Cherchez la femme

Cherchez la femme (French: [ʃɛʁʃe la fam]) is a French phrase which literally means 'look for the woman'. It is a cliche in detective fiction, used to suggest that a mystery can be resolved by identifying a femme fatale or female love interest. The phrase embodies a cliché of detective pulp fiction: no matter what the problem, a woman is often the root cause. Thus, it has come to refer to explanations that automatically find the same root cause, no matter the specifics of the problem.