Who is your favourite detective?

[Carl East]

Somebody asked me the other day who my favourite fictional detective was, and without hesitation I replied Sherlock Holmes.

It had nothing to do with the fact that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was an Englishman, but more to do with how feasible some of his ideas really were.

If you've ever read the books, or watched the films I'm sure you would have been impressed by his keen mind and talent for observation.

Which brings me nicely to my question, have you got a favourite fictional detective, and if so what makes him/her stand out for you?

Carl.

 

[Bonnie Wee Lassie]

Inspector Gadget!

 

[ManOSafety]

Steve McGarrett from Hawaii 5-0, he just exuded cool.

Now seal off the island and book'em Dan-O.

 

[Skibum]

I rather like Harry Kemmelman's Rabi David Small. He is a thinking man, without flash. He just uses common sense and a good memory to solve the crimes with a minimum of fanfare.

 

[insideShiraz]

Hi...

Edgar Allen Poe. Did I spell it right, sir?

insideShiraz

 

[Rosebud]

Inspector Gadget!

dadadadada...inspector gaget...dadadaddada da daaaaaa

 

[SeXy ReDHeD]

Clarice Sterling... "Silence of the Lambs."

 

[insideShiraz]

Died in a gutter?

Good Sir Carl,

Like that west coast accent I have?

I like the Tell Tale Heart because Poe has always spoken volumes to me when everyone else thought that he was just strange. I feel he just might be my favorite writer. The first time I think I can recall taking note of him was on an American tv show called The Waltons. Grandpa Walton used Annabelle Lee to describe "loss", and I've never been the same.

insideShiraz

 

[Bonnie Wee Lassie]

Ha Ha now I am humming that damn song!

 

[SeXy ReDHeD]

Good taste!

I.S...
Poe happens to be one of my favorite authors, too... "Annabell Lee" and "City Under the Sea" are awesome, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE "The Bells." It is the most beautiful piece of work I have ever read/heard.

 

[ManOSafety]

I agree that Poe was/is a genius. Not only for creating the mystery novel, but also for being, in many ways, the epitome of the gothic novelist as well as being a tremendous reviewer of his contemporaries writing.

The Fall of the House of Usher and The Pit and the Pendulum are both frightening.

 

[Bobtoad777]

i have to go with that Columbo guy if he qualifies

 

[Bonnie Wee Lassie]

Hell if Inspector Gadget qualifies why wouldn't he. LOL

 

[SeXy ReDHeD]

Well, I guess if we're talking about detectives that mysteriously find stuff out of the blue to solve the mystery, I guess I'd have to change my vote to either McGuyver or Matlock...
Matlock rules!

But as far as real detectives go, Clarice Sterling still kicks ass!

 

[Dudley]

I'm Sorry for Your Loss....

Andy Sipowicz...and if any of youse skells don't like it, go trow a hump into yourself. *g*

 

[April]

I have two, is that okay? Kinsey Millhone written by Sue Grafton, and Kate Shugak written by Dana Stabenow. They're both strong, independent women who don't take crap from anybody, yet have their soft, vulnerable sides. And they both have a sweet tooth! LOL

 

[Isabella Thorne]

Watching the Detectives

No doubt about it ... Ms. Nancy Drew ...

She is able to solve crimes that baffle others .. yet still maintains that innocent glow about her with an underlying smoldering sexuality.

... and the Hardy Boys cum a close second.

I also love the "couples" detectives like Nick and Nora Charles of the Thin Man movies .. they were so hip .. and shhhh ... I am also a closet fan of MacMillan and Wife .. (yes with Rock Hudson lol.)
_________________
Watching the detectives.
It's just like watching the detectives.
~Elvis Costello~

 

[KillerMuffin]

Fictional detectives are only as good as their villians

I have two too April

The best detective ever most naturally... Batman. While he doesn't have a Moriarity to act as a foil to his brilliance, the Joker isn't without his charms as a villianous genius. (No one saw this one coming did they?)

The other is Sledgehammer of the short lived mid 80s TV show of the same name. How can one man be so obtuse?

*Looks at Bobtoad* umm, nevermind.

 

[CreamyLady]

I've got several, and Sherlock Holmes is one of them. Also Josephine Tey's Alan Grant; Dorothy L. Sayer's Lord Peter Wimsey; Harry Kemelman's Rabbi Small; and a minor character in Jonathan Kellerman's The Butcher's Theater, Palestinian policeman Elias Daoud.

There are many more . . . I really love mysteries.

 

[RonG]

Mrs. Murphy, the tabby, from Rita Mae and Sneaky Pie Brown's series of mysteries. ABC even made a passable movie of one of these books with Rikki Lake a few years ago.

For a human detective, give me Bogart as Philip Marlowe from The Big Sleep (I love the scenes in the antiquarian bookstores when he has glasses on and his hat folded goofily to put on a Poindexter-appearance) and Ralph Meeker as Mike Hammer from Kiss Me Deadly.

Nick and Nora were wonderful to watch. Asta was the brains of the outfit, though. Animals notice the clues that escape the rest of us.

 

[Ticklish Girl]

I like Steve Carella, Cotton Hawes and the rest of the cops down at Ed McBain's 87th Precinct. McBain (aka Evan Hunter) keeps the series fresh by focusing on different cops with each book. He is one of the masters of the police procedural. He has a feel for the difficulties of the policeman's life. "Nocturne" and "He Who Hesitates" are my favorites from the series.

I also like Lawrence Block's Matthew Scudder series. Block really makes New York City come alive. Scudder is a recognizably human character who battles his demons even as he tries to solve cases. "Even the Wicked" is my favorite in the series so far.

Another good detective is Burke, from Andrew Vachss' series. Burke is a shady character who knows how to operate just outside the boundaries of the law. But he has his own inflexible moral code, built upon loyalty to his friends and a loathing of child abuse. In each novel, Burke dispenses his own brand of justice to those who abuse or exploit children. Vachss uses a stripped-down, hard-boiled writing style to evoke the brutality of Burke's world. My favorites from the series are "Strega" and "Blue Belle"

Got to put in a good word for John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee. I've only read one McGee book, "The Green Ripper", but it was superb. McGee is tough and crafty, and absolutely relentless when it comes to revenge. He commits violent acts to avenge his girlfriend's murder, but the violence is not gratuitous. McGee isn't a killing machine; rather, he pays a heavy emotional price for his revenge.

I guess my favorite detectives have one thing in common: they all battle their dark sides.

 

[insideShiraz]

Watson, it's time...

I'm pretty sure Carl Lee knows the answer to this one, so this is for everyone else:

Why did Holmes have Dr. Watson around anyway?

Pepsi or Coke?

insideShiraz

 

[KillerMuffin]

W.E.B. Griffin's Men in Blue series. Wow. Almost makes the 70s sexy again.

 

[insideShiraz]

Oooops...

Sorry about the slip up Good Sir Carl East...

insideShiraz

 

[Never]

Hercules Parrot.
(Hey, I'm an American, what do you expect?)