight women—from Kate Warne and Isabella Goodwin to Frances Glessner Lee and Barbara Rae-Venter—whose work impacted investigations, law enforcement, forensics, and other related fields, shattered stereotypes in the field of true crime, and gave voice to the voiceless.

Women make up more than 75 percent of true crime consumers, yet the historical contributions of women at the forefront of crime solving have often been overlooked. In Warrior Sleuths, homicide investigator and criminal behavioralist Sarah Cailean guides readers through both century-old and modern-day crimes and infamous cases that captured the public''s imagination as she highlights eight women who defied expectations, shattered stereotypes in the field of true crime, and gave voice to the voiceless.

Each woman’s work and contributions are viewed through the lens of Cailean’s professional expertise. Discover how these women impacted investigations, law enforcement, forensics, and other related fields, as well as how they overcame personal hurdles and adversity, working as women in male-dominated fields and balancing their careers with their own rich personal lives. From fearless investigators to pioneering forensic scientists, these women played pivotal roles in the ongoing renaissance of true crime media. In this collection, you will meet:

• Kate Warne, the first female professional detective in America
• Isabella Goodwin, the first female detective in NYC
• Grace Humiston, who freed an innocent man from death row by using ballistics evidence
• Mabel Walker Willebrandt, a federal prosecutor who fought corruption and gangsters in the 1920s
• Eunice Hunton Carter, one of the first Black women to work in major prosecutions
• Frances Glessner Lee, a criminalist who worked on the Boston Strangler case and developed the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death
• Dr. Ann Wolbert Burgess, a pioneer in forensic psychological profiling and criminology
• Barbara Rae-Venter, whose development of forensic genealogy changed cold case work forever