# Personal lives of fictional detectives: Yay or nay? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 11, 2015, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-lives-of-fictional-detectives-yay-or-nay/709578 "2015-01-11T23:30:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-lives-of-fictional-detectives-yay-or-nay/709578/41 "2015-01-15T19:21:14Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I’m more familiar with TV detectives. I think the media makes a difference. In a novel, especially one written in first person, the author can go into more personal detail and yet it still is part of the “whole”. The insights the detective has help solve the case. > > But TV detective shows are generally better without it. Yes, i agree on both counts. And I hate the “and _this time_ it’s personal” thing. Once it gets personal,you’re off the case. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-lives-of-fictional-detectives-yay-or-nay/709578/42 "2015-01-15T19:23:42Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > That’s what I came in to say. I mostly watch CSI out of habit anymore, but I liked it a lot better when every episode wasn’t about the characters’ personal lives. It’s getting even more annoying lately, because even the _crimes_ are related to something in one or more of the characters’ pasts. > > I swear, I like DB Russell (much better than “Super Ray,” though not as much as Gil Grissom), but if one more diabolical criminal mastermind killer threatens or kidnaps some member of his family, I give up. That, indeed- is why I gave up. The first season with Ted Danson was great, they kept it light and his personal life off screen and a little mysterious. But then- “and _this time_, it’s personal!”:rolleyes::mad:☹ ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-lives-of-fictional-detectives-yay-or-nay/709578/43 "2015-01-15T20:25:11Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > But TV detective shows are generally better without it. As mentioned, the classic L&O never said anything about the detective’s personal lives, at least in the beginning. Later, probably starting with Curtis, we got a bit of off-screen drama. > [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Is this because I’m a lesbian? That declaration was good evidence of how little “personal life” content L&O had, even that late in the show’s run. (In that the remark caused a sensation; we had been given no clue in the years preceding.) ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-lives-of-fictional-detectives-yay-or-nay/709578/44 "2015-01-16T00:19:49Z")
I don’t tend to read or watch lots of detective shows, and so my responses might all be disqualified for not exactly fitting the genre–but I find that the ones I like are the ones with lots of personal life details. My three examples are from books, film, and TV: Books: The Dresden Files are about a Chicago detective who’s also a wizard. They’re true mysteries, inasmuch as every book has a twist near the end that Harry Dresden just barely solves in time. And they’re very heavy on his personal life. I really enjoy them. TV: Okay, it’s a twofer: Justified and The Wire are my favorite shows with detectives. Justified isn’t technically a detective, but he spends a lot of time solving crimes, so I think he counts. And half the folks on The Wire are detectives. Again, their personal lives are very interesting to me. Film: This is the first example I thought of. **Heat** is my favorite cops-and-robbers movie, due to the character of the detective. On the job, he’s a genius. Off the job, he’s a mess. I love that combination, and I think his character works so much better because you see what a failure of a husband he is. None of these are strictly in the mystery genre, however. And it’s making me wonder if my general apathy toward the genre might be due to how little detectives’ personal lives make it into lots of genre fiction there. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-lives-of-fictional-detectives-yay-or-nay/709578/45 "2015-01-16T00:39:48Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Books: The Dresden Files are about a Chicago detective who’s also a wizard. They’re true mysteries, inasmuch as every book has a twist near the end that Harry Dresden just barely solves in time. And they’re very heavy on his personal life. I really enjoy them. > TV: Okay, it’s a twofer: Justified and The Wire are my favorite shows with detectives. Justified isn’t technically a detective, but he spends a lot of time solving crimes, so I think he counts. And half the folks on The Wire are detectives. Again, their personal lives are very interesting to me. > Film: This is the first example I thought of. **Heat** is my favorite cops-and-robbers movie, due to the character of the detective. On the job, he’s a genius. Off the job, he’s a mess. I love that combination, and I think his character works so much better because you see what a failure of a husband he is. > > None of these are strictly in the mystery genre, however. And it’s making me wonder if my general apathy toward the genre might be due to how little detectives’ personal lives make it into lots of genre fiction there. I think this just made me realize something: It’s not the detectives’/main characters’ personal lives that I mind (I love The Dresden Files, for example)–it’s their _romantic_ lives. A little of that is fine, but when their SOs start getting threatened/kidnapped/messed with/used against them, I start getting annoyed. You can get away with this maybe once in series. After that, find another plot. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-lives-of-fictional-detectives-yay-or-nay/709578/46 "2015-01-16T11:12:26Z")
The thing about Dresden is that there’s very little separation between his professional and personal life - everyone he loves, hangs out with, has sex with or plays D&D with is in “the business” in one way or another. He isn’t really close with any “civilians”. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-lives-of-fictional-detectives-yay-or-nay/709578/47 "2015-01-16T13:30:27Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > I think this just made me realize something: It’s not the detectives’/main characters’ personal lives that I mind (I love The Dresden Files, for example)–it’s their _romantic_ lives. A little of that is fine, but when their SOs start getting threatened/kidnapped/messed with/used against them, I start getting annoyed. You can get away with this maybe once in series. After that, find another plot. Oh, yeah. First, there’s the [women in refrigerators trope](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IArganZJy5g), which I didn’t even know of until I watched this video and now can’t stop seeing. And second, it’s a hackneyed cliched plot hook: find a more original way to get the protagonist to care about a case, please! And third, the more it happens to a single character, the less plausible it becomes. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-lives-of-fictional-detectives-yay-or-nay/709578/48 "2015-01-16T14:52:49Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Police procedurals generally minimize any background into the characters’ private lives. Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct series spent a fair amount of time on the detectives’ personal problems, at least the main characters like Carella. I couldn’t tolerate Sue Grafton’s novels because the characters spent so much damn time gabbing over lunch and not much ever happened. On the hardly anything personal side, the Continental Op was possibly the most mysterious. He just went about his business, dodging bullets and adding to the rising body count all around him. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/personal-lives-of-fictional-detectives-yay-or-nay/709578.md?page=2)