# Ideally, murders and other mysteries should be solved by ... **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 12, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideally-murders-and-other-mysteries-should-be-solved-by/592511 "2011-08-12T21:27:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideally-murders-and-other-mysteries-should-be-solved-by/592511/1 "2011-08-12T21:27:10Z")
Explanatory note: Over on LJ, a friend of mine posted a poll asking this question and giving semi-obscure descriptions of fictional detectives (amateur and otherwise). The only problem was that he (and his respondents) often didn’t give the answers to who these people are. Of course, some of the descriptions can fit more than one fictional sleuth, but that’s part of the fun. Still, it struck me that people here would have a lot of fun coming up with descriptions like this, so I thought I’d ask y’all to roll your own. _**[ETA: He gave me permission to use his idea. Descriptions below are all my own.]**_ I’m putting this in Cafe Society since we’re talking about fictional sleuths and it felt like a short version of threads like [If LotR Had Been Written By Someone Else](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=138905). Mods can feel free to move to the Game Room if they feel that’s more appropriate. To start: Murders and other mysteries should be solved by: [ol] [li]A waiter at an exclusive men’s only dining club Henry Jackson, The Black Widowers[/li][li]A venerable sage with a slight flaw in his character and his innocent derrick of a partner Master Li and Number Ten Ox, _Bridge of Birds_[/li][li]A librarian turned romance writer Jacqueline Kirby, \*The Seventh Sinner \*[/li][li]A Valkyrie-like historian and her art thief lover Vicky Bliss, _Borrower of the Night_[/li][li]An Egyptian archaeologist with a strong parasol and a belt of tools Amelia Peabody, _Crocodile on the Sandbank_ (Yes, I rather like Elizabeth Peters.) [/li][li]A sociopathic police detective with the face of an angel Kathy Mallory, _Mallory’s Oracle_[/li][li]A studious Rabbi David Small, _Friday the Rabbi Slept Late_[/li][li]A trio of adolescent boy who report to a famous director of suspense films Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators[/li][li]A puzzling Scottish alcoholic detective John Rebus, _Knots and Crosses_[/li][/ol] ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideally-murders-and-other-mysteries-should-be-solved-by/592511/2 "2011-08-12T22:42:01Z")
I would have given the spoilered answers in a later post. I knew four of the above, but the temptation was too great to check if the other guesses were correct. They weren’t. I like the idea, though. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideally-murders-and-other-mysteries-should-be-solved-by/592511/3 "2011-08-12T22:54:44Z")
> [@Damfino](#): > > I would have given the spoilered answers in a later post. I knew four of the above, but the temptation was too great to check if the other guesses were correct. They weren’t. I like the idea, though. Eh. If anyone joins in, they’re free to put the answers in another post, or at the bottom, or whatever. No rules. When do you join in? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideally-murders-and-other-mysteries-should-be-solved-by/592511/4 "2011-08-13T01:01:50Z")
> [@](#): > > Murders and other mysteries should be solved by: > > 1. A waiter at an exclusive men’s only dining club He never solved any murders, did he? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideally-murders-and-other-mysteries-should-be-solved-by/592511/5 "2011-08-13T01:02:47Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > He never solved any murders, did he? Sure he did: _Early Sunday Morning._ ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideally-murders-and-other-mysteries-should-be-solved-by/592511/6 "2011-08-13T01:21:26Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > He never solved any murders, did he? I did say “and other mysteries”. ---
**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:** [August 13, 2011, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideally-murders-and-other-mysteries-should-be-solved-by/592511/7 "2011-08-13T02:05:32Z")
Well, the problem is what if you choose a detective that’s so obscure no one can guess. For instance, 1. The World’s Greatest Detective, who has never made a mistake. Dr. Harrison Trevor, “The Perfect Crime” by Ben Ray Redman 1. The detective who can usually be found at the ABC Teashop, on the corner of Norfolk Street and the Strand in London. The Old Man in the Corner ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideally-murders-and-other-mysteries-should-be-solved-by/592511/8 "2011-08-13T02:09:35Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Well, the problem is what if you choose a detective that’s so obscure no one can guess. For instance, > > 1. The World’s Greatest Detective, who has never made a mistake. > > Dr. Harrison Trevor, “The Perfect Crime” by Ben Ray Redman > > 1. The detective who can usually be found at the ABC Teashop, on the corner of Norfolk Street and the Strand in London. > > The Old Man in the Corner Ah, but I knew the latter, thanks solely to reading about: 1. Sleuths who adopt the personas and techniques of literary detectives. Tommy and Tuppence ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideally-murders-and-other-mysteries-should-be-solved-by/592511/9 "2011-08-15T13:15:34Z")
One last boost, before this tumbles off into obscurity. 1. An ex-Marine with a penchant for redheads and a moribund partnerGarrett and the Dead Man, _Sweet Silver Blues_ 2. A Confucian judge during the T’ang Dynasty Judge Dee, _Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee_ **The Other Waldo Pepper** , I haven’t read any of the Tommy & Tuppence mysteries. I think I’ll have to look into them. I didn’t know they “adopt[ed] the personas and techniques of literary detectives”. Sounds a bit meta. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideally-murders-and-other-mysteries-should-be-solved-by/592511/10 "2011-08-15T13:24:25Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > **The Other Waldo Pepper** , I haven’t read any of the Tommy & Tuppence mysteries. I think I’ll have to look into them. I didn’t know they “adopt[ed] the personas and techniques of literary detectives”. Sounds a bit meta. They do it in PARTNERS IN CRIME, a collection of short stories where they get asked to run a sting operation by setting up shop in a detective agency being used as a front company for foreign spies; their employer doesn’t actually care whether they solve crimes for the bona fide clients who show up thinking it’s a legitimate business, but Tommy and Tuppence oblige anyway. And while it’s pretty danged meta while they’re trying out gimmicks from assorted fictional sleuths – often while pointing out why their first attempts keep failing, because the approach in question doesn’t actually work in real life – it goes over the top in the finale, when Agatha Christie has 'em go all Poirot to solve a locked-room mystery. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideally-murders-and-other-mysteries-should-be-solved-by/592511/11 "2011-08-15T14:43:44Z")
1. The shell-shocked son of an English Duke who collects old books and employs his former sergeant as a butler. 2. A hunchbacked lawyer in Tudor England. 3. A Welsh Benedictine monk living at Shrewsbury Abbey during the English civil war between Stephen and Maud. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideally-murders-and-other-mysteries-should-be-solved-by/592511/12 "2011-08-15T15:09:40Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > 1. The shell-shocked son of an English Duke who collects old books and employs his former sergeant as a butler. > > 2. A hunchbacked lawyer in Tudor England. > > 3. A Welsh Benedictine monk living at Shrewsbury Abbey during the English civil war between Stephen and Maud. I recognize 15 and 17, but not 16. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideally-murders-and-other-mysteries-should-be-solved-by/592511/13 "2011-08-16T14:21:34Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > I recognize 15 and 17, but not 16. 16. Matthew Shardlake, from the new mystery series written by C. J. Sansom. Strange, I would have thought this kind of game would be popular here. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideally-murders-and-other-mysteries-should-be-solved-by/592511/14 "2011-08-16T18:34:17Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > 16. Matthew Shardlake, from the new mystery series written by C. J. Sansom. > > Strange, I would have thought this kind of game would be popular here. I know. All I can think is that I made it sound boring in the OP. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideally-murders-and-other-mysteries-should-be-solved-by/592511/15 "2011-08-16T18:42:30Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > 1. A hunchbacked lawyer in Tudor England. > > 2. A Welsh Benedictine monk living at Shrewsbury Abbey during the English civil war between Stephen and Maud. Matthew Shardlake and Cadfael I really enjoy the former’s books, and they are among my most loaned out. I quite liked the TV series of the latter. It’s a good concept for a game, but sometimes these things just don’t take off. Fickle are the ways of the web. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideally-murders-and-other-mysteries-should-be-solved-by/592511/16 "2011-08-16T20:20:57Z")
1. A veterinarian with a mobile clinic and a perchance for being in the wrong place at the right time. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideally-murders-and-other-mysteries-should-be-solved-by/592511/17 "2011-08-16T22:58:38Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > 16. Matthew Shardlake, from the new mystery series written by C. J. Sansom. > > Strange, I would have thought this kind of game would be popular here. Maybe it would do better in the games forum? Perhaps the bulk of the game-playing dopers don’t read Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideally-murders-and-other-mysteries-should-be-solved-by/592511/18 "2011-08-16T23:15:29Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > Maybe it would do better in the games forum? Perhaps the bulk of the game-playing dopers don’t read Cafe Society. Probably. I’m also not sure of the density of pure mystery fans vs. SF fans here, so that may thin things out a bit–I certainly haven’t known the answers to most of these. In light of the latter, here are two more that span both genres: 1. A former reporter and would-be pulp author who has taken to the nightlife of post-Depression Chicago. 2. A private detective who has put dancing and death behind her, though with less success at the latter than she’d like. ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideally-murders-and-other-mysteries-should-be-solved-by/592511/19 "2011-08-16T23:59:43Z")
“…‘murder she wrote,’ it’s about an old woman who goes around trying to find out whodunnit, when it’s obvious that she hasn’t done it in a long time.” –taken from “in living color” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideally-murders-and-other-mysteries-should-be-solved-by/592511/20 "2011-08-17T02:41:09Z")
It was the moderator in The Game Room with the thread tools. Moved from Cafe Society. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ideally-murders-and-other-mysteries-should-be-solved-by/592511.md?page=2)