ABSTRACT
This chapter reads Gail Bowen’s Joanne Kilbourn series (1990–present) as a representative example of the amateur detective series, which centers family, community, and explicit discussions of morality in addressing the disruptive potential of crime to everyday life. Jo takes on multiple roles throughout the series—a mother, a friend, a politician’s wife, a professor, a journalist, a film writer, a second politician’s wife—and often discovers secrets about her own past that cause her to revise her perspectives on the world and even her personal identity. These novels highlight the pedagogical potential of detective fiction as readers are engaged by watching Jo investigate not only crimes in her community but also various approaches to motherhood, politics, and race relations.
