Female crime writers were t always given the same recognition as today. Edgar Allan Poe's detective story 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue', written in 1841, is regarded as the beginning of the detective genre. In the following years, the genre was typically dominated by male authors. Since then considerable progress has been made, and female authors have created a very individual way of writing detective vels. However, experts still disagree on a clear definition of the female crime vel. The present study hopes to gain further insight into female detective vels coming from the USA and Great Britain. After giving basic information on the history of female detective vels and the ideal crime scheme, the study analyses the characteristics of female detective vels as opposed to male detective vels and the appeal of detective vels for women writers. Although female detective vels are t a separate sub-genre but rather a separate field within the genre of detective vels, women have given the genre new impulses.