It's a popular field these days. The Dresden Files is on its fifteenth book, and the Sookie Stackhouse series (True Blood) must be coming close. For those like me who can never get enough of the strong, deep action heroines, here's a few of my favorites:

4. Mercy Thompson, by Patricia Briggs. Mercy's a shapeshifter. She can change her form to a coyote, and she can talk to ghosts. All around her are werewolves, vampires and (yes) fairies, and she's considerably less powerful than most, which forces her to use cunning and resources to both win fights and establish boundaries within the (werewolf) pack.

3. Kitty Norville, by Carrie Vaughan. Kitty's a werewolf who hosts a radio call-in show in this hilarious, frequently profound series.

2. Kate Daniels, by Ilona Andrews. In a world where magic and technology function in alternating waves, where vampires are mindless brutes piloted by necromancers, Kate Daniels is the daughter of the immortal first necromancer.

1. Karrin Murphy, by Jim Butcher. Yes, she isn't the star of the show, but the Dresden Files' diminutive Officer Murphy is a tremendous character, with humor, goals, boundaries, and life. She's the only gun-wielder on this list, but she's also an aikidoka. Murphy is a fantastic example of how to portray a female secondary action hero right. She never needs to be rescued, she's not just there as arm candy, and she never becomes a prop. Strong, self-willed, amazing.

Has anyone else read these books? Or are there other urban fantasy series you'd want to comment on?