Novel Identification Based on Plot

The question describes a novel centered on a specific narrative: a meticulous, present-tense account focusing on a female character who desires death and actively plans her own violent murder.

• The core elements are the protagonist's death wish and her deliberate orchestration of her own violent murder.
• The narrative style is noted as precise and in the present tense.

Analyzing the Options

Based on literary analysis:

• Muriel Spark's The Driver's Seat features a protagonist, Lise, who is consciously seeking death and engineers the circumstances leading to her murder. The novel employs a detached, precise narrative style that aligns with the description.
• The other options, while significant works, do not precisely match this specific plotline. Iris Murdoch's novels explore complex relationships and morality, Doris Lessing's Children of Violence covers a broader social and political journey, and Angela Carter's The Passion of the New Eve delves into themes of identity and technology in a different context.

Conclusion

The novel matching the description of a woman plotting her own violent murder in a meticulous, present-tense narrative is Muriel Spark's The Driver's Seat.