More often than not, the cases that Micky investigates intersect with her family heritage. This connection seems a bit contrived in her first novel, Death by the Riverside, but operates seamlessly in Lost Daughters. While the interaction of a detective's family life with the cases under investigation is not necessarily a prerequisite of the mystery genre, the relationship of family with the protagonist, for better or worse, is definitely a hallmark of Southern literature.

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The setting of the series in New Orleans is also intrinsic to its character and ambience. When asked why she set her series there, Redmann told an interviewer: "I lived in New York for a number of years, but I never considered setting my series anywhere other than New Orleans. This is a city where anything is possible (and sometimes all too probable) . . . . From voodoo to drag queen prostitutes to uptown opulence to snakes in your car, it's all here. Also, I grew up down here and everything from the smell of flowers to the slant of the light in the evening to the taste of crawfish or raw oysters lives in a very deep place in my memory."

Redmann's series made a critical leap in 1995 with the publication of The Intersection of Law and Desire, which won a Lambda Literary Award. Her first two novels are more than workmanlike, but seem sloppily edited and somewhat indulgent. In her most recent novels, the writing is sharper, the pacing more suspenseful, and the characters deeper.

Redmann has acknowledged the help of her editor at Norton--which published her most recent two novels--in improving her books, but also feels that she has simply grown as a writer over the course of the series.

Some fans of Micky may decry what they might see as a loss of toughness in Redmann's latter books. Certainly Micky is more physical in the earlier novels and more vulnerable in the latter ones. But in becoming more vulnerable, she also evolves into a more realistic, three-dimensional character. Even in the more recent works, however, Redmann does not skimp on action.

Redmann bridles at the idea that she should be pigeonholed as a genre writer. To her literature is literature, be it murder mysteries, science fiction, romance, or drama.

As a writer of lesbian mystery novels, however, Redmann is to some degree marginalized even within genre fiction. As Ellen McGarrahan complained in a review of Lost Daughters, which she characterized as "a sophisticated, funny, plot-driven, character-laden murder mystery," Redmann "is not anywhere near as well-known as she deserves to be, particularly for a very readable mystery writer published by a major publishing house, and perhaps that's because her detective, Micky Knight, is a lesbian. The genre and its readers still have traditional notions of who and what fictional detectives should be and, by and large, that means lesbians need not apply."

Redmann is also the author of lesbian erotic stories, which have appeared in various anthologies. Eroticism is also prominent in the first three Micky Knight novels. In Lost Daughters, there are no erotic passages because Redmann thought that eroticism would be incompatible with the theme and tone of the novel.

In 2003, Redmann co-founded Bywater Books. She soon decided, however, that she preferred to be a writer rather than a publisher. Although Redmann is no longer a principal in the publishing house, Bywater Books has reprinted all her books.

Redmann's "day job" is as Director of Education for New Orleans's largest AIDS organization, NO/AIDS Task Force.

A new Micky Knight mystery is scheduled for publication at the end of 2006.

Although most lesbian mystery fiction reflects a political stance, the most effective lesbian crime novels have been those that have most enthusiastically embraced the need to entertain the reader.

One of America's most colorful cities, New Orleans boasts a rich tradition for glbtq people and is both a popular travel destination for gay men and lesbians and the home of a diverse glbtq community.

Writer and editor Katherine V. Forrest has played a major role in bringing lesbian fiction to the forefront of the mystery and science fiction genres.

Prolific mystery writer Ellen Hart, winner of multiple Lambda Literary Awards, writes "whydunits" rather than "whodunits."

Award-winning mystery writer Val McDermid writes three successful series of novels, including one featuring lesbian investigative reporter Lindsay Gordon.