Postmodern mystery writers have frequently adopted the conventions of classical and “hard-boiled” detective fiction in order to subvert them. Paul Auster, Thomas Pynchon, and Haruki Murakami are among many male authors who have used the genre’s formulaic structure to challenge its inherent rationality and moral universalism. While these authors destabilize convention, their female characters are often subject to the same patriarchal tropes of the original genre. My thesis project is a novel that attempts to engage with the tropes of detective fiction while at the same time challenging their masculine tendencies. In the novel, the protagonist agrees to investigate her landlord’s wife in order to avoid eviction, but is soon caught up in unexpected ethical dilemmas and forced to confront difficult truths about her past.