# Fictional detectives: the cream of the cream. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 11, 2008, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-detectives-the-cream-of-the-cream/456059 "2008-07-11T00:04:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-detectives-the-cream-of-the-cream/456059/21 "2008-07-11T02:10:35Z")
Have you ever seen [Murder By Death](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_By_Death)? It’s a movie that does pretty much what you’re thinking, except it stars more than one person. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-detectives-the-cream-of-the-cream/456059/22 "2008-07-11T02:18:23Z")
Gregory McDonald’s Francis Xavier Flynn Remington Steele! David Addison And, of course, Dirk Gently 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-detectives-the-cream-of-the-cream/456059/23 "2008-07-11T02:24:55Z")
Here’s a vote for Ellery Queen. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-detectives-the-cream-of-the-cream/456059/24 "2008-07-11T02:38:54Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] Inspector Wexford from Ruth Rendell’s mysteries Adam Dalgliesh from PD James [/QUOTE] Oh yes. I especially love Wexford–I’ve been rereading a lot of those mysteries lately. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-detectives-the-cream-of-the-cream/456059/25 "2008-07-11T02:54:53Z")
Dr. Augustus S.F.X. Van Dusen, the Thinking Machine Mr. Linley (“Solely in order to get an appetite.”) (Both get their deserved fame for a single story). The Hardy Boys Nancy Drew ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-detectives-the-cream-of-the-cream/456059/26 "2008-07-11T02:58:10Z")
[QUOTE=Elenfair] Robert Goren. He knows everything! Sheesh, how could y’all forget him… 😛 [/QUOTE] Plus, you wouldn’t really need a costume to portray him – all you’d have to do is talk while your head is cocked at a 90-degree angle. ---
**Author:** ![DellieM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@DellieM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DellieM)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-detectives-the-cream-of-the-cream/456059/27 "2008-07-11T03:00:27Z")
Napoleon Bonaparte - the half aboriginal detective by Arthur Upfield. The tortured Lorraine Page from Lynda La Plante’s ‘Cold Shoulder’ series. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-detectives-the-cream-of-the-cream/456059/28 "2008-07-11T03:04:12Z")
How about the earliest one of them all, [Brother Cadfael](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108717/)? ---
**Author:** ![SSG\_Schwartz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SSG\_Schwartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSG_Schwartz)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-detectives-the-cream-of-the-cream/456059/29 "2008-07-11T03:06:26Z")
I gotta echo [Dirk Gently](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirk_Gently), but my favorite crime stoppers have to be, and I know this is not a detective, [Perry Mason](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry_Mason), Mason could always find some obscure to pin the rap on. The other one is [Detective Nose](http://www.squidoo.com/minutemysteries#module2936045). If you can solve a mystery in two minutes or less you have to be good. SSG Schwartz ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-detectives-the-cream-of-the-cream/456059/30 "2008-07-11T03:18:34Z")
I think part of the trick here is finding recognizable characters. Given that, [Columbo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbo) would be easy to accomplish, although I don’t know if Brits know him as well as Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-detectives-the-cream-of-the-cream/456059/31 "2008-07-11T03:19:53Z")
[QUOTE=Clothahump] [Lord Darcy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Darcy_%28fiction%29) [/QUOTE] The very fellow I entered this thread to mention. [Garret](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrett_P.I.) [John Taylor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Green#The_Nightside_series) ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-detectives-the-cream-of-the-cream/456059/32 "2008-07-11T03:24:01Z")
I can’t believe I get to be the first to say Fox Mulder and Dana Scully of the X-Files, my two favorites. I also loved Veronica Mars, Lenny Briscoe (I miss Jerry Orbach-- I can’t watch Law & Order without him), Jimmy McNulty and Lester Freamon (from The Wire). ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-detectives-the-cream-of-the-cream/456059/33 "2008-07-11T03:24:24Z")
Surely someone mentioned Sam Spade and I just missed it. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-detectives-the-cream-of-the-cream/456059/34 "2008-07-11T03:40:28Z")
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant] Surely someone mentioned Sam Spade and I just missed it. :dubious: [/QUOTE] Yep, see Post #3 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-detectives-the-cream-of-the-cream/456059/35 "2008-07-11T03:42:55Z")
[QUOTE=DellieM] Napoleon Bonaparte - the half aboriginal detective by Arthur Upfield. [/QUOTE] Darn! You beat me! Great character & awesome detective. If I’d killed someone & then he showed up to investigate the death, I’d just confess & save myself some angst. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-detectives-the-cream-of-the-cream/456059/36 "2008-07-11T03:53:59Z")
[QUOTE=ZipperJJ] Have you ever seen [Murder By Death](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_By_Death)? It’s a movie that does pretty much what you’re thinking, except it stars more than one person. [/QUOTE] First thing I thought of when I read the OP. Great movie, one of my all-time favorites. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-detectives-the-cream-of-the-cream/456059/37 "2008-07-11T04:05:26Z")
For your purposes, you need detectives with styles, mannerisms, tics, quirks, habits, accents and catch phrases that are readily recognizable and easy to imitate or convey. A LOT of great fictional detectives (Adam Dalgliesh, for instance) would be terrible choices for you, because he doesn’t have any of those things. You could do a wonder performance as Dalgliesh, but most of the audience wouldn’t even grasp who you were playing. The sketch probably needs to be broad, and should focus on “types.” The mix should include 1. Sherlock Holmes goes without saying 2. A tough guy, urban American private eye. Sam Spade works (you can just do Bogart all the way), but so do Mike Hammer and Philip Marlowe. 3. Sherlock Holmes, obviously. 4. A recognizable TV character (Columbo comes to mind, but McCloud could be fun) 5. A detective from a kids’ series- Nancy Drew or Encyclopedia Brown, perhaps? 6. A “blaxploitation” detective like Shaft. 7. Nero Wolfe would give you the opportunity to guzzle beer, say “Pfui” and make fat jokes. 8. A cartoon detective like Dick Tracy! 9. Some ethnic detectives with funny foreign accents- try Hercule Poirot and Charlie Chan. ---
**Author:** ![desdinova](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@desdinova](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/desdinova)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-detectives-the-cream-of-the-cream/456059/38 "2008-07-11T04:14:41Z")
[QUOTE=Starving Artist] First thing I thought of when I read the OP. Great movie, one of my all-time favorites. [/QUOTE] This is the movie that made me think of Charlie Chan, thanks to Peter Sellers’ performance. _“No pulse, no heartbeat. If condition does not change, this man is dead.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-detectives-the-cream-of-the-cream/456059/39 "2008-07-11T04:16:59Z")
The wife’s and my favorite: Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Tribal Police in Tony Hillerman’s excellent series. (With Sergeant Jim Chee of the same force a close second.) ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-detectives-the-cream-of-the-cream/456059/40 "2008-07-11T04:18:51Z")
[QUOTE=DesertDog] How about the earliest one of them all, [Brother Cadfael](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108717/)? [/QUOTE] This guy is much earlier. [Marcus Didius Falco](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindsey_Davis) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-detectives-the-cream-of-the-cream/456059.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-detectives-the-cream-of-the-cream/456059.md?page=3)