Prior to coming to the School of Criminal Justice in 1990, Frankie Bailey was acting assistant vice-president for academic affairs and associate professor of criminal justice at Kentucky State University in Frankfort.

Her academic pursuits focus on crime history, crime and mass media/popular culture, and material culture. She has done research on topics related to images of victims, offenders, and criminal justice agents in American culture. She is interested in the intersections of race/ethnicity, gender, class, and sexuality. Her current research focuses on dress and appearance. Her books include Out of the Woodpile: Black Characters Crime and Detective Fiction (1991), nominated for the Mystery Writers of America 1992 Edgar Award for Criticism and Biography. With Steven Chermak, she co-edited Famous American Crimes and Trials (2004) With Donna C. Hale, she is the author of Blood on Her Hands: The Social Construction of Women, Sexuality, and Murder (2004).