Killing a phantom—or resurrecting her? Reclaiming the femme fatale in contemporary U.S. and UK noir fiction

The femme fatale’s development in contemporary U.S. and UK noir fiction differs from hard-boiled fiction’s female investigator, who embodies a range of intersectional identities. This article posits that institutional inequities in U.S./UK publishing and a focus on a white, female, and middle-class readership have enabled a postfeminist recuperation of the femme fatale.