Reinventing the "Lady with the Lamp": Florence Nightingale, Crime-Solver.

This analysis considers recent historical crime novels featuring Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) as an amateur detective who investigates murders alongside her nursing work. Casting Nightingale as an amateur crime solver re-frames her character from the conventional "Lady with the Lamp" to a leader whose skills, feminist ideals, and confidence resonate with modern readers. As an amateur detective or a spy, she emerges as a more nuanced character than the figure constructed by the popular imagination. These novels imagine a version of Nightingale who, confronted with unexpected circumstances, readily masters each situation and employs her deductive skills and mastery of statistics to discover the solution. The Florence Nightingale who penned the proto-feminist essay "Cassandra" and whose determination to use her skills and influence to solve problems, establish order, and heal the community is revealed in these novels for a new generation of readers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]