Wish They All Could Be California Girls

Maybe it's the water...

Following the success of Sue Grafton and Marcia Muller (and Sara Paretsky in Chicago and Liza Cody over in the U.K.) in the early eighties, there was an explosion of female eyes, and most of them seemed to live in California. Coincidence, or what?

At the time, it seemed significant. But here's a snapshot of that time...

• Caley Burke by Bridget McKenna (Northern California)
• Kat Colorado by Karen Kijewski (Sacramento)
• Claire Conrad and Maggie Hill by Melodie Johnson Howe (Los Angeles)
• Maggie Garrett by Jean Taylor (San Francisco)
• Jeri Howard by Janet Dawson (Berkeley)
• Rae Kelleher by Marcia Muller (San Francisco)
• Sharon McCone by Marcia Muller (San Francisco)
• Kinsey Millhone by Sue Grafton (Santa Theresa)
• Kiernan O'Shaughnessy by Susan Dunlap (La Jolla)
• Lorraine Page by Lynda LaPlante (Los Angeles)
• Savannah Reid by G.A. McKevett
• Catherine Sayler by Linda Grant
• Ronnie Ventana by Gloria White (San Francisco)
• Deliah West by Maxine O'Callaghan (Orange County)

Respectfully compiled by Kevin Burton Smith. Any suggestion or additions will be most welcome.