Detective fiction reworks the myth of woman as dangerous Other to be conquered.

Evidence

American detective novels—or American-style ones—are a striking example. Peter Cheyney’s heroes, for instance, are always grappling with an extremely dangerous woman, unmanageable for anyone but them: after a duel that unfolds all through the novel, she is finally overcome by Campion or Callaghan and falls into his arms. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 448

Categorization

• SEED: Angles: the pulp detective genre as a site where the myth of woman-as-danger is ritualized and defused — taming the Other becomes the plot itself.
• XREF: connects to: The seductive-woman archetype persists as a cultural figure of danger.