Jane Rizzoli

Jane Rizzoli is the tough, competitive Boston homicide detective protagonist of Tess Gerritsen's Rizzoli and Isles series — a woman who has fought to prove herself in a male-dominated field and whose aggressive, street-smart approach to investigation is the professional and personal counterpart to her partner Maura Isles's cool scientific detachment. Together they form one of crime fiction's most popular female investigative partnerships.

Gerritsen writes Jane with an understanding of the specific pressures on women in homicide units — the need to be tougher, more decisive, and less emotionally expressive than colleagues who do not carry the same burden of proof. Jane's Italian-American family, her complicated relationships, and her history with particularly dangerous cases give her a personal life that grounds the procedural plotting.

The TNT television series starring Angie Harmon as Jane and Sasha Alexander as Maura ran for seven seasons and attracted a devoted audience, though it departed from the novels' darker tone in favor of lighter procedural entertainment. The novels are considerably more psychologically intense.

Begin with The Surgeon (2001) and read in order. The first several novels introduce the serial killer Warren Hoyt, whose impact on Jane shapes the entire series.