Girl detectives have come a long way since Nancy Drew first hopped into her roadster and solved The Secret of the Old Clock. Learn the history of the Nancy Drew series in Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak, or watch a modern-day girl detective in the tv show Veronica Mars. Or read Kelly Link’s amazing short story “The Girl Detective” from her collection Stranger Things Happen. (Don’t want to wait for the library’s copy to be returned? Download the book for free under a Creative Commons license, or listen to this free audiobook version of the story.) And tell us about your favorite girl detectives in the comments.

Hooray for Veronica Mars!

Even though she only appears in one book, how about Harriet Dufresnes, the main character in Tartt's The Little Friend?

I haven't read Tartt's book; I'll have to add it to my to-read list! And I just remembered two that I forgot and like: Enola Holmes from Nancy Springer's books, and Turtle in Ellen Raskin's Westing Game.